Ilie Bădescu and Joseph Livni follow the footsteps of two giants who pioneered the field: H. H. Stahl of Romania, who studied the sociology of communal societies, and D. J. Elazar of the United States, who studied the political science of covenantal societies. This collection sheds light on obscure corners of the field, gathering up thoughts and concepts of many other sources of past and contemporary research in the field. In this volume, the reader will find answers to difficult questions like: How did acephalous societies penetrate civilization? How did they manage to preserve their egalitarian ethos? Why did powerful hierarchies work in partnership with them? And, most importantly, how did covenantal societies work around the constraints of a civilized reality? The history of civilization consists of various degrees of stratified configurations ranging from oligarchic city states to powerful pyramidal empires.

The Economy of Roman Palestine presents a description of the economy of the province of Judea-Palestina in the Roman era (AD70 to AD400) on the basis of a broad selection of primary rabbinic sources and a considerable volume of archaeological findings. The period studied is characterised by demographic growth and corresponding economic development. The work describes the agricultural and agrarian structure of the province, the pattern of settlement, trade, and other aspects, depicting an economy based to a great extent on an open market.

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The Economy of Roman Palestine presents a description of the economy of the province of Judea-Palestina in the Roman era (AD70 to AD400) on the basis of a broad selection of primary rabbinic sources and a considerable volume of archaeological findings. The period studied is characterised by demographic growth and corresponding economic development. The work describes the agricultural and agrarian structure of the province, the pattern of settlement, trade, and other aspects, depicting an economy based to a great extent on an open market.

This long-awaited companion volume to The Literature of the Sages, First Part (Fortress Press, 1987) brings to completion Section II of the renowned Compendia series, published cooperatively with Van Gorcum of Amsterdam. The Literature of the Sages, Second Part, explores the literary creation of thousands of ancient Jewish teachers, the often- anonymous Sages of late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Essays by premier scholars provide a careful and succinct analysis of the content and character of various documents, their textual and literary forms, with particular attention to the ongoing discovery and publication of new textual material. Incorporating groundbreaking developments in research, these essays give a comprehensive presentation published here for the first time. This volume will prove an important reference work for all students of ancient Judaism, the origins of Jewish tradition, and the Jewish background of Christianity.

By publishing these ten essays in English in the BAR series the research carried out by the contributors, and the evidence and fieldwork methodologies they cite, is made available to a much wider audience. This volume contains an important collection of case studies and overviews of rural settlement in Israel from late prehistory to the modern period. Addressing broad questions on the physical nature of settlements, their appearance and disappearance from the archaeological record, the relationship between rural and urban sites, settlement patterns and processes, and economic activities, the contributors offer a good cross-section of approaches to the subject.