Galilee through the Centuries

"Galilee is significant historically in the origins of Christianity, the Jewish-Roman War, and in the subsequent development of Judaism. This volume contains the twenty-two papers presented to the Second International Congress on Galilee in Antiquity at Duke University, designed to demonstrate the rich, diverse Galilean culture. Two by J. P. Dressel and John S. Jorgensen deal with the Iron Age. Five relate to the Early Roman period, while eight deal with "Jewish, Rabbinic, and Epigraphic Sources." The final seven treat Byzantine, Christian, and early medieval topics. Nine essays discuss aspects of Sepphoris, while Bethsaida, Tiberias, and Caesarea Philippi (also under current excavation) receive little or no attention in this volume. There is minimal attention to the Greek influence on Galilee under the Diadochoi. The two more general essays on Galilee by Sean Freyne ("Behind the Names: Galileans, Samaritans, Ioudaioi," pp. 39-58) and Richard A. Horsley ("Jesus and Galilee: The Contingencies of a Renewal Movement," pp. 57-74) will interest students of social history, early Judaism, and the New Testament. I found Lee I. Levine's article "The Development of the Synagogue in Late Antiquity" (pp. 123-44) highly original and valuable--though only tangentially related to Galilee. He dates the origins of the synagogue much later than most scholarship. (There are three articles on the Sepphoris synagogue.) Thus, though the essays are both more and less than the title suggests, they should be read by all interested in the history of Early Roman and Byzantine Palestine." --Edgar Krentz, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in JNES, January 2003.