Die Wallfahrt zum Zweiten Tempel

Oliver Dyma investigates whether pilgrims from all over the world came to Jerusalem on the occasion of the three pilgrimage festivals Passah, Shavuot and Sukkoth prior to the time of the Hasmoneans. He begins by examining the cult calendars, as they are the normative foundation for the development of a pilgrimage practice. Analyzing the Passah accounts in Chronicles and the retrospection found in the book of Tobit, he draws some conclusions regarding when these works were written. Both share an interest in the pilgrims who came from the north. However, pilgrimages from abroad were not common at that time. It is hardly possible to consider the psalms of ascent (Ps 120-134) as an historical source. Oliver Dyma shows that there were not many pilgrims in pre-Hasmonean times, and substantiates this by analyzing the terminology related to pilgrimages.