Überlieferung und Rezeption des Sefer Yosippon

Flavius Josephus was the most important Jewish historiographer in antiquity. In the first centuries his works were read only by Christians, but in the tenth century his most famous book, the Jewish War, was translated into Hebrew in Byzantine Southern Italy ( Sefer Yosippon). Saskia Dönitz analyzes the transmission and reception of this book, which became a bestseller among medieval Jews. Sefer Yosippon played a significant role in the development of medieval Jewish identity. Its martyr stories influenced the emergence of Jewish martyrology after the First Crusade. The reception of Josephus in Judaism reflects the Jewish-Christian rivalry in interpreting the history of the Second Temple in the Middle Ages.