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

新的犹太人和其他西闪米特人来源的出版，从波斯时期提供了一个新的文本基础，为古代犹太人的研究。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（到2020年结束），科尔内利亚Wunsch正在准备50多个文本。这些新的波斯时期的来源与犹太人现在必须检查其历史价值。在这里提出的研究项目中，犹太人/阿拉米人在波斯埃及的社会和经济地位将进行文字学检查。它的重点是象犹太人/阿拉米人的殖民地，这已经在申请人的椅子上广泛的工作，并为其中前所未有的研究机会存在，由于我们与ERC研究项目在柏林埃及博物馆（V. Lepper）的合作。我们的项目的研究问题不同于以前的问题象来源。比撒列·波滕的大部分著作都假设大象城是波斯的军事殖民地，他通过圣经《以斯拉-尼希米记》来看待大象城的宗教，认为大象城与流放后的犹太教有相似之处。相反，我们的项目故意把重点放在非宗教问题上：当（a）考虑新出版的阿拉姆文本，（B）将阿拉姆文本与巴比伦尼亚的材料进行比较时，犹太人/阿拉姆人的经济和社会状况如何？该项目的准备工作，已由博士詹姆斯D。摩尔，表明，无论是以前出版的，也没有出版的大象阿拉姆来源提到军事活动，也不是宗教的一个焦点的来源。相反，这些文本主要提供了对犹太人/阿拉米人社会地位及其在波斯帝国背景下在大象上的法律的和经济互动的见解。这样，他们与巴比伦的材料，其中也没有提供有关犹太人的宗教身份的信息（除了在个人姓名的形成）。巴比伦的材料也包含了关于犹太人的法律的和经济地位的重要信息，甚至在其他种族群体中也是如此。这个项目对旧约研究有直接的影响。除了提供对波斯时期犹太教的一种重要形式的地位的见解，这项研究还导致了关于圣经的文学历史问题。其中之一是：根据波斯人的这些概念，我们能否更好地解释《原始资料》中的军事术语，特别是《民数记》中的术语？如果P的军事术语可以用波斯的行政系统来解释，那么对《祭司之源》的神学概况有什么影响？总的来说，我们要求的研究项目将有助于古代犹太人的历史，也将提供一个新的方法，在旧约文学的研究，学者一般日期到波斯时期。

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.