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Alexander the Great (Biblical Studies)

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  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. Alexander is famous as the conqueror of much of the known world of his time, creating a Mediterranean-based empire greater than any before him. Granted, he followed in the footsteps of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires, all of which ruled large sections of the ancient Near East. Yet Alexander acquired territory from Greece and Egypt to India, and much of it was passed to his successors. He had to take control of his father’s realm at age twenty, when Philip II was assassinated in 336 BCE. He quelled the anti-Macedonian opposition, dealt mercilessly with Thebes as an example to others, and consolidated the Macedonian control of Greece. He then invaded the Persian empire in 334 BCE. In the period of a decade, he defeated the Persians, took over the Persian empire, and reached as far as northern India. He inflicted the first defeat on the Persian army at Issus in 333 BCE, then moved down the Mediterranean coast, taking Tyre, Gaza, and Egypt. Judah and many other provinces seemed to have submitted without a fight. Alexander then moved east, defeating the Persian emperor Darius III at Gaugamela in 331 BCE, and bringing the Persian empire under his control. He continued to march east, conquering the eastern provinces of the former Persian empire, and then on into what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and eventually northern India by 326 BCE, where his troops finally proclaimed that they had had enough and wanted to go home. He sent his fleet home and marched back through Beluchistan in 325 BCE. Alexander was just in the process of consolidating his empire when he died suddenly in Babylon at age thirty-two in 323 BCE. One of his main legacies was Hellenism (discussed in the final section of this bibliography). For just about forty years after Alexander’s death his generals and others, the Diadochi (“Successors”), fought among themselves and finally divided his empire three ways in 301 BCE: Egypt to the Ptolemies, Macedonia and Greece to the Antigonids, and Syria and Asia to the Seleucids (though the last quickly began to lose the eastern parts of Alexander’s conquests). Palestine came under Ptolemaic rule at this time, though the Seleucids claimed to own it legally. Over the period of a century they fought Egypt for control of the territory, finally succeeding in 200 BCE. Much of Alexander’s empire remained under control of his successors until the coming of the Romans who displaced the last Greek rulers in the mid-1st century BCE. In some ways, the last to go was Cleopatra VII in 31 BCE, but Egypt had already been under Roman control since the time of Julius Caesar.
  4.  
  5. Background History
  6.  
  7. There is a great abundance of secondary literature on Greek history and culture, though the Hellenistic period often gets neglected for the classical period. For overall reference, the dictionaries and encyclopedias are the first recourse. These have entries on a variety of topics. But entries in dictionaries and encyclopedias are often compressed, and more accessible for the amateur are individual surveys and introductions. This section treats both sorts of reference.
  8.  
  9. Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
  10.  
  11. The most up-to-date encyclopedia is the German-language work Cancik and Schneider 1996–2002, though sometimes its entries slight the Hellenistic period. The bibliographies are especially helpful. This work has now been translated into English (Cancik and Schneider 2002–2009) and is available from Brill publishers. A first-class work is Sander 2016, whose third and fourth editions are still relatively recent. It summarizes a great deal in a brief compass and usually lists useful follow-up bibliography. For a survey of the history of this period, see Volume 6 of the Cambridge Ancient History (Lewis, et al. 1994), which gives an overview of history in the Mediterranean region for the entire 4th century BCE.
  12.  
  13. Cancik, Hubert, and Helmuth Schneider, eds. Der Neue Pauly: Enzyklopädie der Antike. Vols. 1–12. Stuttgart and Weimar: Metzler, 1996–2002.
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  15. A new edition of the classic Pauly-Wissowa encyclopedia, covering Greek and Roman antiquity (though the Hellenistic period is sometimes neglected). An English edition is planned by Brill Publishers.
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  17. Cancik, Hubert, and Helmuth Schneider, eds. Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Edited by Christine F. Salazar and David E. Orton. Vols. 1–15. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2002–2009.
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  19. The English translation of the German.
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  21. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Digital edition. Edited by S. Goldberg. New York: Oxford University Press.
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  23. The standard one-volume reference for classical antiquity; the third edition of 1996 and now the fourth edition of 2007 include important recent scholarship and bibliography. Originally published in 1996, Hornblower, Simon, and Anthony Spawforth, eds., The Oxford Classical Dictionary.
