Persian Royal–Judaean Elite Engagements in the Early Teispid and Achaemenid Empire: The King's Acolytes(The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)

Jason Silverman presents a timely and necessary study, advancing the understanding of Achaemenid ideology and Persian Period Judaism. While the Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 550–330 BCE) dwarfed all previous empires of the Ancient Near East in both size and longevity, the royal system that forged and preserved this civilisation remains only rudimentarily understood, as is the imperial and religious legacy bequeathed to future generations. In response to this deficit, Silverman provides a critically sophisticated and interdisciplinary model for comparative studies. While the Achaemenids rebuilt the Jerusalem temple, Judaean literature of the period reflects tensions over its Persian re-establishment, demonstrating colliding religious perspectives. Although both First Zechariah (1–8) and Second Isaiah (40–55) are controversial, the greater imperial context is rarely dealt with in depth; both books deal directly with the temple’s legitimacy, and this ties them intimately to kings’ engagements with cults. Silverman explores how the Achaemenid kings portrayed their rule to subject minorities, the ways in which minority elites reshaped this ideology, and how long this impact lasted, as revealed through the Judaean reactions to the restoration of the Jerusalem temple.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Into the Woods: Judaean Engagements with the Early Persian Empire Part I. 2. Second Isaiah 3. Old Persian Creation Theology Part II. 4. First Zechariah, the Temple, and the Great King 5. The Phenomenology of Dreams and Visions Part III 6. The Great King, Local Elites, Priests, Temples, and Priests in the early Empire 7. The Great King and Local Elites in Early Persian Discourse 8. Exit, Pursued by a Bear Appendix: Table of Dates Bibliography

About the Author :
Jason M. Silverman is Researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Review :
This monograph is a stimulating read. It prompts its audience to re-examine their presuppositions and solutions learned in the classroom and to nuance and refine their understandings of how influence is a two-way process with benefits to be gained by both sides through adaptation. ... The monograph belongs in all university and research libraries. I learned much from Silverman’s erudition, which speaks to the wealth of information and resources that are now employed in the study of this period. Silverman’s thesis of elite engagement is valuable and explains a lot of the data that we currently possess. The book is highly recommended for biblical scholars, and I suspect will also be well received among Iranologists, Assyriologists, and Egyptologists studying the Teispid and early Achaemenid period. Silverman is judicious yet bold and provocative in his interpretations, which makes for a very interesting and worthwhile read.