Finalist for the 2015 National Jewish Book Award in Scholarship (Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award)Rabbis; Sorcerers; Kings; and Priests examines the impact of the Persian Sasanian context on the Babylonian Talmud; perhaps the most important corpus in the Jewish sacred canon. What impact did the Persian Zoroastrian Empire; as both a real historical force and an imaginary interlocutor; have on rabbinic identity and authority as expressed in the Talmud? Drawing from the field of comparative religion; Jason Sion Mokhtarian addresses this question by bringing into mutual fruition Talmudic studies and ancient Iranology; two historically distinct disciplines. Whereas most research on the Talmud assumes that the rabbis were an insular group isolated from the cultural horizon outside their academies; this book contextualizes the rabbis and the Talmud within a broader sociocultural orbit by drawing from a wide range of sources from Sasanian Iran; including Middle Persian Zoroastrian literature; archaeological data such as seals and inscriptions; and the Aramaic magical bowl spells. Mokhtarian also includes a detailed examination of the Talmud's dozens of texts that portray three Persian "others": the Persians; the Sasanian kings; and the Zoroastrian priests. This book skillfully engages and demonstrates the rich penetration of Persian imperial society and culture on the Jews of late antique Iran.
#79181 in Books University of California Press 2012-08-07Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x 1.00 x 5.50l; .80 #File Name: 0520274709224 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Timely Arrival and Great Material for My Soc 451 ClassBy AustinArrived as expected. Best's work analyzes US mainstream media in the context of social and political constructs; and how it perpetuates or manipulates the facts through deceit in reporting. I would recommend this work to Sociology majors/faculty in the field.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Easiest way to fall in love with statistics!By MBAmama@homeExcellent book for any level. Provides cutting insight; stuctured in an easy to consume format. Couldn't stop talking about it. Has a very similar appeal as to that of Freakomonics. Enjoy!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Fabulous!By Y. S.Great book. Many people are innumerate. More examples would be great. For example; some politicians frequently provide irrelevant examples; Rudy Giuliani frequently quotes that 94% of crimes on blacks are committed by other blacks; when people suggest that whenever blacks encounter police officers there is a significantly higher chance of getting killed (shot; choked; etc.) if the police officer is white.
