Programme
This research group seeks to explore perceptions and receptions of Persia in Judean writings from Yehud/Judaea, Samaria, Babylon, and Egypt in Antiquity. Our research aims at scrutinizing why Persia is such a fertile symbol or cipher with which to construct meaning among Judean minorities under Empire, that is, in Persian, Hellenistic and Roman times. We will especially emphasize that these perceptions and receptions were produced among subaltern groups across a variety of socio-cultural systems within a vast geographical area including the ancient Levant, Mesopotamia and Egypt. PERSIAS aims at stimulating multidisciplinary discussions on theoretical and methodological perspectives related to appropriations of conceptualizations, memories, and multifaceted imaginations of Persia, with particular emphasis on local patterns of perception and reception, transmission and translation within approaches grounded on cross-cultural studies. The research group aims at advancing a critical reflection on cultural encounters and dynamics in the Ancient world.
Keywords:
Achaemenid Empire, Historiography, Reception, Postcolonial Studies, Ancient Near East, Yehud, Hebrew Bible