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  25. Lewis, D. M., John Boardman, Simon Hornblower, et al., eds. The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 6. The Fourth Century B.C. 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  26. DOI: 10.1017/CHOL9780521233484Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  27. A standard reference work, giving a survey of history in the area of the Mediterranean for the 4th century BCE, including events leading up to Alexander and an overview of his conquests by A. B. Bosworth.
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  29. Individual Studies
  30.  
  31. In order to understand the place of Alexander, it is important to understand Greek and ancient Near Eastern history and culture during the two centuries before Alexander. For a survey of Greek history, there are a number of usable volumes in English, but a reliable one is Hornblower 2011. Two works, Hölbl 2001 and Huss 2001 (in German), give the history of Egypt, beginning with Alexander and taking it on to Roman rule, while Sartre 2001 (in French) does the same for the Levant (Syria-Palestine). Austin 2006 surveys Greek history and culture until the coming of the Romans by collecting many original documents in English translation, with some background notes and comment. The main up-to-date and reliable history of the Persian empire is Briant 2002, with extensive text, notes, and indexes. Judah and the Jews in the Persian period, with a survey of sources and discussion about what we do and do not know, are catalogued in Grabbe 2004. Bradford 1992 gives a helpful compilation of sources about the life of Alexander’s father, Philip II, who established the Macedonian empire.
  32.  
  33. Austin, M. M. The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation. 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
  34. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511818080Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  35. A collection of original documents and extracts from classical authors, in English translation.
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  37. Bradford, Alfred S., ed., and trans. Philip II of Macedon: A Life from the Ancient Sources. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992.
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  39. This is mainly a collection of sources, but they are arranged to match various phases in Philip’s life, and thus act as a sort of biography.
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  41. Briant, Pierre. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Translated by Peter T. Daniels. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2002.
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  43. The definitive history of the two centuries that Persia ruled the ancient Near East, with full notes and bibliography.
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  45. Grabbe, Lester L. A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period 1: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah. London and New York: T & T Clark, 2004.
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  47. A coverage of Jewish history during the Persian period, to the extent that it can be recovered, with extensive survey of scholar views and secondary bibliography (the first of a projected four-volume history).
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  49. Hölbl, Günther. A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. Translated by Tina Saavedra. London: Routledge, 2001.
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  51. Mostly a history of Egypt under Alexander’s successors, but begins with the time of Alexander himself; the best study in English.
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  53. Hornblower, Simon. The Greek World 479–323 BC. 4th ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2011.
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  55. A reliable history of the Greek world from the heart of the classical period and the Persian invasion of Greece to the death of Alexander.
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  57. Huss, Werner. Ägypten in hellenistischer Zeit: 332–30 v. Chr. Munich: Beck, 2001.
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  59. The best study of Egypt, from Alexander to the coming of the Romans; unfortunately, there is currently no English edition.
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  61. Sartre, Maurice. D’Alexandre à Zénobie: Histoire du Levant antique, IVe siècle avant J.-C., IIIe siècle aprè J.-C. Paris: Fayard, 2001.
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  63. An up-to-date history of Syria-Palestine from Alexander to the empress Zenobie or Septimia of Syria (c. 272 CE), for those who read French.
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  65. Studies of Alexander’s Life and Times
  66.  
  67. Because we have a great deal of material and also good literary sources, we have many commendable modern accounts of Alexander’s life and conquests. There are also other studies relating to Alexander that are not biographical as such but help us to understand his accomplishments and times.
  68.  
  69. Biographical Studies of Alexander
  70.  
  71. A great figure like Alexander has generated a myth about himself that makes it difficult at times to get to the real man and his real history. He will always be the stuff of legend, as he became already in his own lifetime. For surveys on Alexander’s life and conquests, A. B. Bosworth has written a great deal. Bosworth and Baynham 2000 addresses the question of Alexander in history and also Alexander as he has been fictionalized through history. Bosworth 1996 gives a collection of studies about Alexander and his conquests in the East. Probably one of the best biographies of Alexander is Demandt 2009, though it is currently available only in German. Briant 2010 has now been translated into English and gives the context of Alexander’s conquests in the framework of Persian rule. Lane Fox 2006 (originally 1973 and with only minor revisions thereafter), although getting a bit old, is written in a lively manner and generally reliable.
