The ‘Persian period’ – roughly, the two centuries from Cyrus ‘capture of Babylon in 539 to Alexander’s capture of Tyre in 332 b.c.e. – presents us with such variety in what may loosely be called ‘Jewish religious life’ that it raises the question, what is meant by ‘Jewish’? The adjective derives from the noun ‘Jews’, Yehudim in Hebrew, Yehudin in Aramaic. For these terms there is on the one hand the territorial definition, ‘residents of Judea’, implied, for example, by the reference to the Persian ‘governor of Judea’ as ‘governor of the Jews’ (Ezra 6: 7, purportedly quoting a letter of Darius I); on the other hand, the ethnic ‘descendants of Judeans’, the members of the Persian garrison in Elephantine, settled there for well over a century, still called themselves Yehudin although they had intermarried with Egyptians and worshipped a number of deities besides Yahweh. A third definition is implied by the uses in Ezra 4: 12; 5: 4–5, which equate ‘the Jews’ with the exiles returned from Babylonia, excluding the population left in Palestine. These Jews worship only ‘the God of heaven and earth’ (that is, Yahweh), and explain their history in terms reminiscent of Deuteronomy (Ezra 5:11). Other documents suggest other definitions – for example, Nehemiah's apology (notably 5: 1, 17) refers to ‘the Jews’ as if they were a privileged class in Jerusalem. If more texts were preserved we should probably have yet more variety.

OUTLINE OF HISTORY

When in 539 b.c.e. Babylon fell to Cyrus, the Achemenid king of Persia (559–530 b.c.e.), Persia was raised to the position of a world empire, which encompassed the whole Near East. In contrast to the Assyrians and Babylonians, however, who had based their rule on large-scale deportations of peoples and a reign of fear, Cyrus from the outset adopted a much more lenient policy, which included resettling exiles in their homelands, reconstructing their temples, and in general presenting himself to the conquered as a liberator. This policy gained him the goodwill of almost the entire ancient world.

Within the framework of this policy, Cyrus issued a proclamation to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, urging them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple there. The first Jews to return from Babylon, headed by Sheshbazzar ‘the prince ofJudah’ (apparently Shenazzar, the son of Jehoiachin, the former king of Judah), encountered numerous difficulties in their attempt to re-establish the national and religious centre of the Jewish people. On their arrival, they found on the outskirts of the destroyed city a small community of the Am ha-Ares, the descendants of the poor, who after the destruction of the first Temple, had continued to dwell in the almost desolate land. This remnant and their neighbours, the Samaritans, Ashdodites, Edomites and Arabs, did not view the repatriates with favour, and used all means in their power to obstruct them, until they finally succeeded in putting an end to the building activities in Jerusalem.

Since the eighteenth century the careful, scientific study of ancient Palestinian coinage struck by both Jewish and non-Jewish authorities has been recognized as an important adjunct to the study of classical Jewish history. The careful recording of coins, the exact cataloguing of the numismatic evidence in archeological excavations (neglected until well into this century), the systematic and detailed description of coin hoards and the methodology relevant to their study, the comparison of dies and the sequence of coins, have all shed new light on classical Jewish history. In addition, the application of related studies in epigraphy, religion, art and architecture, chronology, prosopography, metallurgy and economics have all contributed to our understanding of ancient coinage and, conversely, have increased the light that the study of numismatics can shed on these other disciplines as well as on the study of history in general.

THE PERSIAN PERIOD

Coinage was first introduced into the economic life of Palestine during the sixth and fifth centuries b.c.e. as part of the extended growth of coinage in the Mediterranean world. The two oldest coins which have so far been found in Palestine were minted in Greece in the sixth century, one from Thasos, found at Shechem, and the second from Athens, found in Jerusalem. But as isolated finds they do not allow any definite conclusions. Later on, in the fifth and mainly in the fourth centuries, Phoenician coins as well as local coins came into circulation, though Greek coins continued to be in use.

Hebrew and Aramaic were the two main languages in use among the Jews during the Persian period. They are both north-west Semitic languages but while Hebrew belongs, together with Phoenician, Moabite and Ammonite, to the Canaanite branch, Aramaic forms a branch apart. Hebrew was the native tongue of both Judah and Israel during the monarchic period, although there were dialect distinctions between the north and the south. Among the Canaanite dialects, Moabite seems to be particularly close to Hebrew, but our documentation for these dialects is relatively meagre. After the dissolution of the northern kingdom, speakers of other languages were introduced into various parts of the country to replace exiled Israelites.

Aramaic was the language solely of the Arameans gathered at first in tribal units and then in city-states and petty kingdoms in Syria and Mesopotamia. In the eighth century it became the lingua franca of the Assyrian empire, especially in the provinces ‘Beyond the River’(Euphrates). The complicated cuneiform writing system of the Assyrians was replaced by the relatively simpler alphabetic Aramaic script, at first in those provinces where alphabetic writing was already in use and then in Assyria proper. Aramaic was introduced for commercial and administrative purposes and Aramaic scribes were employed alongside Assyrian ones, since expansion to the west brought about the absorption of many Aramaic speakers into Assyria proper. Aramaic was used for diplomatic purposes in lands outside the Assyrian empire (see, for example, 2 Kings 18: 26, Isa. 36: 11) and subsequently also for communication within the Assyro-Babylonian area (KAI 233).

