aron Z. Eliav, A Jew in the Roman bathhouse: cultural interaction in the ancient Mediterranean. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2023. Pp. 392. ISBN 9780691243436.I noted the publication of the book, and a related essay by the author, here.Review by
Eleanor J. F. Martin, Yale University. eleanor.martin@yale.edu... What truly sets Eliav’s work apart, however, is the way in which he goes about developing and validating the model of “filtered absorption”: his focus is not only on one particular group (the Jews, specifically those living in Judea/Syria Palaestina), but also on their engagement with one particular cultural institution (the public bathhouse). In doing so, he reconciles rabbinic literature—so often neglected by classicists working on the imperial Mediterranean—with the wealth of written, visual, and archaeological evidence for bathing culture in Roman Palestine and beyond, thereby putting in conversation two fields that have been kept distinct in unnecessary and unproductive ways. ...
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
