Animal Studies and Ancient Judaism

Abstract

Animal studies has its origins in philosophy but extends to all fields of the humanities, especially literature, history, and anthropology. The central concern of animal studies is how human beings perceive other species and themselves as one among them. Animal studies in ancient Judaism has generally not been undertaken in a critical mode, with notable and increasing exceptions. This article covers work from the past decade (2009–2019) that deals centrally with animals, from ancient Israel to late antiquity, spanning the Hebrew Bible, apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, library of Qumran, rabbinic literature, and material culture. Topics addressed are animal sacrifice and consumption; literary depictions of animals; studies of individual animal species; archaeology and art featuring animals; animal ethics, theology, and law; and critical theoretical approaches to species difference. The conclusion considers future directions for animal studies in ancient Judaism.

The Hebrew Bible and the ‘Animal Turn’

“…Many of those who read and write about animals in the Hebrew Bible would not even see their work as necessarily taking part in a common discourse. Berkowitz (2019), likewise, notes in the conclusion of her argument that it is surprising that the scholarship engaging Animal Studies in ancient Judaism does ‘not often engage with itself’ (p. 98). Other scholars begin with the questions raised by Animal Studies and reread biblical texts in such a light.…”

“…In her overview of the rise of Animal Studies in the study of ancient Judaism, Berkowitz concludes that ‘the majority of the scholarship on animals in ancient Judaism does not engage with critical animal studies’ (2019: 98). She suggests that, to the extent that scholarship has concerned itself with the non-human animals present in the Hebrew Bible and other early Jewish texts, such engagement has often lacked explicit attention to the broader philosophical questions raised by Animal Studies and how those questions might shape the questions scholars of ancient Judaism ask of their data.…”