Palestine in Late Antiquity (review)

The last two decades have seen a number of studies of late ancient Palestine. Yet for the most part, those publications have focused on individual topics within that wider scope, for example, Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land, christological controversies against the background of the growth of monasticism, case studies of individual authors and their works, developments in Palestinian Judaism, or the continuation of practices and cults outside of the Judeo-Christian continuum. Sivan's monograph, by contrast, strives to address the question of the interactions between these communities for the period from the fourth to the seventh century, combining insights gained from textual sources, many of which are rabbinic, epigraphic, and archaeological.

In eight main chapters, the book follows a rather unconventional approach. Instead of following a linear, chronologically ordered presentation, it highlights in its discussion numerous aspects within larger topics that throw light on how the process of a steadily increasing Christianization exercised its impact on the shape of the cultural landscape in the areas of religion, literature, politics, gender relations, and urban centralization. The main theme the author identifies and attempts to follow is that of conflict, accompanied at times by manifestations of violence. Availing itself of the technique of a fictitious narrator moving from the north to the south, Chapter One considers the development of Constantinian to Anastasian landscapes. It demonstrates the differences and changing shapes of the various religious communities involved (Jews, Samaritans, Christians, and various polytheist religions), of civil and religious monuments, economies, public rituals, to mention only a few components of the discussion. In the second half, the discussion highlights the tensions in Jerusalem and environs between ascetics and the ecclesial leadership in the later part of the fifth century, the overall peaceful coexistence between Jews, Christians, and pagans in the south (Gaza) and the north (Galilee), and suggestively takes the discussion of the theme of religious interaction up to the times of Heraclius and 'Abd al-Malik.

Chapter Two focuses on frontier regions of life in Palestine, approaching them through the lenses of the world of dreams and visions, the more precarious existence of ascetics, and the discovery of Palestine as a holy land through relics and pilgrimage. In those worlds at the periphery, ascetics, pilgrims, and the semi-nomadic and sedentary polytheists could dwell alongside one another more or less peacefully. Archaeological discoveries of the last few decades allow Sivan to follow the traces of the interactions, cultural diversity, and growing prosperity of the local communities of hellenized Christians and bedouin in the Negev or Jews, Samaritans, Polytheists, Christians of varying sectarian affiliations, and Ghassanid Arabs in the Golan.

Chapter Three provides a detailed study of the Samaritans primarily during the fifth and sixth centuries, when they constituted a noticeable threat to Christians (for example, monks who were contesting the Council of Chalcedon and experienced physical violence at the hands of Samaritan soldiers) to Jews, in interactions with whom the violence remains verbal, and also to imperial forces. The attention paid to this group, which is often overlooked, yet central to communal interactions in Palestine, is to be welcomed.

Chapter Four focuses on contests arising between the diverse communities in Palestine over the public practice of religious rituals. A hardening of imperial politics goes hand in hand with destructive acts on the part of individual sets of monks, for example, the notorious ascetic Barsauma. Chapters Five and Eight highlight aspects of cultural interaction and strife between religious communities in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Sepphoris, and Gaza. Chapter Six takes account of a further range of sources of conflict between Jews and Christians, including parallel and yet competing celebrations of festivals, interpretations of scriptural passages, or claims concerning the definition of the boundaries of Israel (for example, between the Madaba map and the mosaic at Rehov, [258-60]). Chapter Seven offers an important discussion that extends our understanding of the location of conflicts between the communities also to the realm of relationships between men and women. This reviewer is intrigued by the potential of this particular discussion for further research.

The...