This chapter places the Dead Sea Scrolls into dialogue with social-scientific scholarship on violence in New Religious Movements. It introduces the sociological model of a multipart process of escalating tension (latent tension, nascent conflict, intensified conflict) based on a complex set of internal and external factors that potentially ends in what he refers to as violent dramatic denouements. Chapter 2 focuses on the first stage of the process, which provides a framework in which to situate the nonviolent origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls Sectarians and explains how a movement born in social tension develops into a movement steeped in violence. This chapter argues that Miqṣat Ma‘ase HaTorah is reflective of a protest movement in its earlier stages.

Brief remarks suggest different reading strategies to different readers, both specialist and nonspecialist. Those less familiar with modern Iranian history and politics are invited to begin with Chapter 1, the “Introduction.” More knowledgeable readers may prefer to skim over parts of Chapter 1 in order to begin with Chapter 2, “Tied Up in Tehran.” Thanks to the community of support who have contributed to this project.

This chapter provides general concluding thoughts on the book and insights into larger contributions to the scholarly fields in which it interacts.

Little is known about the Jewish presence Roman time Palmyra: the remains of a synagogue and other archaeological and epigraphic data indicate that Jews lived in Palmyra. Their presence is confirmed by onomastics. About twenty biblical names are preserved in inscriptions from Palmyra. Others are found in epitaphs from Beth She‘arim catacombs. However, Palmyrene Jews also bore Palmyrene names, and therefore it is not always easy to reconstruct identity and religious affiliation. Therefore the epigraphic data indicate only a small portion of what must have been the Jewish population of Palmyra. Examples of the mobility of Palmyrene Jews are illustrated by their presence in the Roman army, by first century BC–first century AD ossuaries from Palestine with Palmyrene epitaphs and by Palmyrene onomastics in Aramaic and Greek epitaphs. Westward mobility of Palmyrenes is displayed in an Aramaic Bar Kokhba letter mentioning an individual of Palmyrene origin. Finally, fourth to seventh centuries AD documents from Israel and Jordan written in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek show the persistence and fortune, within Jewish and proto-Christian communities, of the name Zenobios and Zenobia, an onomastic choice inspired by the foremost protagonist of the last phase of Palmyrene history.

The core works of what is considered the Czech national opera tradition were created in the late nineteenth century, a time when Czech cultural and political elites were shaping modern Czech identity and cultural institutions. These works were, and to a large extent still are, seen as both establishing national values and representing the Czech nation internationally. Throughout Central Europe, and particularly in the Habsburg lands, opera became an important tool for expressing the political interests of various national groups. This chapter explores the formation of the Czech operatic tradition by focusing on three aspects: the connection between opera and the establishment of the modern Czech language and poetry; the search for suitable subjects that would both incorporate national viewpoints and attract Czech and non-Czech audiences; and the ways in which Czech librettists and composers both familiarized themselves with the conventions of various operatic types and approached them from unique perspectives.

Jakub Hrůša is one of the most renowned Czech classical musicians of the present day. Throughout his career, Hrůša has collaborated with orchestras and opera companies worldwide. In 2022, Hrůša engaged in a series of email exchanges with his friend, composer and musicologist Aleš Březina. The conversation presents Hrůša’s views on the traditions of Czech music and the place of Czech composers in the world of classical music. Hrůša explains what the term “Czech music” means to him, how he distinguishes it from Central European music, and what he thinks about the concepts of mainstream and peripheral musical traditions. He also comments on his experiences as a Czech conductor in the cosmopolitan environment of classical music and more specifically as the music director of the Bamberg Symphony, the German orchestra formed in 1946 predominantly from German musicians expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II.

This article explores The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses through the lens of Brexit. It positions the series as the most recent in a line of BBC television adaptations of the Henry VI plays to capture the tensions and crises simmering within the changing national identity of Britain.

Haydn’s last opera, L’anima del filosofo (The soul of the philosopher), is a highly unusual retelling of the Orpheus myth. Written for the London stage in 1791 to a libretto by Carlo Francesco Badini (c. 1730–1810), the opera was never staged then nor during the composer’s lifetime. Shut down in rehearsal and banished from performance, the opera never reached the stage of the Haymarket Theatre. As Haydn himself concluded, ‘Orfeo was, so to speak, declared contraband’ (‘Orfeo wurde, so zu sagen, als Contrebande erklärt’).