The Ituraeans and the Roman Near East: Reassessing the SourcesThe Ituraeans, a little-known people of late first century BCE Syria/Palestine, are referred to briefly in a number of early texts, notably Pliny, Strabo and Josephus, and the principality of Ituraea is mentioned in Luke 3.1. There is, as yet, no consensus among archaeologists as to whether certain artefacts should be attributed to the Ituraeans or not. They form a mysterious backdrop to what we know of the area in the time of Jesus, which remains obstinately obscure despite the enormous amount of research in recent decades on the 'historical Jesus' and Greco-Roman Galilee. Through reference to the early texts, modern scholarship has contributed to a claim the Ituraeans were an Arab tribal group known mainly for their recurrent brigandage. Elaine Myers challenges these presuppositions and suggests a reappraisal of previous interpretations of these texts and the archaeological evidence to present a more balanced portrait of this ancient people. |
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The Ituraeans and the Roman Near East: Reassessing the Sources E. A. Myers No preview available - 2010 |
The Ituraeans and the Roman Near East: Reassessing the Sources E. A. Myers No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
Aliquot Amandry and Ripollès ancient Near East Anjar Anti-Lebanon Antigonus antiquity Antony appears Arab Arab tribe Arabians Aramaean archaeological archers Aristobulus Assyrian auxiliary units Baalbek Biqa brigands Burnett Butcher centre Chalcis Cicero CIL XVI Cleopatra cohors coinage considered culture Damascus dated diploma early eastern Egypt ethnic evidence excavations Galilee geographical Gerrha Greek Hartal Hasmonean Hauran Heliopolis Hellenistic period Hermon region Huleh valley identity inhabitants inscriptions Ituraean coins Ituraean principality Ituraean territory Ituraeans Ituraeorum Josephus Knauf known land Lebanon Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Lipiński Lysanias Macdonald Majdal Anjar Massyas Mennaeus mentioned military modern mountain nomadic northern Golan Palestine passage pithoi political Pompey Ptolemy reference remains Ripollès robbers Roman period rulers Safaitic scholars scholarship second century BCE Seleucid Seleucid era Semitic Sena‘im settlement Sherwin-White soldiers sources stones Strabo suggests surveys Syria temple tetrarch texts Tigranes tions Trachonitis Translated understand Urman valley Zemel Zenodorus