Imperial Terror and Personal Trauma in the Second Temple Period

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at 8 pm

Imperial Terror and Personal Trauma in the Second Temple Period

Xandy Frisch – George Mason University

Beginning in 586 BCE, a virtually uninterrupted succession of empires ruled over Jews both in Israel and in the Diaspora. This lecture will explore how one specific Jewish community, the sectarians at Qumran, responded to the sorrows and pains imposed by forces out of their control.

Some of this distress inflicted by external, imperial forces is illuminated by their rules of conduct expressed in a number of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Qumran sectarians used purification rituals such as mikvaot, as tools for coping with the turmoil affecting their community, and also mobilized their own “internal” power and resources.

For questions or to request accommodations contact:

Donald O Kane