Rewriting Ancient Jewish History

<p>Half a century ago the primary contours of the history of the Jews in Roman times were not subject to much debate. This standard account collapsed however when a handful of insights undermined the traditional historical method the method long enlisted by historians for eliciting facts from sources. In response to these insights a new historical method gradually emerged. <i>Rewriting Ancient Jewish History </i>critiques the traditional historical method and makes a case for the new one illustrating how to write anew ancient Jewish history. </p><p>At the heart of the traditional historical method lie three fundamental presumptions. The traditional historical method regularly presumes that multiple versions of a text or tradition are equally authentic; it presumes that many ancient Jewish sources are the products of largely immanent forces of cloistered Jewish communities; and barring any local grounds for suspicion it presumes that most ancient Jewish texts faithfully reflect their sources and reliably recount events. <i>Rewriting Ancient Jewish History </i>unfurls the failings of this approach; it promotes the new historical method which circumvents the flawed traditional presumptions while plotting anew the limits of rational argumentation in historical inquiry. This crucial reappraisal is a must-read for students of Jewish and Roman history alike and a fascinating case-study in how historians should approach their ancient sources. </p>