Two diametrically opposed assumptions have influenced interpretations of circumcision rituals in ancient Judaism: either women performed the operation on their infant sons because children at birth and during infancy remained under the purview of the mother; or, conversely, men—specifically a ritual agent known as the mohel—performed cir…[Read more]

This article assesses whether or to what level Jesus and his original Jewish followers were literate. The question of “craftsman’s literacy”–a low to moderate level of literacy associated with trades–is addressed, and important extraliterary means of education are discussed, including learning cultural traditions in the household, participating…[Read more]

Addressing studies of the concepts of structure and agency, in 2008 sociologist François Dépelteau called for a ‘relational approach’ that compared the ‘trans-actions’ of actors, but notably left open the question of how such a study should be conducted. The present article attempts to operationalise Dépelteau’s call, albeit in a manner tailo…[Read more]

Review essay covering eleven books published from 2012 to 2016 in the area of early Christianity and its relation to economic issues.

This article considers the range of meanings of “Torah” in first century Jewish writings from Philo, Josephus, Paul, and texts including 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. I argue that the use of “Torah” is variegated and ranges even in writings from the same author, and therefore scholars should not assume that “Torah” or its various synonyms can mean only one thing.

This chapter asks what the depiction of Ezekiel 37 on the walls of the Dura synagogue can tell us about conceptions of resurrection and dis- ability among the Jewish community at Dura. Bodily resurrection is a common theme among ancient Jewish literature, and while text is a useful medium for conveying conceptions of revivification and life after…[Read more]

It is my modest goal in this essay to trace how Nock uses conversion to produce religion(s) and then to explore its similarities to and differences from an analogous construction of religion-through-conversion in late antiquity.

Paulus war wahrscheinlich nicht sehr groß oder sogar kleinwüchsig. Einen ersten Anhaltspunkt bietet der Ausdruck σαργάνη in 2Kor 11,33. Neutestamentler haben das Fassungsvermögen dieses »Korbs« bisher eher überschätzt. Eine Analyse antiker Quellen zeigt, dass ein σαργάνη das Durchschnittsgewicht eines Mannes nicht hätte tragen können. Diese…[Read more]

A fresco at the entrance of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii that depicts the god Priapus weighing his semiturgid phallus against a bag of coins has plausibly been interpreted as an apotropaic image, protecting the domus against the baneful influence of the evil eye. This article points to humorous elements of the fresco that have been largely…[Read more]

The present special issue of the journal Archimède: Archéologie et histoire ancienne, organized under the auspices of the Imago Genitalium: Sex and Gender in Ancient Mediterranean Art project, focuses on depictions of the phallus in Antiquity. It aims to fill the gap in research on the sexual parts of the body, their associated organs (the b…[Read more]