Course Syllabus

What happened to the Jews from the destruction of their first temple in 586 BCE to the destruction of their second temple in 70 CE? What can the archive from Elephantine, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish apocrypha, and the works of Josephus tell us about their transformation from Israelites to Jews? 

We'll follow the Judeans forward in time through the ancient texts they created. Along the way we'll discuss issues of identity formation, sociohistory, and textual studies. If you ever wanted an excuse to dive into the less-known Jewish texts of the late first millennium BCE, this course is for you!

Syllabus draft 3/22/24: SYLLABUS MELC 307 From Israelites to Jews.docx

No prerequisites. MW 3:30-4:50. 3 credits A&H.

This course meets as MELC 307 (undergraduate), JEW ST 317A (undergraduate), and MELC 507 (graduate). It is an elective for Comparative Religion.