Cross-listed with JWST648B, JWST409B and HIST619D. Credit only granted for JWST409B, JWST648B, JWST409B and HIST619D.

In this course we will explore important areas of change in Jewish communities and practice in late antiquity (300-700 CE). In addition, the course introduces the sources available to historians working on Jews inthis period: inscriptions, papyri, classical rabbinic works, other literary works by Jews, magical bowls and amulets, Roman law, and texts writt en about Jews in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Arabic. In addition to basic questions such as where Jews lived and when and the possible contraction of Jewish populations, we will examine cultural developmentsincluding the rise of the rabbinic movement in Palestine andMesopotamia, the development of synagogues and liturgy (and their focus on Temple and priestliness), eschatological and messianic expectation, and the interplay between mysticism (imagining and visitingthe heavenlyrealms), magical te xts, and other forms of Jewish practice and community.