The fatal chamber pot and the idol of Pe?or - covert anti-Zoroastrian polemic in the Bavli?
Through the analysis of five aggadic traditions in the Bavli and Palestinian parallels, the article explores intercultural exchange between Babylonian rabbinic Jews and Zoroastrian Persians relating to ritual impurity, most specifically the impurity of excrement. While current research on such inter...
| Published in: | Journal of Jewish studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[2016]
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| In: |
Journal of Jewish studies
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| Further subjects: | B
Iranians
B Assyro-Babylonian religion B Periodicals B Zoroastrianism B Byzantine Empire B Jewish Studies |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Through the analysis of five aggadic traditions in the Bavli and Palestinian parallels, the article explores intercultural exchange between Babylonian rabbinic Jews and Zoroastrian Persians relating to ritual impurity, most specifically the impurity of excrement. While current research on such intercultural exchange tends to focus on the positive attitudes of Babylonian Jews to the beliefs and practices of their Zoroastrian neighbours, this article argues that these aggadic traditions may exhibit a negative, even hostile, Jewish response to Zoroastrian purity practices. The argument is supported by the comparative analysis of the aggadot with their Palestinian parallels, showing that the Babylonian versions are consistently more humorous, contain more scatological detail and exhibit an enhanced negative view of the non-Jewish 'Other'. This evidence supports the argument that these aggadot may project a covert, negative view of Zoroastrians, specifically that their beliefs and practices concerning the ritual impurity of excrement are exaggerated and absurd. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-6689 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Jewish studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.18647/3279/JJS-2016 |