  72.  
  73. Bosworth, A. B. Alexander and the East: The Tragedy of Triumph. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.
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  75. A collection of essays, including the enormous cost in human lives and suffering caused by Alexander’s army, how a historian interacts with the sources to try to get at “the truth,” the source of the Greeks’ knowledge about the local people, and how Alexander made use of both Greek and native stories to justify his actions.
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  77. Bosworth, A. B., and E. J. Baynham, eds. Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction. Oxford University Press, 2000.
  78. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152873.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  79. A collection of ten essays by leading scholars, covering a good deal on methodology, and including a comparison of the Spanish conquest of Mexico with the Greek conquest of the East, an analysis of the conspiracies at the Macedonian and Persian courts, and studies of Panhellenic ideology and the concept of kingship.
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  81. Briant, Pierre. Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction. Translated by Amélie Kuhrt. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010.
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  83. Gives a good overview and broad coverage of Alexander’s conquests, but is especially good for putting them in the context of the time.
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  85. Demandt, Alexander. Alexander der Grosse: Leben und Legende. Jubiläums Edition. Munich: C. H. Beck, 2009.
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  87. The best full-length biography but, unfortunately, no English version.
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  89. Lane Fox, Robin. Alexander the Great. London: Penguin, 2006.
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  91. Originally written in 1973 and not much updated since, it is getting a bit out of date in a few areas, but still reliable and written in lively style.
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  93. Specialist Studies Relating to Alexander
  94.  
  95. In addition to histories and biographies of Alexander’s life and conquests, there are some other studies that give information on Alexander and his times. This list could be extended greatly, but a few of the more important specialist treatments are given here. Coppola 2010 discusses the changing shape of Alexander’s court as his campaigns progressed. Roisman 2003 gives a lot of useful background information relating to Alexander and his world. Two works discuss an often-neglected subject: iconographic matters relating to Alexander (Pfrommer 1998 and Spawforth 2012).
  96.  
  97. Coppola, Alessandra. “Alexander’s Court.” In Der Achämenidenhof/The Achaemenid Court: Akten des 2. International Colloquiums zum Thema “Vordereasien im Spannungsfeld klassischer und altorientalischer Überlieferungen”, Landgut Castelen bei Basel, 23.-25. Mai 2007. Edited by Bruno Jacobs and Robert Rollinger, 139–152. Classica et Orientalia 2. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 2010.
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  99. A description of the evolution of (and influences on) Alexander’s “mobile court”as he marched across Mesopotamia and the East.
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  101. Pfrommer, Michael. Untersuchungen zur Chronologie und Komposition des Alexandermosaiks auf antiquarischer Grundlage. Aegyptiaca Treverensia 8. Mainz, Germany: Verlag Phillip von Zabern, 1998.
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  103. Another iconographic study, in this case a focus on the famous mosaic from 100 BCE which seems to depict Alexander fighting against Darius III, at the battle of Issus (or perhaps Gaugamela).
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  105. Roisman, Joseph, ed. Brill’s Companion to Alexander the Great. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2003.
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  107. A collection of thirteen essays by international experts on such topics as the ancient evidence; Alexander’s relationship with the Macedonians and Greeks; conquest of the Near Eastern peoples; women; religion; and Alexander’s legacy.
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  109. Spawforth, Antony J. S. “The Pamphleteer Ephippus, King Alexander and the Persian Royal Hunt.” Histos 6 (2012): 169–213.
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  111. Apart from the specialized study of Ephippus (who wrote an account of Alexander’s death), this article contains a good deal about the iconography relating to the lion hunt and hunters of the ancient Near East and Alexander’s adoption of this traditional mode of hunting. It says much about the context for Alexander’s political and cultural assimilation to Persia.
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  113. Historical Sources
  114.  
  115. Because of the nature of the Alexander story, one needs to pay careful attention to sources and where information about Alexander comes from. There are several categories of source that need to be differentiated. There is strong consensus among present-day historians that the best source is the account of Arrian. Next is Plutarch, who makes use of the best tradition but also the “vulgate tradition.”The vulgate tradition, while more legendary and unreliable than the best tradition, is still useful and is found in a number of sources, especially Diodorus of Sicily, Quintus Curtius, and Pompeius Trogus/Justin; Plutarch also made use of it. The least usable is the often fantastical story of Alexander, called the “Alexander Romance” (including some of the Jewish accounts). Bosworth 1988 discusses interpreting the history and biography of Alexander in relation to the various sources. Pearson 1960 surveys the variety of Greek authors who wrote on Alexander’s life but whose work is presently known only in fragments.
