The story of Jerusalem in Greco-Roman antiquity is refracted through a triangular prism of representations: first, a city surrounding "a renowned temple" (Polybius); on the eve of its eclipse, "the most famous city in the East" (Pliny the Elder); later, "a distinctive New (Christian) Jerusalem over against the famous Jerusalem of Old" (Eusebius). This third representation has served as the foundation of the Christian presence in Jerusalem to this day, while Second Temple and Later Roman Jerusalem was the epicenter of a renewed Jewish cult and the core of its formative post-biblical culture. Such glorified representations of the city contrast sharply with a history of internal (Jewish-Sectarian) discord, as well as external (Hellenistic and Roman) pressure, which ultimately brought the city's devastation. Even in the period that followed its destruction, Jerusalem became the focal point of Christian-Jewish historical and theological dispute. In order to come to grips with the magnificent and entangled past of this most storied of cities, we shall "stroll" through Jerusalem's fascinating archaeological remains and view its past through the eyes of some of its most prominent inhabitants (Josephus), its worshippers and mourners (the Rabbis), and its lovers and great critics (Jesus and the Church Fathers). Format: lecture/discussion. Evaluation will be based on contributions to class discussion and on a major seminar paper. No prerequisites. No enrollment limit (expected: 25). Group D

Hour: IR-SHAI