Judeans/Arameans at Elephantine: Their Social and Economic Status in Light of New Persian Period Texts from Egypt and Babylonia

从波斯时期出版的新的朱迪亚人和其他西犹特人的资料为研究古代朱迪亚人提供了新的文本基础。自2006年以来，出版了许多新的阿拉姆语和巴比伦语文本。申请人的Lehrstuhl正在准备出版600多个阿拉姆语片段(2020年结束)，Cornelia Wunsch正在准备50多个文本。这些与犹太人有关的新的波斯时期资料现在必须对它们的历史价值进行审查。在这里提出的研究项目中，将从文献学的角度审查犹太人/阿拉伯人在波斯埃及的社会和经济地位。它集中在大象犹太/阿拉伯殖民地，已经在申请人的主席工作广泛的工作，由于我们与柏林埃及博物馆(V.莱珀)的ERC研究项目合作，存在着前所未有的研究机会。我们项目的研究问题不同于之前关于大象来源的问题。贝萨莱尔·波滕的许多作品都假设象牙是波斯的一个军事殖民地，他通过圣经书籍《以斯拉-尼希米记》来看待象牙的宗教，认为它与后流亡的犹太教有相似之处。相反，我们的项目故意侧重于非宗教问题：当(A)考虑新出版的阿拉姆语经文，以及(B)将亚拉姆语经文与巴比伦的材料进行比较时，关于犹太/阿拉米亚人的经济和社会状况可以说些什么？该项目的筹备工作由詹姆斯·D·摩尔博士完成，表明以前出版的和未出版的象牙亚拉姆语资料都没有提到军事活动，宗教也不是资料中的焦点。取而代之的是，这些文本主要提供了对犹太/阿拉伯社会地位的各个方面的洞察，以及他们在波斯帝国背景下对象牙的法律和经济互动。通过这种方式，它们与巴比伦的材料进行了比较，巴比伦的材料也没有提供关于犹太教徒的宗教身份的信息(除了在形成人名方面)。巴比伦的材料还载有关于犹太人，甚至是其他族裔群体的法律和经济地位的重要信息。该项目对《旧约》的研究产生了直接的影响。除了对波斯时期犹太教的一种重要形式的地位提供洞察外，这项研究还导致了关于圣经的文学史问题。其中之一是：鉴于这些波斯概念，能否更好地解释《祭司本源》中的军事术语，特别是在《民数记》中？如果P的军事术语可以用波斯的行政系统来解释，对《祭司来源》的神学概况有什么影响？总体而言，我们要求的研究项目将有助于研究古代犹太教徒的历史，也将为研究旧约文献提供一种新的方法，学者们通常可以追溯到波斯时期。

The publication of new Judean and other West-Semite sources from the Persian period provides a new textual basis for the study of ancient Judeans. Since 2006, many new Aramaic and Babylonian texts have been published. The applicant’s Lehrstuhl is preparing the publication of 600 more Aramaic fragments (ending 2020), and Cornelia Wunsch is preparing 50 more texts. These new Persian period sources pertaining to Judeans now must be examined for their historical value.In the research project proposed here, the social and economic status of the Judeans / Arameans in Persian Egypt will be examined philologically. It focuses on the Elephantine Judean/Aramean colony, which has been extensively worked on work at the applicant’s chair and for which unprecedented research opportunities exist due to our cooperation with an ERC research project at the Berlin Egyptian Museum (V. Lepper).Our project’s research question differs from previous questions about Elephantine sources. Much of the work of Bezalel Porten assumed that Elephantine was a Persian military colony, and he viewed its religion through the biblical books Ezra-Nehemiah, arguing for similarities with post-exilic Judaism. Instead, our project deliberately focuses on the non-religious issue: what can be said about the economic and social situation of the Judeans / Arameans when (a) considering newly published Aramaic texts, and (b) comparing the Aramaic texts with the material from Babylonia? The project’s preparatory work, that has been done by Dr. James D. Moore, shows that neither the previously published nor the unpublished Elephantine Aramaic sources refer to military activity, nor is religion a focal point in the sources. Instead, the texts mostly provide insights into aspects of Judean / Aramean social status and their legal and economic interactions within a Persian imperial context on Elephantine. In this way, they compare with the Babylonian materials, which also do not provide information about the religious identity of the Judeans (except in the formation of personal names). The Babylonian material also contains important information on the legal and economic status of Judeans, even among other ethnic groups. The project has immediate consequences for Old Testament research. Beyond providing insights into the status of an important form of Persian period Judaism, the research leads to literary-historical questions about the Bible. One of which is: can one better explain the military terminology within the Priestly Source, particularly in the book of Numbers, in view of these Persian concepts? What are the implications for the theological profile of the Priestly Source, if P’s military terms can be explained by the Persian administrative system?Overall, our requested research project will contribute to the history of ancient Judeans and also will provide a new approach in the study of that Old Testament literature which scholars generally date to the Persian period.