  116.  
  117. Bosworth, A. B. From Arrian to Alexander: Studies in Historical Interpretation. Oxford: Clarendon, 1988.
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  119. A study of the historical principles in writing Alexander’s life, concentrating on Arrian and exposing both his strengths and his weaknesses and errors.
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  121. Pearson, L. The Lost Historians of Alexander the Great. American Philological Association Monograph 20. New York: American Philological Association, 1960.
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  123. A study of the historians writing on Alexander who have been preserved only in fragments, even though some of them were the main sources of Arrian and other historians more fully extant today.
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  125. Arrian
  126.  
  127. First of all, the best sources were those written by those who knew Alexander and campaigned with him, such as his general Ptolemy and the historian Aristobulus of Cassandreia who served him; these sources have not survived, but they were available to Arrian (writing about 150 CE) whose account is the most reliable one from antiquity. The Greek text and an English translation are given in Brunt 1976, but the commentary in Bosworth 1980– is very important (as is his monograph on Arrian’s approach to writing Alexander’s life (Bosworth 1988, cited under Historical Sources). A very helpful translation with annotations is given in Romm 2010, and an accessible English translation is Sélincourt 1971 in the Penguin edition. See also the discussion in Hammond 1993.
  128.  
  129. Bosworth, A. B. A Historical Commentary on Arrian’s History of Alexander. Oxford: Clarendon, 1980–.
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  131. This commentary is still in progress but constitutes a valuable resource of information, with detailed comments on the text by a leading specialist on Alexander.
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  133. Brunt, P. A., ed. Arrian with an English Translation: I Anabasis Alexandri, Books I-IV. Loeb Classical Library 236. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976.
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  135. The best translation in English, along with the Greek text, a good introduction, and some notes. The second volume is Arrian with an English Translation: II Anabasis of Alexander, Books V-VII, Indica. Classical Library 269. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983.
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  137. Hammond, N. G. L. Sources for Alexander the Great: An Analysis of Plutarch’s Life and Arrian’s Anabasis Alexandrou. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
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  139. An analysis of the two best preserved sources for Alexander’s life, Arrian and Plutarch.
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  141. Romm, James, ed. The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander: Anabasis Alexandrou. Translated by Pamela Mensch. New York: Pantheon, 2010.
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  143. A very useful English edition, with reliable translation and many maps, annotations, appendices, and a good index. With an introduction by Paul Cartledge. This is part of a series that includes Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon’s Hellenika.
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  145. Sélincourt, Aubrey de, trans. Arrian: the Campaigns of Alexander. Rev. ed. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin, 1971.
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  147. An inexpensive fluent translation into English, with an introduction and some notes by J. R. Hamilton.
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  149. Plutarch
  150.  
  151. Plutarch was eclectic in drawing on sources for his life of Alexander, making use of both the standard best tradition and the vulgate tradition. His format was to put certain similar lives side by side as a way of comparison. In this case, he twins Alexander with Julius Caesar. Two important studies of Plutarch’s account are the Hamilton 1969 commentary and the discussion in Hammond 1993. For English translations, see the Loeb edition (Perrin 1989) and the Penguin edition (Scott-Kilvert and Duff 2012).
  152.  
  153. Hamilton, J. R. Plutarch, Alexander: A Commentary. Oxford: Clarendon, 1969.
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  155. A detailed commentary on Plutarch’s text.
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  157. Hammond, N. G. L. Sources for Alexander the Great: An Analysis of Plutarch’s Life and Arrian’s Anabasis Alexandrou. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
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  159. A study of the two best accounts of Alexander’s life and work, including the biography by Plutarch that is second only to Arrian’s.
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  161. Perrin, Bernadotte, ed. Plutarch: Lives: Demosthenes and Cicero, Alexander and Caesar. Vol. 7. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989.
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  163. The standard edition of the Greek text, with English translation, introduction, and some notes.
