Steven Fine
Associate Professor,
Rabbinic Literature and History,
Baltimore Hebrew University
O: 410-578-6936
Fine@bhu.edu
Spring, 2000

Art and Judaism During the Greco-Roman Period

This course will explore the relationship between art and Judaism from the
Second century B.C.E. through the Islamic conquest of Palestine. After
surveying the extant literary and archaeological evidence this seminar will
discuss methods by which the question of art and Judaism has been
interpreted by modern scholars. Particular attention will be given to the
interpretative stances of E. L. Sukenik, C. Kraeling, and E. R. Goodenough.
Scholarly responses to Goodenough's Jewish Symbols During the Greco-Roman
Period (13 vols., 1953-1968) will be of particular interest. We will then
suggest other ways of interpreting the relationship between Judaism and art
during antiquity. The relationship between art and Jewish identity will be
discussed in detail, as will the liturgical interpretation of ancient Jewish
art. This course is based upon Dr. Fine's forthcoming Art and Judaism
During the Greco-Roman Period, to be published by the Jewish Publication
Society of America.



Course Requirements:


1. Active participation in each session of this course is vital for your
success. Please complete each reading and written assignment in its
entirety, and be prepared to discuss its contents. You must read Hebrew
language assignments in the original, to the best of your ability. Please
plan your time accordingly. Should you miss a class or misplace an
assignment, contact another student to fill you in.
2. A paper on a subject related to the subject matter of this course. Your
paper should explore a particular subject as it is presented in primary
sources, with reference to secondary literature. The double-spaced, typed
paper is to be 10-12 pages in length, not including footnotes and
bibliography (5-15 entries). Any standard note and bibliography form may be
used, though you must be consistent. Spelling counts. STUDENTS MAY NOT USE
ELECTRONIC DATA BASES FOR THE COLLECTION OF RABBINIC SOURCES FOR THIS PAPER.
Present the results of your paper on the last day of class.
Due: April 18. No grades of incomplete will be issued.
3. Participation in our course field trip to Philadelphia and in BHU's
symposium on Jews and Christians in Ancient Rome, Sunday afternoon, March
26.


Office hours are Monday, 9-11, in the Meyerhoff library, or by appointment.
Contact via E-Mail is preferable to telephone messages.


Required books are for sale in the BHU bookstore:


S. Fine, ed. Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient
World.
R. E. Eccles, Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough: A Personal Pilgrimage
H. Geva, ed. Ancient Jerusalem Revealed.
E. R. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols During the Greco-Roman Period, abridged
version


Other readings will be on reserve in the library. This syllabus is subject
to change in the course of the semester.


Feb. 3. Introduction
If you have not taken Rabbinic Literature 500, read carefully L. H.
Schiffman, From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic
Judaism. If you have, please review this volume.
If you do not have a background in Art History, please read: H. De La
Croix, et. al, Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 196-287.
Everyone read: D. Lowenthal, "Fabricating Heritage," in History & Memory
vol. 10, no. 1, posted at
http://www.indiana.edu/~iupress/journals/history/ham10-1.html


Feb. 10. Discovery and Interpretation
L. Blau, "Early Christian Archaeology from a Jewish Point of View," Hebrew
Union College Annual 3 (1926).
Sukenik, Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece, entire book.
N. Silberman, A Prophet Among You, 9-40.
C. Hopkins, "Excavations of the Dura Europos Synagogue Paintings," in J.
Gutmann, The Dura Europos Synagogue, 11-23.
H. Leon, The Jews in Ancient Rome, 46-53.
Sacred Realm: All.


Feb. 17. E. R. Goodenough
Goodenough, 3-111.
R. E. Eccles, Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough: A Personal Pilgrimage
Smith, Morton. 1967. "Goodenough's Jewish Symbols in Retrospect." Journal of
Biblical Literature 86:53-68.
Neusner, Jacob. (in Goodenough).


Feb. 24. Jewish Attitudes to Art: Second Temple Period Sources
Josephus, Philo, tba
Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, article on
Jerusalem During the Second Temple Period
H. Geva, Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, 147-281.
Fine, Ossuaries


Mar. 2. no class.


March 9. Jewish Attitudes to Art: Tannaitic Sources
M. Avodah Zarah, ch. 3.
T. Avodah Zarah, parallel material
Mechilta of Rabbi Ishmael on the second commandment of the decalogue


March 16. Jewish Attitudes to Art: Amoraic Sources
Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah, ch. 3
Bavli Avodah Zarah, ch. 3
Strauss, Heinrich. 1960. "Jewish Art as a Minority Problem." Journal of
Jewish Sociology 2:147-171.
Urbach, Ephraim E. 1959. "The Rabbinical Laws of Idolatry in the Second and
Third Centuries in Light of Archaeological and Historical Facts." Israel
Exploration Journal 9 (3-4):149-165, 229-245.
Baumgarten, Joseph. 1999. "Art in the Synagogue: Some Talmudic Views," in
Jews, Christians and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue, ed. S. Fine.


March 23. Dura Europos
C. Kraeling, The Synagogue, Skim entire volume
Goodenough, 177-195
M. Avi-Yonah, "Goodenough's Evaluation of the Dura Paintings", in J.
Gutmann, The Dura Europos Synagogue, 117-137.
J. Gutmann, "Programmatic Painting in the Dura Synagogue, in J. Gutmann, The
Dura Europos Synagogue, 137-154.
A. Wharton, Refiguring the Post Classical City, 15-63.


March 30. 4-5th Century Palestine
M. Dothan, Hammath Tiberias
Z. Weiss and E. Netzer, Promise and Redemption
Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, article on Beth
Shearim.
S. Fine, "Art and the Liturgical Context of the Sepphoris Synagogue Mosaic,"
Galilee: Confluence of Cultures: Proceedings of the Second International
Conference on the Galilee, ed. E. M. Meyers, Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns,
1999, 227-237.
R. Jensen, "The Offering of Isaac in Jewish and Christian Tradition,"
Biblical Interpretation 2 (1994), 85-110.


April 6. Fieldtrip to the BMA, Hopkins


April 13. 6-8th Century Palestine
Fine, Iconoclasm. Read articles in the Encyclopedia of Archaeological
Excavations in the Holy Land on all sites mentioned in this article.


May 4. Fieldtrip to Philadelphia.


May 11. Elastic session


May 18. Final reports