The Babylonian conquest changed both the civil calendar and the reckoning of years in Judea. 2 Kings 25 illustrates this transformation: first there are two datings after the regnal years of Zedekiah, the last Davidic king. But, after the capture of Jerusalem in 587 b.c.e., the events, even the burning of the Temple, are dated after the regnal years of Nebuchadnezzar. From 586 on, the Jewish computation of years consistently followed the succession of gentile overlords of the chosen people: ‘In the second year of Darius the king’ (Hag. 1: 1), ‘in the second year of Nero Caesar’. A Mishnah explicitly stated that a bill of divorcement (and, certainly, other documents) with an irregular dating would lack legal force. Accordingly, the documents from the desert of Judea, drafted under the Roman rule, just as the documents of the same kind written in the province of Arabia, were dated after the regnal years of the Roman emperors. ‘The name of the ruler is in the beginning (of a bill of divorcement).’

Under the Hasmoneans, from 134–132 b.c.e. on, and under the Herodians, Jerusalem dated by the year of her own kings, as for instance the coins of Alexander Janneus show. During the two rebellions, that of 66–72 c.e. and that of Bar Kochba, coins and documents bore the dates of the respective freedom eras: ‘Freedom of Jerusalem’ and similar slogans in the first rebellion (years 1 to 6), and ‘Redemption of Israel’ vel simile under Bar Kochba (years 1 to 3).

Geography has been defined as the study of space relationships, and it is in this sense that the geography of Palestine must be considered, for upon these relationships very much of its history depends. They are threefold in nature and involve the relation of each region within the country with the other internal regions, of Palestine with the Levant coast of which it is a part, and finally the relation of the Levant with the larger outside world. This world was enormous indeed, for it was in York in England that Constantine was first proclaimed emperor, an event which was to alter the face of Palestine and bring much grief upon the Jewish people, and it was the rich Asian trade, ranging as far as the East Indies and China, which made the Romans so determined to maintain the Provincia Arabia.

In this context two facts are of fundamental importance: the centrality and the extraordinary smallness of Palestine. The entire Middle East is dominated by three great barriers to settlement and easy movement: the towering mountain chains of central Europe and Asia, the dry, forbidding deserts, and the penetrating fingers of the seas, which hold the whole area in their grip. This constriction has determined both the main concentrations of population and the course of the major routes, followed for century after century by both merchants and warriors. Although the notable trading cities of Tyre, Damascus, Palmyra and Petra lay just beyond the Palestinian borders, the routes they served crossed its territory; for here at the south-western end of the Fertile Crescent the desert, closing in upon the Mediterranean, brings cultivation to an end, and all the roads from Asia to Egypt came together at Gaza, where also the opulent caravans from southern Arabia, bringing the riches of the East to Rome, finally reached the sea.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE MATERIAL

Between the years 545 and 538 b.c.e. the whole of the Middle East – including Palestine – was conquered by the Achemenid kings of Persia. At that time the Persian empire, the largest of the empires of the ancient world, extended from North Africa to southern Russia and from Asia Minor to India. In the days of Darius I (522–486 b.c.e.) its borders were consolidated and its interior division was determined. According to this division some twenty satrapies were established, each of which was divided into numerous sub-provinces (see the description in the book of Esther 1: 1 ‘from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces’).

The whole of Palestine constituted only a tiny part of one of these satrapies, namely the country ‘Beyond the River’(Ezra 4: 10–11), a term which was borrowed from the former Assyrian administration and perhaps from an even earlier period (see 1 Kings 4: 24). The province of Beyond the River included, in addition to Palestine, Syria, Phoenicia and Cyprus. According to Herodotus (111.5) its northern border was in Poseideion (now al-Mina at the mouth of the Orontes) and its southern border was at lake Sirbonis (Bardawil lake).

The sub-division of Palestine appears to have been based on the older divisions of the Assyrian and Babylonian administration, probably related to the territorial boundaries of the various peoples living in the country during that period. The best known of these provinces were Megiddo, Dor, Samaria, Judea, Ashdod and Gaza. At the head of each province was a Persian governor or a local representative who was responsible to the satrap of Beyond the River for its efficient administration, payment of taxes and the like. This state of affairs lasted for some two hundred years in Palestine, from 538 to 332 B.C.E., in which year the entire Middle East was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Although the concept of Wisdom is highly problematic, what is known as Wisdom literature – at least in the older Jewish tradition – is easily defined. It involves those literary works in the biblical tradition which have a didactic purpose, yet do not belong to the priestly tradition of the Torah which describes the revealed will of God. The books in question include therefore such texts as Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth), Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom. A series of Psalms has also been regarded as belonging to Wisdom literature, and rightly. Here, however, the category becomes less distinct since the majority of Psalms display certain traits of Wisdom literature, while yet conforming as a whole to the usual patterns of psalmodic composition. As the Psalms are discussed in another chapter, the present essay will refer only to those Psalms which are wholly influenced by the didactic character of Wisdom literature proper. Not until the Hellenistic period do more extensive overlaps occur, so that in addition to the Psalms even those literary works which do not belong to the didactic tradition are strongly endowed with the features of Wisdom literature, for example, Tobit and Baruch.

