Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea: A Study of the Bar Kokhba

Michael Owen Wise

ISBN 10: 0300204531 / ISBN 13: 9780300204537

Published by Yale University Press, 2015

About this Item

Michael Owen Wise, Yale University Press. This comprehensive exploration of language and literacy in the multi-lingual environment of Roman Palestine (c. 63 B.C.E. to 136 C.E.) is based on Michael Wise's extensive study of 145 Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Nabataean contracts and letters preserved among the Bar Kokhba texts, a valuable cache of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts. His investigation of Judean documentary and epistolary culture derives for the first time numerical data concerning literacy rates, language choices, and writing fluency during the two-century span between Pompey's conquest and Hadrian's rule. He explores questions of who could read in these ancient times of Jesus and Hillel, what they read, and how language worked in this complex multi-tongued milieu. Included also is an analysis of the ways these documents were written and the interplay among authors, secretaries, and scribes. Additional analysis provides readers with a detailed picture of the people, families, and lives behind the texts.Michael Owen Wise is Scholar-in-Residence and Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Languages at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. He lives in St. Paul, MN.

Seller Inventory # 9780300204537-RETAIL

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea: A Study of the Bar Kokhba
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300204531
• ISBN 13: 9780300204537
• Binding: Hardback
• Book Type: Hardback

About this title

Synopsis

This comprehensive exploration of language and literacy in the multi-lingual environment of Roman Palestine (c. 63 B.C.E. to 136 C.E.) is based on Michael Wise's extensive study of 145 Hebrew Aramaic Greek and Nabataean contracts and letters preserved among the Bar Kokhba texts a valuable cache of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts. His investigation of Judean documentary and epistolary culture derives for the first time numerical data concerning literacy rates language choices and writing fluency during the two-century span between Pompey's conquest and Hadrian's rule. He explores questions of who could read in these ancient times of Jesus and Hillel what they read and how language worked in this complex multi-tongued milieu. Included also is an analysis of the ways these documents were written and the interplay among authors secretaries and scribes. Additional analysis provides readers with a detailed picture of the people families and lives behind the texts.

About the Author

Michael Owen Wise is Scholar-in-Residence and Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Languages at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul. He lives in St. Paul, MN.