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  165. Scott-Kilvert, Ian, and Timothy E. Duff, trans. The Age of Alexander: Ten Greek Lives by Plutarch. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin, 2012.
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  167. An inexpensive fluent translation into English (with an introduction and some notes) of ten of Plutarch’s lives relating to the time of Alexander, including his “Life of Alexander.”
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  169. The Vulgate Tradition
  170.  
  171. A second class of sources is the so-called “vulgate tradition.” It is not a unified tradition, but generally draws on sources that are less reliable than those used by the best tradition. Diodorus of Sicily, Pompeius Trogus/Justin, and Quintus Curtius all tend to follow vulgate sources and should always be compared with Arrian. Nevertheless, sometimes the vulgate tradition preserves information not in Arrian, such as the siege and destruction of Samaria, which rebelled after Alexander had marched to Egypt (see below under Wadi ed-Daliyeh Finds). Bosworth 1975 devotes an article to the vulgate tradition, while Hammond 1983 provides a monograph on the three main vulgate authors. For an edition and English translation of Diodorus and Quintus Curtius, see the Loeb Classical Library (Oldfather, et al. 1933–1967; Rolfe 1976–1989). Yardley and Develin 1994 gives an English translation of Pompeius Trogus (in the Epitome of Justin). Fragments of Ephippus of Olynthus can be found in Jacoby 1926–1958 (number 126) and Gadaleta 2001; see also the discussion in Pearson 1960) (pp. 61–67; cited under Historical Sources). Fragments of some other Alexander historians in this tradition can be found in Jacoby 1926–1958) (numbers 117–153).
  172.  
  173. Bosworth, A. B. “Arrian and the Alexander Vulgate.” In Alexandre le Grand: Image et réalité. By A. B. Bosworth, 1–46. Entretiens sur lAntiquité Classique 22. Geneva, Switzerland: Foundation Hardt, 1975.
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  175. A discussion of the relationship between the vulgate tradition and Arrian’s account.
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  177. Gadaleta, A. P. “Efippo storico di Alessandro: Testimonianze e frammenti.” Annali della Facoltà di Lettre e Filosofia, Università degli Studi Bari 44 (2001): 97–144.
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  179. The preserved fragments of a contemporary of Alexander who wrote about his death (but probably not an eyewitness). He belongs to the less trustworthy tradition.
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  181. Hammond, N. G. L. Three Historians of Alexander the Great: The So-called Vulgate Authors, Diodorus, Justin, and Curtius. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
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  183. An examination of the three main vulgate authors.
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  185. Jacoby, Felix. Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. Parts 1–17. Berlin: Weidman, 1926–1958.
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  187. A valuable collection in Greek of Greek historians whose works are preserved only in fragmentary form, with introduction and notes in German; unfortunately, there is no English translation.
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  189. Oldfather, C. H., C. L. Sherman, C. Bradford Welles, et al., eds. Diodorus Siculus. Vols 1–12. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1933–1967.
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  191. The standard edition of the Greek text, with English translation and introduction and some notes.
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  193. Rolfe, John C., ed. Quintus Curtius: The Life of Alexander. Vols. 1–2. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976–1989.
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  195. The standard edition of the Latin text, with English translation and introduction and some notes.
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  197. Yardley, J. C., and Robert Develin, eds. Justin: Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus. American Philological Associaton Classical Resource Series 3. Atlanta: Scholars, 1994.
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  199. An English translation of Pompeius Trogus’s work, especially important since his “Life of Alexander” is not available in the Loeb Classical Library.
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  201. Alexander Romance
  202.  
  203. The vulgate tradition became the basis for another even less reliable tradition, the legendary “Alexander Romance,” sometimes called Pseudo-Callisthenes. A Greek version of the Romance had probably developed by late antiquity and then continued to evolve and circulate in a variety of translations through the Middle Ages. Stoneman 1991 discusses the origins and developments of the original Greek version of the Romance and gives an English translation. For Hebrew versions (with English translations), that sometimes contain unique episodes (including the legend of Alexander visiting Jerusalem [on which consult Alexander and Jerusalem]), see van Bekkum 1994 and Kazis 1962.
  204.  
