What is it about?
The article discusses a passage in the early Christian 'Letter of Barnabas', which seems to imply that rebuilding is taking place on the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed in 70 CE. The dating of the text is discussed and a date in Hadrian's reign proposed, when preparations were being made for the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina, on the site of Jerusalem. The article argues that such a date is consistent with what we know of Roman policy towards indigenous cults in relation to military colonies.
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Why is it important?
It brings a discussion of Roman policy towards indigenous cults in military colonies to bear on the exegesis of an apparent reference in an early Christian text to rebuilding woprk on the site of the Temple.
Perspectives
This research emerged from teaching Second Temple and Roman period Jewish history.
Anthony Sheppard
British Institute at Ankara
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Letter of Barnabas and the Jerusalem Temple, Journal for the Study of Judaism, October 2017, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/15700631-12481176.
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