Under the Influence: Hellenism in ancient Jewish life

From the time of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.E., Jews lived in a world in which Greek culture carried a certain prestige and offered a route to political influence, first within the Hellenistic kingdoms that succeeded Alexander in the third to first centuries B.C.E., and thereafter within the Roman Empire in the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. During this period -- when Alexander's empire was divided between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies, and later when the Romans dominated both the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East -- Greek was the language of government and administration. Native elites conformed, at least outwardly, to a Greek way of life and thereby gained access to political control of their own communities. Neither Greeks nor Romans were generally racially prejudiced, but both had a strong cultural prejudice in favor of a Greek way of life, and they encouraged the peoples they conquered and ruled to adopt this way of life.

This pressure to Hellenize came to a head within Jewish society in Jerusalem in the 160s B.C.E. The willingness of even some leading members of the high priesthood in Jerusalem to adopt Greek names -- think of the Jewish high priests Jason and Menelaus -- attests to the attraction of the dominant culture.

IN THE BEGINNING. With the conquests of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.E., the populations of the Near East, including the Jews of Judea, began a thousand-year fascination with Greek culture. Although this fascination was often tempered by the political and military forays of Alexander's successors (including the Romans), Jews from all walks of life readily embraced aspects of Greek culture. [Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, ny]

COPYCAT. Excavations of a lavish first-century C.E. house in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem revealed exquisitely painted frescoes that mimicked artistic styles popular in Pompeii and other Roman cities. In the Pompeian frescoe shown here, an ornately painted architectural frame surrounds a large, open monochromatic canvas. [The Bridgeman Art Library International]

Excavations of a lavish first-century C.E. house in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem revealed exquisitely painted frescoes that mimicked artistic styles popular in Pompeii and other Roman cities. In the Jerusalem frescoe shown here, an ornately painted architectural frame surrounds a large, open monochromatic canvas. But whereas the Roman artists of Pompeii included a human figure in the center of each panel, the Jewish painters of Jerusalem omitted this figurative decoration. [Jewish Quarter Excavations/Hillel Geva and Avital Zitronblat]

A JEWISH HELIOS. Even after the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E., Greek art and language continued to exert considerable influence in Jewish culture, both in Palestine and beyond. Such influences are vividly illustrated in this colorful but somewhat provincial zodiac mosaic that adorns the floor of the small sixth-century C.E. Beth Alpha synagogue in northern Israel. Despite its relatively simple and unsophisticated artistry, the mosaic clearly demonstrates an amalgam of Hellenistic styles and Jewish tradition.

In the center of the mosaic is a depiction of the Greek sun god Helios riding forth from the darkness of night in his typical four-horse chariot (a quadriga). Surrounding the central panel are 12 figurative vignettes representing the signs of the zodiac. In the four corners of the mosaic are representations of the four seasons. Such scenes were apparently adapted to Jewish religious tradition. The depiction of Helios, for example, was likely a metaphorical representation of the Jewish God Yahweh, who the Bible often describes as a fiery, radiant being. Similarly, the signs of the Greek zodiac were labeled not with their Greek names, but rather with the Hebrew terms for the 12 months of the year. [Art Resource, NY]

GREEK IN THE SYNAGOGUE. Countless Greek inscriptions written by Jews -- both in Palestine and Europe -- attest to the continued use of Greek among the Jewish communities of late antiquity. A panel from the fourth-century synagogue at Hammat Tiberias in northern Israel, for example, includes Greek inscriptions of nine Jewish residents who donated funds for the construction of the mosaic, including one Severus, from the "household of the Patriarch." The dedicatory inscriptions, contained in a grid of nine squares, are flanked on each side by two lions. In Jewish tradition, the lion was regularly associated with the Biblical tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9). [Zev Radovan/www.biblelandpictures.com]

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	IN THE BEGINNING. With the conquests of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.E., the populations of the Near East, including the Jews of Judea, began a thousand-year fascination with Greek culture. Although this fascination was often tempered by the political and military forays of Alexander's successors (including the Romans), Jews from all walks of life readily embraced aspects of Greek culture. [Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, ny]
	COPYCAT. Excavations of a lavish first-century C.E. house in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem revealed exquisitely painted frescoes that mimicked artistic styles popular in Pompeii and other Roman cities. In the Pompeian frescoe shown here, an ornately painted architectural frame surrounds a large, open monochromatic canvas. [The Bridgeman Art Library International]
	Excavations of a lavish first-century C.E. house in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem revealed exquisitely painted frescoes that mimicked artistic styles popular in Pompeii and other Roman cities. In the Jerusalem frescoe shown here, an ornately painted architectural frame surrounds a large, open monochromatic canvas. But whereas the Roman artists of Pompeii included a human figure in the center of each panel, the Jewish painters of Jerusalem omitted this figurative decoration. [Jewish Quarter Excavations/Hillel Geva and Avital Zitronblat]
	A JEWISH HELIOS. Even after the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E., Greek art and language continued to exert considerable influence in Jewish culture, both in Palestine and beyond. Such influences are vividly illustrated in this colorful but somewhat provincial zodiac mosaic that adorns the floor of the small sixth-century C.E. Beth Alpha synagogue in northern Israel. Despite its relatively simple and unsophisticated artistry, the mosaic clearly demonstrates an amalgam of Hellenistic styles and Jewish tradition. In the center of the mosaic is a depiction of the Greek sun god Helios riding forth from the darkness of night in his typical four-horse chariot (a quadriga). Surrounding the central panel are 12 figurative vignettes representing the signs of the zodiac. In the four corners of the mosaic are representations of the four seasons. Such scenes were apparently adapted to Jewish religious tradition. The depiction of Helios, for example, was likely a metaphorical representation of the Jewish God Yahweh, who the Bible often describes as a fiery, radiant being. Similarly, the signs of the Greek zodiac were labeled not with their Greek names, but rather with the Hebrew terms for the 12 months of the year. [Art Resource, NY]
	GREEK IN THE SYNAGOGUE. Countless Greek inscriptions written by Jews -- both in Palestine and Europe -- attest to the continued use of Greek among the Jewish communities of late antiquity. A panel from the fourth-century synagogue at Hammat Tiberias in northern Israel, for example, includes Greek inscriptions of nine Jewish residents who donated funds for the construction of the mosaic, including one Severus, from the "household of the Patriarch." The dedicatory inscriptions, contained in a grid of nine squares, are flanked on each side by two lions. In Jewish tradition, the lion was regularly associated with the Biblical tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9). [Zev Radovan/www.biblelandpictures.com]


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