  205. van Bekkum, W. Jac. A Hebrew Alexander Romance according to MS Héb. 671.5 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale. Hebrew Language and Literature Series 1. Groningen, The Netherlands: Styx, 1994.
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  207. A medieval Hebrew manuscript of the Alexander Romance, with an English translation.
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  209. Kazis, I. J. The Book of the Gests of Alexander of Macedon. Cambridge, MA: Medieval Academy of America, 1962.
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  211. A different medieval Hebrew manuscript of the Alexander Romance.
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  213. Stoneman, Richard. The Greek Alexander Romance. London: Harmondsworth, 1991.
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  215. An introduction and discussion of the Greek Alexander Romance, with an English translation.
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  217. Alexander and the Jews
  218.  
  219. The Jews in the Hellenistic world have been the subject of many books, some of which will be noted below. Yet there has also been an interest in what happened to the Jews specifically under Alexander, especially the legend that Alexander came to Jerusalem. (The question of whether Hellenistic culture was compatible with Judaism will be treated under the final section, Alexander’s Legacy: Hellenism.)
  220.  
  221. General
  222.  
  223. Those interested in the history of the Jews can find a number of general reference works that treat their history, religion, and culture in the Greek period, including the time of Alexander. Perhaps the best known is Schürer’s work which first appeared as Lehrbuch der neutestamentlichen Zeitgeschichte in 1874, though revised and expanded during Schürer’s lifetime. It was translated into English and extensively updated several decades ago (Schürer 1973–1987). Davies and Finkelstein 1989 contains essays by a variety of scholars on the Hellenistic period. The most recent and up-to-date treatment of Jewish history in the early Hellenistic period, including the time of Alexander, is Grabbe 2008. A more general but valuable survey of Jewish history is Schwartz 2014. A classic study of Judaism in the Hellenistic period and still valuable is Tcherikover 1959.
  224.  
  225. Davies, W. D., and Louis Finkelstein, eds. The Cambridge History of Judaism, Volume Two: The Hellenistic Age. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
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  227. A collection of essays by scholars of Jewish history on the Hellenistic period, including the time of Alexander.
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  229. Grabbe, Lester L. A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period 2: The Coming of the Greeks: The Early Hellenistic Period (335–175 BCE). Library of Second Temple Studies 68. London and New York: T & T Clark, 2008.
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  231. The most recent history of the Jews in the early Hellenistic period, beginning with the conquests of Alexander and including both primary sources and extensive listing and discussion of secondary literature.
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  233. Schürer, Emil. The Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ. 3 vols. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1973–1987.
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  235. An updating of Schürer’s work from about 1900, beginning with Alexander’s conquests, with volumes on the history, culture, and literature of the Jews. Revised by G. Vermes, F. Millar, and M. Goodman.
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  237. Schwartz, Seth. The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad. Key Themes in Ancient History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  238. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139649476Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  239. A survey of Jewish history in the Greek period and the entire Roman period to the coming of Islam, by a Jewish historian with interesting ideas and interpretations.
  240. Find this resource:
  241. Tcherikover, Victor A. Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews. New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1959.
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  243. An older work that thoroughly discusses the history and religion of the Jews under Greek rule, beginning of with Alexander; still valuable, in spite of its age.
  244. Find this resource:
  245. Wadi ed-Daliyeh Finds
  246.  
  247. A major event affecting the area of Palestine during the time of Alexander was the rebellion and destruction of Samaria, after Alexander had marched into Egypt (Quintus Curtius 4.8.9–11). Apparently, some of those fleeing from the city took refuge in Wadi ed-Daliyeh but were tracked down by Macedonian soldiers and massacred. Their remains and the possessions they had managed to take with them were excavated in the 1960s. The material finds have been reported on in the volume Lapp and Lapp 1974 and Leith 1997, and the written material has been published in Gropp 2001 and Dušek 2007. Most of the artifacts and manuscripts relate to the late Persian period.
  248.  
  249. Dušek, Jan. Les manuscrits araméens du Wadi Daliyeh et la Samarie vers 450–332 av. J.-C. CHANE 30. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  250. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004161788.i-702Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  251. The restored Aramaic text of the written manuscripts transcribed, with translation and commentary in French.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Gropp, Douglas M. Wadi Daliyeh II: The Samaria Papyri from Wadi Daliyeh. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 28. Oxford: Clarendon, 2001.
