The Crown of Victory in Judaism

Abstract

IN the mixing bowls of the Hellenistic Kingdoms and of the Roman Empire, civilizations so mingled that what in many ways may be called a single civilization emerged from highly diverse peoples. Important in this as were the army, commerce, and Roman law, the fusion of civilization itself was represented, if not largely accomplished, by the mingling of religions. It is generally supposed that the Jews of the day succeeded in keeping themselves distinct, that they refused to be mixed: but the archaeological remains of Judaism in the period show that Jews used pagan symbols on their graves and synagogues almost as freely as did pagans and Christians. This fact, once clearly recognized, challenges all presuppositions about Jewish history in the period. For we had been led to believe that under the guidance of growing rabbinic tradition Judaism had scorned the use of pagan images, the use of any images at all. Now we find the Jews not only with images, but with the very pagan images they supposedly denounced, ...