The Economy of Ancient Judah in Its Historical Context
Edited by Marvin Lloyd Miller, Ehud Ben Zvi, and Gary N. Knoppers
The Economy of Ancient Judah in Its Historical Context
Edited by Marvin Lloyd Miller, Ehud Ben Zvi, and Gary N. Knoppers
The dynamics of ancient Judah’s economy are among the most important, but also neglected and least understood, aspects of ancient Israel’s history. The essays in this volume address this gap from a multidisciplinary perspective, involving archeology, biblical studies, economics, epigraphy, ancient history, Jewish studies, and theology. The essays focus on particular issues in the economy of ancient Judah and its neighbors during the late monarchy and the Neo-Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic periods. Some of them evaluate the theoretical models used to understand the inner workings of ancient agrarian economies, while others explore rural economies, the forces of regeneration and degeneration in particular regions, the settlement histories of different areas, and the exploitation of depopulated land in Judah and Idumea. Essays in the volume also address population growth, urbanization, the role of diverse temple towns (such as Babylon and Jerusalem) in regional market economies, the literary portrayal of patron–client relationships, symmetrical and asymmetrical relations in international trade, and the views of urban elites toward agrarian economic developments. Yet others discuss family economics—policies of reproduction, gender roles, family size, and household hierarchies—in Judah and ancient Persia. Many of the essays appearing in this volume were originally delivered as papers in special sessions devoted to these topics at annual meetings of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies and the European Association of Biblical Studies. The scholars participating in this international project conduct their research at institutions in Canada, Germany, Israel, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States.
- Description
- Table of Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
Part 1: Introduction
Cultivating Curiosity: Methods and Models for Understanding Ancient Economies
Marvin Lloyd Miller
Part 2: Economic Indications from the Hebrew Bible
The “Successful, Wise, Worthy Wife” of Prov 31:10–31 as a Source for Reconstructing Aspects of Thought and Economy in the Late Persian / Early Hellenistic Period
Ehud Ben Zvi
More than Friends? The Economic Relationship between Huram and Solomon Reconsidered
Gary N. Knoppers
Agrarian Economy through City-Elites’ Eyes: Reflections of Late Persian Period Yehud Economy in the Genealogies of Chronicles
Louis Jonker
Ancient Comparisons, Modern Models, and Ezra–Nehemiah: Triangulating the Sources for Insights on the Economy of Persian Period Yehud
Peter Altmann
Part 3: Economic Indications from Other Literary Sources: פרו ורבו and the Seventh Year: Complementary Strategies for the Economic Recovery of Depopulated Yehud
Philippe Guillaume
Exploitation of Depopulated Land in Achaemenid Judah
Lisbeth S. Fried
The Achaemenid Policy of Reproduction
Josef Wiesehöfer
The Economy and Administration of Rural Idumea at the End of the Persian Period
Diana Edelman
Part 4: Economic Indications from Archaeology
Forces of Decline and Regeneration: A Socioeconomic Account of the Iron Age II Negev Desert
Yifat Thareani
The Rural Economy of Judah during the Persian Period and the Settlement History of the District System
Oded Lipschits
Indexes
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
Preface
Abbreviations
Part 1: Introduction
Cultivating Curiosity: Methods and Models for Understanding Ancient Economies
Marvin Lloyd Miller
Part 2: Economic Indications from the Hebrew Bible
The “Successful, Wise, Worthy Wife” of Prov 31:10–31 as a Source for Reconstructing Aspects of Thought and Economy in the Late Persian / Early Hellenistic Period
Ehud Ben Zvi
More than Friends? The Economic Relationship between Huram and Solomon Reconsidered
Gary N. Knoppers
Agrarian Economy through City-Elites’ Eyes: Reflections of Late Persian Period Yehud Economy in the Genealogies of Chronicles
Louis Jonker
Ancient Comparisons, Modern Models, and Ezra–Nehemiah: Triangulating the Sources for Insights on the Economy of Persian Period Yehud
Peter Altmann
Part 3: Economic Indications from Other Literary Sources: פרו ו.ר.בו. and the Seventh Year: Complementary Strategies for the Economic Recovery of Depopulated Yehud
Philippe Guillaume
Exploitation of Depopulated Land in Achaemenid Judah
Lisbeth S. Fried
The Achaemenid Policy of Reproduction
Josef Wiesehöfer
The Economy and Administration of Rural Idumea at the End of the Persian Period
Diana Edelman
Part 4: Economic Indications from Archaeology
Forces of Decline and Regeneration: A Socioeconomic Account of the Iron Age II Negev Desert
Yifat Thareani
The Rural Economy of Judah during the Persian Period and the Settlement History of the District System
Oded Lipschits
Indexes
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
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