  254. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  255. The editio princeps of the manuscript material, though for a number of documents only photographs are included but no transcription or commentary. (The second part, by Moshe Bernstein, et al. Qumran Cave 4: XXVIII Miscellanea, Part 2, has no connection with the Samaria Papyri.)
  256. Find this resource:
  257. Lapp, Paul W., and Nancy L. Lapp, ed. Discoveries in the Wadi ed-Dâliyeh. AASOR 41. Cambridge, MA: ASOR, 1974.
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259. Archaeological report on the excavations, including the human remains and artifacts.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Leith, Mary Joan Winn, ed. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XXIV: Wadi Daliyeh I The Wadi Daliyeh Seal Impressions. Oxford: Clarendon, 1997.
  262. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  263. Most of the seal impressions from Wadi Daliyeh (though seal number 2 is unaccountably omitted), most of which are anepigraphic (without writing).
  264. Find this resource:
  265. Alexander and Jerusalem
  266.  
  267. One incident alleged for Alexander is the story that he called on the Jerusalem high priest for soldiers to assist his siege of Tyre. When the high priest refused, Alexander marched on the city, with the aim of punishing the Jewish people. But he had a dream in which he saw the high priest. When he arrived at Jerusalem, the people came out to meet him, led by the high priest, whom Alexander did obeisance to and honored. This story occurs as early as the Jewish writer Josephus, but is found in none of the Greek histories of Alexander. It occurs in some of the Hebrew versions of the Alexander Romance (though not in the earlier Greek version) and also in the medieval Jewish history in Hebrew known as Josippon. An older discussion is given in Marcus 1934. He and most current scholars dismiss it as mere legend: Momigliano 1979; Cohen 1982–1983; Grabbe 1987. One of the few to defend it is Kasher 2011, though the editors of the volume were not convinced. For an edition of Josippon, with a Hebrew account of the story, (see Flusser 1978–1980).
  268.  
  269. Cohen, Shaye D. J. “Alexander the Great and Jaddus the High Priest according to Josephus.” AJS Review 7–8 (1982–1983): 41–68.
  270. DOI: 10.1017/S0364009400000659Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271. A leading Jewish historian’s argument that the story of Alexander’s going to Jerusalem is a legend and not historical.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Flusser, David. Sefer Yosippon. Vols. 1–2. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1978–1980.
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  275. The best edition of the Hebrew text of Josippon, with introduction and notes (all in Hebrew).
  276. Find this resource:
  277. Grabbe, Lester L. “Josephus and the Reconstruction of the Judaean Restoration.” Journal of Biblical Literature 106 (1987): 231–246.
  278. DOI: 10.2307/3260635Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  279. An evaluation of Josephus’s picture of Judah in the Persian and early Greek period, including an evaluation of Alexander’s supposed excursion to Jerusalem (rejected as being unhistorical).
  280. Find this resource:
  281. Kasher, Aryeh. “Further Revised Thoughts on Josephus’ Report of Alexander’s Campaign to Palestine (Ant. 11.304–347).” In Judah between East and West: The Transition from Persian to Greek Rule (ca. 400-200 BCE). Edited by Lester L. Grabbe and Oded Lipschits, 131–157. Library of Second Temple Studies 75. London and New York: T & T Clark, 2011.
  282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283. One of the few defenses of Alexander’s encounter with the Jerusalem high priest as historical by a modern scholar (though the editors of the volume are not convinced by his arguments).
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Marcus, Ralph. “Appendix C. Alexander the Great and the Jews.” In Josephus. Vol 6. Edited by Ralph Marcus, 512–532. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934.
  286. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287. An older discussion of the Josephus’s story, with bibliography; helpful but needs to be supplemented by more recent study (such as Momigliano 1979 and Cohen 1982–1983).
  288. Find this resource:
  289. Momigliano, Arnaldo. “Flavius Josephus and Alexander’s Visit to Jerusalem.” Athenaeum 57 (1979): 442–448.
  290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  291. A leading Jewish historian’s argument that the story of Alexander’s going to Jerusalem is a legend and not historical, especially focusing on Josephus’s own contribution to the development of the story.
  292. Find this resource:
  293. Alexander’s Legacy: Hellenism
  294.  
