1 the Faculty of Oriental Studies: M.St. in Jewish

THE FACULTY OF ORIENTAL STUDIES: M.ST. IN JEWISH STUDIES IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN PERIOD

INTRODUCTION

This booklet has been prepared on behalf of the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies. It has been designed both as a source of information in its own right and as a guide to other sources of information. It is hoped that it will be particularly useful to students when they first arrive in Oxford, but they are advised to keep the booklet, since it may be of considerable help throughout the period of their work. Please read the booklet carefully now.

Comments and criticisms of the handbook are always welcome; they should be sent to the Director of Graduate Studies, Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford.

ORIENTAL STUDIES AT OXFORD

Among studies in the humanities, Oriental Studies is unique in introducing students to civilizations that are radically different from the Western ones which form the basis of the curriculum in most schools. The field embraces the study of Oriental cultures from prehistoric times to the present. More than half the world's population belongs to Oriental civilizations studied in the Faculty of Oriental Studies. People in the West are becoming increasingly aware of these civilizations through travel, the diversification of social and ethnic groups, and rising general interest. The faculty's courses offer the opportunity to learn in depth about the modern and ancient traditions of these cultures.

Through its long-standing traditions and more recent gifts Oxford has unique resources for Oriental Studies. The Bodleian Library has a magnificent collection of Oriental books and manuscripts built up since the seventeenth century. The Oriental Institute, opened in 1961, is the centre where most teaching is done. There are also institutes for the Modern Middle East, for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, for Modern Japanese Studies, and for Chinese Studies. Adjacent to the Oriental Institute is the Ashmolean Museum, which houses superb collections of objects used in the teaching of most branches of Oriental Art and Archaeology and also has very fine libraries devoted to these subjects. The Griffith Institute, housed in the Sackler Library, close to the Oriental Institute, has unique resources for Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies.

JEWISH STUDIES IN OXFORD

Oxford has been an important centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies since the sixteenth century. There are unrivalled collections of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books in the Bodleian Library. Outstanding scholars have held a number of different positions in Hebrew and Jewish Studies in the University and students from all over the world come to Oxford for both undergraduate and graduate studies.

As the disciplines of Hebrew and Jewish Studies have developed, different approaches and fields of study have evolved, from study of the classical Hebrew language and the Hebrew Bible to all other aspects of mediaeval and modern Jewish culture and society. The University's posts in the Faculty of Oriental Studies reflect that diversity. The Regius

1 Professorship of Hebrew is associated with the core study of Classical Hebrew through the Hebrew Bible. There is a Professor of Jewish Studies, whose range of interest spans the Second Temple and early Rabbinic periods. The Associate Professor and Cowley Lecturer in Modern Hebrew Literature specialises in the study of modern Hebrew literature. The archaeology and material culture of the land of Israel are strongly represented in the Ashmolean Museum. Many other facets of Mediaeval and Modern Jewish Studies are taught by the Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studie and by the Faculty’s Unit for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, both located in the Clarendon Institute Building on Walton Street in the heart of central Oxford.

Apart from offices and classrooms, the Clarendon Institute Building houses the Centre’s Leopold Muller Memorial Library, a well-developed lending library, designed to support undergraduate courses but also containing research material, and a general common-room, in which teaching staff and students can meet informally.

M.ST. IN JEWISH STUDIES IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN PERIOD: OBJECTIVES

The M.St. in Jewish Studies in the Graeco-Roman Period at Oxford aims:

1. to give students a good general knowledge of Jewish history, religion and culture in the period from 200 BCE to 135 CE, the period of the Second Temple and early Rabbinic Judaism;

2. to introduce students to the range of primary sources for Jewish history in this period;

3. to ensure that students understand and can use a range of historiographical and critical methods in the treatment of such primary sources.

TEACHING STAFF AT OXFORD

There are four academic staff who teach regularly for the M.St. in Jewish Studies in the Graeco-Roman Period. They have different research interests.

Professor Martin Goodman, Wolfson College, Professor of Jewish Studies: Jewish History in the Second Temple and Talmudic Periods. Professor Alison Salvesen, Professor of Early Judaism and Christianity: Syriac, Septuagint. Professor David Taylor, Wolfson College, Lecturer in Aramaic and Syriac: Syriac Literature. Professor Joanna Weinberg, Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

2 COURSE CONTENT

The course consists in instruction in the history and institutions of the Jews and in three specialised areas of Jewish studies which involve close study of particular types of primary texts. Students are expected to have a working knowledge of the relevant languages before starting the course, and no time is set aside for basic language instruction. The course is examined at the end of the third term by four three-hour papers.

TEACHING METHODS AND EVALUATION PROCESS

Students can expect to be engaged on academic work for at least thirty five hours a week during the full term. They can also expect that they will need to do a considerable amount of work during the vacations.

The course is taught by a mixture of tutorials and classes. Tutorials consist normally in one- to-one discussion with a tutor of written work produced by the student. The general paper on Jewish history and institutions is taught entirely by a series of weekly tutorials (usually eight) in this manner. The classes provide instruction in the translation and interpretation of most but not necessarily all of the set texts which students are required to study for their specialised papers. General questions about these texts are discussed in tutorials. The course is examined entirely by a series of three-hour written examinations.

COURSE GUIDE

Teaching for the general paper and there specialised papers chosen by the student is carried out in the first two terms of the course. The third term is set aside for revision, although this may sometimes include further tutorials for consolidation.

For the examination, the following papers will be set:

1. Essay questions on Jewish History and Institutions from 200BC – AD135.

2.-4. Prescribed texts. Passages for translation and comment and essay questions (a passage, or passages for unprepared translation may also be set) on three of the following:

1. Dead Sea Scrolls 2. Mishnah 3. Midrash 4. Targum 5. Septuagint 6. Hellenistic Jewish Literature

or any other subject approved by the board.

A final list of set texts will be published in this course handbook, not later than Friday of 8th week, Michaelmas term, for the final examination.

Michaelmas Term 2015