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Judeophobia: Attitudes Towards the Jews in the Ancient World
 
 
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Judeophobia: Attitudes Towards the Jews in the Ancient World [Hardcover]

Peter Schafer (Author)

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Peter Schäfer
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Review

In "Judeophobia" Peter Schafer makes a major contribution to the social history of Judaism in antiquity...The book is written in a clear style appropriate for non-specialists. Non-English language terms are transliterated and, in most cases, translated the first time they are used. Schafer's thesis is that the origins of anti-Semitism can be traced to three successive centers of conflict: Egypt, Syria-Palestine, and Rome. Schafer's attempt to disentangle the unique aspects of the growth of anti-Semitism in each of these three centers is one of the most important contributions of the book...This book deserves to be read by anyone interested in the origins of anti-Semitism. Its main arguments will undoubtedly become a source for discussion and debate in future research. Schafer deserves our thanks, both for his courage in pursuing a difficult topic with such frankness and for the numerous insights that he has contributed to research on this topic. -- Allen Kerkeslager "Journal for the Study of Judaism"

Product Description

Aiming to take a fresh look at what the Greeks and Romans thought about the Jews, this book firmly locates the origins of anti-semitism in the ancient world. Hellenistic Egypt is established as the generating source, with roots extending back into Egypt's pre-Hellenistic past. A pattern of ingrained hostility to an alien culture emerges from Greek and Roman writing, when a whole spectrum of comments on Jews and their religion are surveyed. The writings focus on the topics most interesting to the pagan classical world: the Exodus, or expulsion from Egypt as they interpreted it, the nature of the Jewish god, food restrictions, laws relating to the sabbath, and so on. The author also explores key incidents in ancient Near Eastern history, the destruction of the temple in Elephantine in 400 BC and the riots in Alexandria in 38 AD, asking the question what fuelled these attacks on the Jewish community. The book then points to a deep-seated ethnic resentment, originating in the Egyptian hatred of Jews, which was then transported to Syria-Palastine and then to Rome where it aquired a new element, the fear of this small community. Later, when Christianity was adopted by the Roman Emperor Constantine, the author asserts that Christian theology also added to the anti-semitic attitudes of the ancient world.
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First Sentence
THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT under the leadership of Moses is one of the decisive events of Jewish history. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Amazon.com:  3 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Well written, but has an agenda 17 April 2008
By Reader - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
The author places the roots of classical anti-Semitism in Egypt, and although the texts he quotes are mostly in Greek, he clearly points the finger at the Egyptian natives, not the colonizers, as the source of the prejudice. The first pogrom against a Jewish community in the diaspora occurred in Egypt in the 5th century, when a Jewish place of worship was burned down in a riot instigated by Egyptian priests assisted by renegade Persian overlords. Five hundred years later in Alexandria there was another pogrom, destruction of synagogues and Jewish homes and property, and herding of Jews into a ghetto, by native Egyptians with the support of renegade Greek overlords. The author recognizes that there are anti-Semitic passages in the Roman authors too, but says the situation there is more "complex," and not as serious. In my view, the author places too much weight on the niceties of specific texts, and ignores the fact that those renegades responsible for the pogrom in Alexandria were executed, while in pagan Rome within two centuries two official decrees exiled either the entire Jewish community in the city or significant parts of it. Which is more anti-Semitic, an official decree that exiles an entire community, or a riot by renegades that meets with severe official punishment? The responsibility for anti-Jewish agitation in the ancient world is wider than the author wants us to believe. Nevertheless this is a well written book by a scholar of Judaism with a bent for classical languages that is unusual in this field.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
No student of this topic 3 Aug 2000
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is the first time I've read any text on this topic, so I'm no scholar on the subject. The book is written in formal, but accessible language. (( I admit with chagrin that I was 3/4 of the way through the text before I realized that when the author said that "Jews proscribed intercourse with non-Jews" he meant SOCIAL intercourse! It gave a slightly different sense on the second read!)) I found it a good, though somewhat dry read, and especially enjoyed the insights offered by the author's comparison of several ancient cultures and the re-introduction to ancient philosophers whose names are better known for their contributions to western culture than for their attitudes toward Jews.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
some interesting and fun facts 24 Jan 2001
By Michael Lewyn - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This book taught me a bit about ancient Judaism and how gentiles related to it. I didn't know, for example, that there was an Egyptian spin on the Exodus (that the Jews were Egyptian "undesirables" who were driven out because the other Egyptians couldn't stand them); just knowing this proves that SOMETHING happened between the Jews and Egyptians 2300 years ago. I also enjoyed reading about what the Romans thought of the Jews (surprisingly favorable, despite the ugliness of the Imperial response to Jewish rebellions).

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