JWST 101 - Rewriting the Sacred Authority: Community and History in the Ancient Mediterranean

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

In this class we explore questions of identity, authority and law in the early history of the Jewish tradition. We will be particularly concerned with the intersection of power, knowledge and writing. What, for example, were the historical ramifications of the writing down of oral traditions, especially in an age when few could read? Why and when did elites assign divine authorship to older narratives? How did the canonization of certain texts change the idea of what it meant to be Jewish, or Christian, or Greek? To answer these questions we will read selections from the Torah, the Mishnah, and the Talmud, and will also take a comparative look at Greek texts by authors such as Homer, Hesiod, and Plato, that engage with similar questions. Among the specific issues we will discuss in the Greek context are the writing down of the Homeric poems in the 8th c. BCE and the transition from orality to literacy in the 5th c. In addition to primary sources in English translations, readings will include recent theoretical works that explore orality, literacy, and canonization. Ms. Friedman and Mr. Schreier.

Two 75-minute periods.

Open only to freshmen; satisfies college requirement for a Freshman Writing Seminar.