Our research presents a unique interdisciplinary approach that combines traditional historicalarchaeological research with the reading of the visual findings as a historical text. This paper focuses on the two phases of the synagogue in Roman Dura-Europos (hereinafter: Dura). Our research findings show that the military culture prevailing in Dura at that time was strongly reflected in the 3rd-century 'Rebuilt Synagogue'. A comparison of the findings from the two stages of the synagogue with the corresponding historical data concerning the synagogue's time and place have led to new insights regarding the nature and culture of the synagogue community, as well as to a totally novel understanding and interpretation of the synagogue's ornamentation and inscriptions.

This research examines the attitude of rabbinic literature to poverty and the poor after the destruction of the Second Temple. In the Hebrew Bible there are instructions to care for the poor and to be compassionate toward them. However, in Wisdom literature there is also criticism of the poor depicting them as lazy. The Torah obligates the individual Jew to support the poor though tithes from the produce of the fields, giving charity and free loans, but does not advocate establishing public funds for the relief of the poor. Rabbinic literature from after the destruction of the temple shows that the rabbis advocated community responsibility for helping the poor. It shows compassion toward the poor and encourages the Jews to support them through charity. They amended religious laws in order to enable the poor to have more to consume. This seems to be a change from the way the rabbis related to the poor prior to the destruction as is depicted by the New Testament. Examination of actions attributed to sages from before the destruction shows that the rabbis related positively primarily toward poor who were “sons of good” citizens. The other poor were “others” and were left to charity and tithes. After the destruction all poor are “ours,” sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

This study discusses the historical evolution of inns and innkeeping in Jewish society in Roman Palestine and examines their social implications, and in particular, the relationship between opposite ends of the social ladder, and what this meant for the status of women. After a sketch of innkeeping in the Ancient Near East from the third millennium B.C.E., the focus is on the Roman period. During that period, it is argued, innkeeping, originally associated with sexual promiscuity and the lowest strata of society, gained acceptance only with difficulty in the religiously conservative Jewish society of the time. Nevertheless, in time it became quite common and rabbinic sources of the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E. take it for granted.

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This book analyzes Jewish society in Roman Palestine in the time of the Mishnah (70-250 CE) in a systematic way, carefully delineating the various economic groups living therein, from the destitute, to the poor, to the middling, to the rich, and to the superrich. It gleans the various socioeconomic strata from the terminology employed by contemporary literary sources via contextual, philological, and historical-critical analysis. It also takes a multidisciplinary approach to analyze and interpret relevant archeological and inscriptional evidence as well as numerous legal sources. The research presented herein shows that various expressions in the sources have latent meanings that indicate socioeconomic status. "Rich," for example, does not necessarily refer to the elite, and "poor" does not necessarily refer to the destitute. Jewish society consisted of groups on a continuum from extremely poor to extremely rich, and the various middling groups played a more important role in the economy than has hitherto been thought. Readership All interested in social strati cation, society, wealth and poverty, middle classes, class identity, the history of the Roman Empire, Roman Palestine, Jews and rabbinic Judaism. For more information see brill.com