Resolving Disputes in Second Century BCE Herakleopolis

A Study in Jewish Legal Reasoning in Hellenistic Egypt

Robert Kugler (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

288 Seiten

2022
Brill (Verlag)
9789004505636 (ISBN)

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An analysis of the legal reasoning of the Jews who petitioned the leaders of a Jewish πολίτευμα in Hellenistic Egypt, this study reveals that the petitioners relied in heretofore unrecognized ways on Jewish norms—the Torah—to make their appeals.

Resolving Disputes challenges the consensus that the petitions to the leaders of “the πολίτευμα of the Jews in Herakleopolis” (P.Polit.Iud. 8.4-5) prove that while the Ptolemies granted Jews limited self-governance according to their ancestral traditions, the petitioners nonetheless relied almost exclusively on Ptolemaic Greek law to make their agreements and settle their arguments. Reading the appeals in their proper juridical context, this study shows how these Jewish petitioners in fact made sophisticated use of their ancestral norms, drawing from them principles that complemented and contradicted prevailing Greek law. The Jews appealing to the leaders of the πολίτευμα in Herakleopolis embraced Torah.

Robert A. Kugler, Ph.D. (1994), University of Notre Dame, is the Paul S. Wright Professor of Christian Studies at Lewis & Clark College. He has published on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish documentary papyri, including Leviticus at Qumran (Brill, 2017).

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements

1 Introduction

1.1 The Aim of the Study

1.2 The πολίτευμα Papyri as an Archive

1.3 The Contents of the Archive

1.4 The Date and Provenance of the Archive

1.5 The People of the Archive

1.6 The Jewish πολίτευμα in Herakleopolis as the Context for the Petitions

1.7 “Hellenized” Legal Reasoning in the Petitions?

2 Reading Petitions, Recovering Legal Reasoning

2.1 The Dynamics of Making a Petition

2.2 P.Tebt. 3.1.800 (CPJ 1.133). Sabbataios Seeks the Detention of Joanna

2.3 P.Enteux. 23 (CPJ 1.128): Helladote Complains That She Is Deprived of Her Property

2.4 A Framework for Analyzing the πολίτευμα Petitions

3 Delicts against the Person

3.1 P.Polit.Iud. 1: Andronikos Seeks to Restore His Honor

3.2 P.Polit.Iud. 2: Petaus Seeks Release from Prison

3.3 P.Polit.Iud. 6: Theodotos Seeks Justice for the Death of a παιδίον

3.4 Summary

4 On Marriage and Family

4.1 P.Polit.Iud. 3: Protomachos Complains about a Failed Promise of Land Related to a Dowry

4.2 P.Polit.Iud. 4: Philotas Complains about a Betrothal Violated

4.3 P.Polit.Iud. 5: Polyktor Alienates a Dowry-Related Gift of a House from Its Seller

4.4 P.Polit.Iud. 7: Dorotheos Seeks the Return of His Niece to His Care

4.5 Summary

5 On Loans, Leases, Sales, and Labor Agreements

5.1 P.Polit.Iud. 8: Theodotos Seeks Repayment of a Loan

5.2 P.Polit.Iud. 9: Berenike Seeks Satisfaction for the Sale of a Slave and Wet Nurse Contract

5.3 P.Polit.Iud. 10: Ptolemaia Appeals to Obtain a Work Product from Tetous

5.4 P.Polit.Iud. 11: Ptolemaios Seeks to Recover the Cost of a Shipment of Wine from Arsame

5.5 P.Polit.Iud. 12: Nikanor Seeks Payment for a Land Lease

5.6 Pap.Graec.Mon. 287 + 293: Straton Petitions to Complete His Tenancy of Farmland

5.7 Summary

6 Concluding Reflections

Bibliography

Index of Ancient Primary Sources

Index of Modern Authors

Erscheinungsdatum	18.02.2022
Reihe/Serie	Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism ; 201
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	604 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Judentum
ISBN-13	9789004505636 / 9789004505636
Zustand	Neuware