The dating of Wisdom literature poses greater difficulty – unless it can be traced back to a clearly identifiable historical author such as Jesus, the son of Sirach. Even then the material incorporated in such a work will display a character which is in many respects timeless, so that it can often be identified with older traditions. The book of Job and the bulk of proverb literature doubtless belong to the Persian period, that is, the early post-exilic period up to the advent of Alexander in 332 B . C . E . (In the case of Job one might concede that the final additions, and they alone, were made as late as the Hellenistic period.)

The function of this chapter is a limited one, confined to the consideration of the small Jewish (Judean) community itself, the sources for our understanding of its history, and an attempted reconstruction of the essential elements of that history in the Persian period. The wider background of the Persian empire and the information available to us regarding the position of the political units within the Palestinian area under Persian rule have been considered in chapter 4. The evidence provided by archeology is set out in chapter 5. Inevitably some points of overlap and of difference of interpretation must appear between the present discussion and what has preceded, especially since at many points there are great problems in the interpretation of the relatively meagre evidence. Nor can the history of the Palestinian community be satisfactorily understood without awareness of its relationship to those in Babylonia and in Egypt; the main stages of the history are associated with new figures who appear from Babylonia, and relationship with oneparticular Jewish group in Egypt, that of Elephantine, raises questions about both the chronology of the Palestinian community and the way it regarded itself, though no direct allusion to this Egyptian group is to be found in the biblical material. Discussions of these other areas are to be found in chapter 13. Clearly too the internal life of the community cannot be adequately considered without an awareness of its expression in religious writings such as are discussed in the two chapters that follow on ‘Prophecy and Psalms’ and on ‘Wisdom literature’ (chapters 8 and 9); and in the more general treatment of the religious life of the period there must be overlap and some differences of interpretation from what is here indicated (see chapters 10 and 11).

POLITICAL HISTORY

By the end of the seventh century b.c.e. only four major powers were left on the political map of the Near East: Egypt, Babylonia, Media and Lydia. In 550 the Persians, led by their king, Cyrus II, seized Media and over the next three years invaded Elam, Parthia, Hyrcania on the Caspian sea, and the whole of Asia Minor including Lydia and the Greek colonies. Between 545 and 539 b.c.e. Cyrus II conquered all the regions of Central Asia and Eastern Iran as far as the borders of India.

Following this, in the spring of 539 b.c.e. the Persian army attacked Babylonia and began to advance down the Diyala river valley. At this critical point, Ugbaru, the governor of Gutium (a Babylonian province to the east of the middle course of the Tigris) went over to Cyrus.

All the efforts of Nabonidus, the king of Babylonia, to resist the Persian advance proved doomed to failure. It was in the interests of Babylonia's merchants for an enormous empire to be created which would guarantee them a market and safe trading routes to Egypt, Asia Minor and other countries of the east, and they were therefore prepared to collaborate with the invaders. Influential priestly groups were also dissatisfied with Nabonidus. Although he continued to worship the ancient Babylonian gods Marduk, Nabu and their companions, he gradually began to promote the cult of the Moon god, Sin. Moreover, the Moon god whom Nabonidus patronized was not the traditional god Sin, but one whose symbols and forms of worship were more reminiscent of Aramaic deities.

INTRODUCTION: THE PROBLEM AND THE METHOD

The fact that in the latter part of the Second Temple period Judaism was undergoing far-reaching changes and developing new aspects, trends, themes and ideas, which were to be retained in part as belonging to the permanent stock of Jewish life and thought, has long attracted the attention of students of Judaism. The most obvious of these changes was in the use of language – the structure, syntax, morphology and lexicon of the later writings in Hebrew display differences which put them apart from the earlier books, and a new language was added to the range of sacred expression, which figures already in some of the later biblical books. These outward changes reflect some of the adjustments made necessary by the new situation of the world: the creation of the world empire of the Persians, their adoption of Aramaic as an official language for purposes of international communication, and the fact that both Hebrew and Aramaic absorbed a great number of Persian words and coined certain expressions under the influence of Persian, as they also didsubsequently under that of Greek. Many of these words and expressions were, naturally, in the field of government and administrative practice, but this was by no means the only field in which this linguistic impact was present. We have some words belonging to general civilian life, as well as some which became part of the Jewish religious terminology, although they were not exclusively of religious significance in their original linguistic background (for example, raz pardes, nahŔir).