historical perspectives: from the hasmoneans to bar kokhba in light ...

JUDEAN NATIONALISM 1 1
rnon culture among the Judeans? It is unlikely that family traditions
went back far enough, or extended broadly enough, to lead thousands
of people spread over a fairly extensive geographical area to
believe they were all related. As for culture, all indications are that
Judeans shared not only the general material culture of the area but
also the language and customs of most of their neighbors. For example,
it is generally agreed that Aramaic was the common spoken language
of most inhabitants of the area, including many or even most
Judeans. Certainly Judeans, like their neighbors, used Aramaic for
legal documents and for much literary production as well. A good
illustration of this shared culture is the Edomite marriage contract
in Aramaic recently published, which is strikingly similar to the
Aramaic ketubbot used by Judeans. 21 Yet these common cultural factors
did not prevent Judeans from despising Edomites. Contemporary
with the aforementioned marriage contract is the passage in Sir.
50:37-38 expressing hate for, inter alia, "the nation ( ) that dwells
in Se ir." In fact, the existence of Judean nationality or ethnic consciousness
is widely acknowledged, despite the language and legal
practices shared with non-Judeans and the lack of private knowledge
of shared ancestry with all other Judeans. 22 What then was the source
of the belief in a common culture and descent?
Pondering the sources of Jewish 'national identity,' indeed their
"nationalist movements of a strikingly modern kind," F. Millar suggests
the following, among others: 23
. . . the possession of a text, the Bible, which was both a national history
and a source of law; a national language, Hebrew; a system of
law . . .; social institutions, such as schools, synagogues and Sabbath
worship. . . .
21 See E. Eshel and A. Kloner, "An Aramaic Ostracon of an Edomite Marriage
Contract from Maresha Dated 176 B.C.E.," IEJ 46 (1996): 1-22. On Jewish use
of Aramaic for literary purposes see B. Z. Wacholder, "The Ancient Judaeo-Aramaic
Literature (500-164 BCE). A Classification of Pre-Qumranic Texts," in Archaeology
and History in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 257—81. On the complex role of language and
dialect in ethnic identity see the discussion of Hall, Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity,
143-81.
22 See, for example, D. Mendels, The Rise and Fall of Jewish Nationalism (New York:
Doubleday, 1992). See also Smith, National Identity, 48-50. Note especially his conclusion
on p. 50, which finds "a closer approximation to the ideal type of the nation
among the Jews of the late Second Temple period than perhaps anywhere else in
the ancient world. . . ." See F. Millar, cited in the next note.
23 F. Millar, "Empire, Community and Culture in the Roman Near East: Greeks,
Syrians, Jews and Arabs," JJS 38 (1987): 147-48.