Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus
Overview
In Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit Jodi Magness unearths “footprints” buried in both archaeological and literary evidence to shed new light on Jewish daily life in Palestine from the mid-first century BCE to 70 CE—the time and place of Jesus’ life and ministry.
Magness analyzes recent archaeological discoveries from such sites as Qumran and Masada together with a host of period texts, including the New Testament, the works of Josephus, and rabbinic teachings. Layering all these sources together, she reconstructs in detail a fascinating variety of everyday activities—dining customs, Sabbath observance, fasting, toilet habits, burial customs, and more.
Jodi Magness brings the ancient Near East to life with a fresh and original perspective making Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit a must-have for anyone interested in the Second Temple Period. Produced with scholarly rigor yet accessible to nonspecialists and students this volume is, with the Logos Bible Software, completely searchable and fully linked to the original-language texts in your library. This makes the Logos edition of Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit useful and accessible for students, pastors, academics, and laity.
- Maintains an academic yet readable style
- Includes bibliographical references
- Contains an index of modern authors, subjects, and Scripture and other ancient texts
Top Highlights
“the rabbis ruled that impurity can affect the outside of a vessel without contaminating the inside” (Page 22)
“In the ancient Mediterranean world oil was used for washing,” (Page 122)
“Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Jesus’ movement.3 These groups were differentiated by their approaches to the interpretation and practice of biblical law, with many of the disagreements among them centering on the Jerusalem temple and especially purity observance relating to the sacrificial cult.” (Page 3)
“The Sadducees were members of the Jerusalem elite or governing class, including some high priests, although not all of the high priests and aristocracy were Sadducees.” (Page 4)
“Josephus provides valuable information, despite his well-known biases and misrepresentations” (Pages 3–4)
Jodi Magness brings the literary evidence from both Jewish and New Testament writings together with the extensive archaeological material to produce a literally ‘down to earth’ picture of the conditions and customs of daily life in the late Second Temple period which will be essential reading for all who are interested in the period.
—Fergus Millar, Oriental Institute, Oxford University
Magness’ latest work is a superb handbook on Jewish daily life in the late Second Temple period. She demonstrates how texts and archaeology, with careful scholarship, can mutually illuminate each other. This book will be valuable for undergraduates, graduate students, and all scholars of the period for a long time to come.
—Sidnie White Crawford, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Bringing together archaeological evidence, Second Temple–period sources including the Dead Sea Scrolls, and early Christian literature, Jodi Magness illuminates numerous aspects of the daily life of Second Temple Jews. Her originality and mastery of the sources makes this a major contribution to our field.
—Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University
- Title: Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus
- Author: Jodi Magness
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 2011
- Pages: 375