Agrippa I and Palestinian Judaism in the first century
A number of scholars have argued that Agrippa I, upo? becoming king of Judea, aligned himself with, or at least followed the practices of, the Pharisees. While by no means the unanimous opinion of modern scholarship, this assertion has found its way into almost all recent reference work.1 The religious orientation of Agrippa is significant not just for the biography of the king. It is relevant to issues in the history of first-century Judaism. Affiliation with the Pharisees on the part of a popular ruler would support the widely-held view that the former were an extremely influential group and/or that Pharisaism was the dominant form of Palestinian Judaism. A shrewd politician like Agrippa would be unlikely to adopt religious practices rejected by the majority of his Jewish subjects or to align himself with a peripheral faction lacking broad appeal. While such a posture is not impossible ? especially if Agrippa's motivation was genuine conviction rather than political pragmatism ? a Pharisaic orientation that involved "swimming against the stream" would presumably be reflected in the popular standing of the king,or at least in the sources concerning him. So if we were able to prove that Agrippa followed the Pharisees we would have a strong argument for the dominant position of the Pharisaic party.2 But if, as I hope to show, the Judaism of Agrippa was not Pharisaic in character our understanding of the religion of first-century Judea will be different. I shall argue that the practices of Agrippa in fact reflect the common form of first-century Judaism, but that the common form was not Pharisaic. I shall return to these issues below; first we must examine the available evidence concerning the Judaism of Agrippa. I begin with the testimony of Josephus and then I shall discuss the evidence of rabbinic literature. An appendix follows my conclusions in which I argue that a well known source about "Yannai the King" actually refers to Agrippa I.
The Holiday of Holidays: A Triple-Holiday Festival for Christians, Jews and Muslims
Religions differ from each other in their beliefs, customs and holidays. They often ignite wars and create impenetrable boundaries between peoples. Religion becomes the spearhead and driving force for hatred, destruction, and separation from the other. The author will discuss an inter-religion holiday that is exceptional in the Middle East and in the entire world: called the Holiday of Holidays Festival, it unites the holidays of the three monotheistic religions, Christian Christmas, Jewish Hanukkah and Muslim Ramadan, and its logo is three intertwined hands. It takes place during the months of November and December in a mixed neighbourhood in the city of Haifa, Israel. The organizers of this festival try to create an inversion of social reality, representing it in a new and subversive form by blurring the boundaries between holiday and festival, private and public, sacred and secular, local and global, as well as between rival groups. Les religions diffèrent les unes des autres dans leurs croyances, leurs coutumes et leurs jours de congé. Elles déclenchent souvent des guerres et créent des frontières hermétiques entre les peuples. Les religions deviennent le fer de lance et la force de conduite de la haine, de la destruction et de la séparation de l'autre. L'auteure se penche sur un congé religieux qui est exceptionnel au Moyen-Orient et dans le monde entier. Nommé “la fête du congé des congés” il réunit les congés des trois religions monothéistes: le Noël chrétien, la Hanoukka juive et le Ramadan musulman. Son logo se compose de trois mains entrelacées. Cette fête a lieu durant les mois de novembre et décembre dans l'environnement mixte de la ville de Haïfa en Israël. Les organisateurs de cette fête essaient de créer une inversion de la réalité sociale par une représentation nouvelle et subversive de celle-ci, et ce en rendant floues les frontières entre congé et fête, privé et public, sacré et profane, local et global, et entre des groupes rivaux.
Events in Arabia in the 6th Century A.D.
I. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS Two accounts of trade conditions in the 6th century show that there had been a great change since the ' Periplus Maris Erythaei' was written, about A.D. 50. The writer of that manual for merchant skippers was precise as to the location of the incense-bearing lands. After Kanē, as the land continues on, there opens out another, very broad, gulf, stretching a considerable distance in depth. It is called Sakhalitēs, and the ‘ libanos-bearing land ’. It is mountainous and bad for landing. The air is thick, dust-laden with the libanos blown down from the trees. These trees that bear libanos are of no great diameter, and are not tall. They produce the libanos in a solid form on the bark, just as some of our trees in Egypt weep gum. The libanos is handled by the royal slaves and by those sent for punishment. These places are dreadfully infectious and plague-ridden, even for those just sailing along the coast, but for those working there death is in the air, and they are downright destructive because of the insufficiency of food.1