  295. Alexander’s advance brought a new culture to the ancient Near East. Although Greek culture was well-known in areas around mainland Greece, including Asia Minor, its influence had been sporadic in parts of the Mediterranean that were further removed. But as Alexander marched east, he founded military colonies and Greek cities (called poleis). The settlers in these foundations were Greeks or native troops who lived a Greek lifestyle. The new administration used the Greek language. The Jews, of course, became a part of this new Hellenistic world, with a number of consequences.
  296.  
  297. General
  298.  
  299. Beginning immediately with Alexander, but especially over time, the culture of the ancient Near East was transformed. This process is well described in the older work of Tarn and Griffith 1952. Less detailed but more recent and equally useful is Walbank 1992. Older works tend to emphasize how much Greek culture transformed the whole region, yet some recent studies have given a greater nuance to the process of Hellenization. The edited volume Kuhrt and Sherwin-White 1987 and the monograph Sherwin-White and Kuhrt 1993 show the extent to which the original cultures of the ancient Near East continued to flourish, but Greek was added to the mix.
  300.  
  301. Kuhrt, Amélie, and Susan Sherwin-White, eds. Hellenism in the East. London: Duckworth, 1987.
  302. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  303. A collection of essays, showing the importance of seeing the post-Alexander Near East from an Eastern perspective rather than just a Greek point of view.
  304. Find this resource:
  305. Sherwin-White, Susan, and Amélie Kuhrt. From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. London: Duckworth, 1993.
  306. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307. This shows especially how Near Eastern culture continued to thrive even after the coming of the Greeks and helped to shape the impact of Greek culture on the native peoples.
  308. Find this resource:
  309. Tarn, W. W., and G. T. Griffith. Hellenistic Civilisation. 3d ed. London: Arnold, 1952.
  310. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  311. An older work that gives a thorough overview of the process of Hellenization of the Eastern peoples.
  312. Find this resource:
  313. Walbank, F. W. The Hellenistic World. 2d ed. Fontana History of the Ancient World. London: Fontana, 1992.
  314. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  315. A useful overview of the Hellenistic world that developed in the wake of Alexander and of the process of Hellenism in the region.
  316. Find this resource:
  317. The Jews and Hellenization
  318.  
  319. It was once argued that all the peoples of the East embraced Hellenization except the Jews—apart from a few renegades. As noted in the previous section, it is now accepted that other Near Eastern peoples were as attached to their cultural and religious traditions as the Jews. It is also recognized that the Jews were affected by Hellenization in much the same way as other peoples of the Levant. The classic study showing the effects of Hellenism on the Jews is Hengel 1974. He was not the first, and he also had his critics. For a thorough discussion of the work of Hengel and others, and Hengel’s critics, see Grabbe 2002 and Grabbe 2008. Another discussion of the Jews and Hellenization by an expert knowledgeable in both classical and Jewish sources is Momigliano 1975.
  320.  
  321. Grabbe, Lester L. “The Jews and Hellenization: Hengel and His Critics.” In Second Temple Studies III: Studies in Politics, Class and Material Culture. Edited by Philip R. Davies and John Halligan, 52–66. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement 340. Sheffield, UK: Academic Press, 2002.
  322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  323. An overview of Hellenism and the Jews, including extensive engagement with Hengel’s work and those who have criticized him.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Grabbe, Lester L. “Hellenism and Jewish Identity.” In A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period 2: The Coming of the Greeks: The Early Hellenistic Period (335–175 BCE). By Lester L. Grabbe, 125–165. Library of Second Temple Studies 68. London and New York: T & T Clark, 2008.
  326. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  327. An overview of Hellenism and the Jews in more detail than the previous article; includes a thorough engagement with Hengel’s work, as well as a survey of others who have written on the subject.
  328. Find this resource:
  329. Hengel, Martin. Judaism and Hellenism. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1974.
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331. The classic treatment of the impact of Hellenism on the Jews that must be taken account of in any debate on the question.
  332. Find this resource:
  333. Momigliano, Arnaldo. Alien Wisdom: The Limits of Hellenization. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
  334. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511583773Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  335. A collection of essays by a leading classicist, including the Hellenistic discovery of the Jews, the Greeks and their neighbors in the Hellenistic world, and Iranians and Greeks.
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