The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad

An accessible and up-to-date historical narrative with detailed thematic discussion of crucial historical changes.

An accessible and up-to-date narrative of the millennium of Jewish history following Alexander's conquest of the East, by one of the most exciting historians of the subject. Introduces and analyses key events, institutions, and texts, and provides an excellent synthesis for students and scholars of Jewish history and of ancient history.This is an accessible and up-to-date account of the Jews during the millennium following Alexander the Great's conquest of the East. Unusually, it acknowledges the problems involved in constructing a narrative from fragmentary yet complex evidence and is, implicitly, an exploration of how this might be accomplished. Moreover, unlike most other introductions to the subject, it concentrates primarily on the people rather than issues of theology and adopts a resolutely unsentimental approach to the subject. Professor Schwartz particularly demonstrates the importance of studying Jewish history, texts and artefacts to the broader community of ancient historians because of what they can contribute to wider themes such as Roman imperialism. The book serves as an excellent introduction for students and scholars of Jewish history and of ancient history.