The Origins of Judaism: From Canaan to the Rise of Islam » (New Edition)

Robert Goldenberg is Professor of History and Judaic Studies at Stony Brook University (SUNY). He has published in numerous journals, including the Journal of Jewish Studies; Journal of the American Academy of Religion; Judaism; Harvard Theological Review; Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods; and Jewish Studies Quarterly. His most recent book is The Nations that Know Thee Not: Ancient Jewish Attitudes toward Other Religions (1998).

A clear, straightforward account of the development of ancient Judaism in both the Judean homeland and the Diaspora.

Illustrations     vii
Acknowledgments     ix
Abbreviations and References     xi
A Note of Introduction     1
The Prehistory of Judaism     5
The Beginnings of Monotheism     26
The Book and the People     41
Crisis and a New Beginning     68
The First Kingdom of Judaea     86
Diaspora and Homeland     106
A Century of Disasters     120
The Rebirth of Judaism     137
The Rabbis and Their Torah     160
The End of Ancient History     179
Three Sample Passages from the Babylonian Talmud     193
Rabbinic Biographies     210
The Sabbath     220