Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late AntiquitySimcha Gross University of PennsylvaniaNovember 8, 2024 - November 8, 2024
11:00am - 1:00pm -
Columbia University
As part of its Classical Dialogues series, the Classical Studies Graduate Program at Columbia University is pleased to welcome Simcha Gross, Assistant Professor of Ancient Rabbinics at the University of Pennsylvania. On November 8, from 11am-1pm, he will discuss his book Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity (Cambridge UP. 2024), which "is a valiant attempt to reorient the field and write the history of a period that has stubbornly defied a historical accounting. The book relates how the talmudic rabbis, and Babylonian Jewry more broadly, carved their distinctive paths in a powerful and dynamic multiethnic empire." Introduction by Seth Schwartz (Columbia University) with commentary by Ayelet Wenger (Columbia University). Location: Room 607 Hamilton Hall.
From the image offered by the Babylonian Talmud, Jewish elites were deeply embedded within the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE). The Talmud is replete with stories and discussions that feature Sasanian kings, Zoroastrian magi, fire temples, imperial administrators, Sasanian laws, Persian customs, and more quotidian details of Jewish life. Yet, in the scholarly literature on the Babylonian Talmud and the Jews of Babylonia , the Sasanian Empire has served as a backdrop to a decidedly parochial Jewish story, having little if any direct impact on Babylonian Jewish life and especially the rabbis. Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity advances a radically different understanding of Babylonian Jewish history and Sasanian rule. Building upon recent scholarship, Simcha Gross portrays a more immanent model of Sasanian rule, within and against which Jews invariably positioned and defined themselves. Babylonian Jews realized their traditions, teachings, and social position within the political, social, religious, and cultural conditions generated by Sasanian rule.
In its Classical Dialogues series, the interdepartmental Classical Studies Graduate Program CLST at Columbia University invites authors of recent work in ancient studies that is exemplary for the kind of study that CLST aims to foster. All faculty and students at Columbia and beyond are cordially invited. CLST students are required to read carefully at least one chapter or article in advance and prepare questions and comments for discussion.