Geschichte der Juden in der Antike

The goal of this book is to give the reader an overview of the political and economical conditions which created the framework for the history of Judaism in antiquity. Peter Schäfer provides an outline of the political situation in Palestine between 333 BC and 638 AD. He deals with the following subjects chronologically: Alexander the Great and the Diadochi, Ptolemaic, Seleucidic and Hasmonaic rule in Palestine, Herod the Great, the first Jewish War and the Bar Kochba revolt. He concludes the work with a survey of the remaining time up to the conquest by the Arabs. Since the sources pertaining to this time are difficult to understand and are not coherent, Peter Schäfer also tries to explain other opinions, to include differing scholarly opinions and to deal critically with the sources available.