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Elephantine

The Hated Wife

Hate in ancient Near Eastern law, the Torah, and Elephantine ketubot is a legal term. If a man demotes his wife to second in rank for no fault, merely because he “hates” her, he cannot also take away her firstborn son’s right to inherit a double portion.

Prof.

Bruce Wells

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The Passover Papyrus Orders a Religious Furlough for Judean Soldiers

The real reason Persia’s King Darius II sent a letter to the governor of Egypt that Judean soldiers in Elephantine should keep the festival of Matzot.

Prof. Rabbi

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi

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Passover Becomes about Matzah when the Paschal Lamb Becomes Associated with Jesus

As late as the Second Temple period, Passover and Chag HaMatzot were viewed as two separate holidays. What was the final impetus to concretize the synthesis of these holidays into one?

Dr.

Malka Z. Simkovich

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The Elephantine Passover Papyrus: Darius II Delays the Festival of Matzot

A new look at the “Passover Papyrus” from Elephantine and the nature of the Hebrew calendar in the Achaemenid Empire.

Prof.

Idan Dershowitz

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Sacrificing a Lamb in Egypt

When a Temple of Yahu Stood Near a Temple of Khnum

Prof.

Jan Assmann

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Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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The 220-Year History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

An overview of Persian history starting from Cyrus the Great’s conquest of Media (549 B.C.E.) until Alexander the Great’s conquest of Persia (334-329 B.C.E.), including related biblical references and Jewish texts.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Jewish Attitudes Towards the Land of Israel during the Time of the Second Temple

Dr.

Malka Z. Simkovich

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Passover and the Festival of Matzot: Synthesizing Two Holidays

Prof.

Michael L. Satlow

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The Meaning of Degel and the Elusive History of the Levites

Two Problems In Parashat Bemidbar 

Prof. Rabbi

Baruch A. Levine

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