Judaism and Christian Beginnings by Samuel SandmelReview by: Reuven KimelmanJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 101, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1981), pp. 460-461Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/601270 .

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460 Journal of the American Oriental Societe, 101.4 (1981)

Hoffman's book deals with the Predynastic of Egypt, a period which holds the key to our understanding of the emergence of the Egyptian civilization. Unfortunately most of the work on that period is out of date. Hoffman and others are at present rewriting the annals of that period, and his book serves as an excellent lead to contempory research now underway in Egypt.

Hoffman's Egypt Before the Pharaohs offers enjoyable reading even to those of us who are immersed in the study of Egyptian prehistory; I recommend it very strongly for the general public and for everybody with an interest in Egypt. Students will find in it an excellent non-technical introduction to Egypt's prehistory and will find the bibliography a useful guide for further reading materials.

FEKRI A. HASSAN

PULLMAN, WASHINGTON

Coptic Art and Archaeology: The Art of the Christian Egyptians from the Late Antique to the Middle Ages. By ALEXANDER BADAWY. Pp. xii + 387, with drawings, photo- graphs and maps. Cambridge, Massachusetts: THE MIT PRESS. 1978.

Judging by the growing number of introductions to this often difficult material, interest in Christian Egypt would appear to be on the increase. After Wessel's Koptische Kunst (1963) and Du Bourguet's lArt Copte (1967) a third hand- book, more extensive and more richly illustrated, has now appeared, by the well known Professor Alexander Badawy. More than Wessel, whose aim was to evoke a "musee imaginaire comte," and even more so than Du Bourguet, Badawy takes the reader-after a few introductory chapters- to the actual finding-places themselves. The author, who is extremely prudent with regard to dating, keeps to the periods suggested by Du Bourguet: Forerunners-Protocoptic- Coptic-Art of the Copts. The most extensive treatment is given to architecture (pp. 22-115) and to sculpture (pp. 116- 225); painting is discussed on pages 227-282, followed by textiles (pp. 282-304) and other Applied Arts. In speaking of "the earliest churches," the author suggests that "in Egypt Christians first gathered to pray over the tomb of a martyr" (p. 68), which is, at best, an unproved hypothesis. The author's reconstructions of interiors, however, deserve great respect, even though they naturally remain hypothetical. The fact that the writer has not been able to deal with the most recent literature is understandable, given his broad frame- work. But it is a pity that he is not better acquainted with the publications in MDIK 1971 and 1972 about the architecture of the Jeremiah Monastery in Saqqara; he would not then have spoken quite so easily of the four churches in that

monastery (on page 45 he says that these four churches will be discussed later, and on page 81 two of them are in fact discussed). Speaking of the stelae which are of such great importance in Egypt, and which are often decorated with Orantes, the author leads us to believe (p. 211) that Theodor Klauser (JbAC 2 [1959], pp. 115-145) interprets these as a "Biblical personage, or the Church, or a Saint," which is not so in fact. And while we are on the subject of iconography, the author repeatedly refers to the four Creatures of the Apoca- lypse as symbols of the four Evangelists, which, specifically in the Nile Valley, is not always the case. In the light of recent finds one can only applaud the author's readiness to compare the early Coptic cycles with those from Nubia. But why, one wonders, does he refer the reader, for the liturgically so important theme of the "Young Men in the Fiery Furnace," to the badly preserved secco in the Nubian Abd-el-Gadir, rather than to the one in Faras, which is both older and in better condition? [Cf. K. Michalowski, Faras: Die Kathedrale aus dem Wustensand, Einsiedeln. 1967, Plates 60-61.] Such re- marks as these in no way detract, however, from the great admiratoin of the reviewer for the enormous amount of work that has been done here, and for the modest and at the same time original way in which the reader is introduced to the artistic past of the Copts. One of the most admirable qualities of the book is perhaps it irenian character. It contains little in the way of controversy, which, coming after the Wessel- Du Bourguet debate, may be regarded as a good thing, however necessary that exchange may have been. The author allows the works of art to speak for themselves wherever possible, and prefers to describe rather than to interpret, even though interpretation cannot always, of course, be entirely avoided.

The book is provided with a Short Bibliography and no less than seven indices. The book is well set out, although in several places the plans are printed with the arrow indicating the north pointing upwards, while in others it points down- wards.

PAUL VAN MOORSEL

LEIDEN UNIVERSITY

Judaism and Christian Beginnings. By SAMUEL SANDMEL.

Pp. xvii + 510. New York: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.

1978.

The late Professor Samuel Sandmel had established himself as one of the best known scholars of Biblical and Post-Biblical Judaica. His renown was not only due to his scholarly achievements, but also to his ability to present in non- pedantic fashion the results of scholarship in a lucid and attractive manner. The book under review is an excellent

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BRIEF REVIEWS 461

illustration of this talent. Judaism and Christian Beginnings reads as a textbook and should be reviewed as such. Rather than delving into the latest theories of scholarly conundrums, the book focuses on elucidating generally accepted data. The author "seeks," as he says, "objectively to present for the general reader a coordinated exposition of a richly complex development" (p. vii).

The book is divided into four sections followed by a bibliography, and two appendices, one on best known Pseud- epigrapha and one on the tractates of the Babylonian Talmud arranged according to the six orders fo the Mishnah and also alphabetically. Part one deals with the Bible, the historical background, and the sources. Part two, surveys institutional, theological and calendrical issues and is capped with a chapter on proselytizing and one on eminent sages. Part three, which deals with hellenistic Judaism, is divided up by literary cate- gories including biblical, historical, and religious writings. Early Christianity makes up part four and consists of a survey of canonical Christian writings.

The approach does not adhere strictly to an historical survey of these religious expressions in late antiquity. Instead, it concentrates on those writings which came to be normative by the respective communities. Thus the book makes rare reference to non-normative Jewish or Christian writings. This is noted not as a criticism but rather to point out that history is presented from the point of view of the victors and not from the point of view of the various participants. Perhaps this is alluded to in the title. In any case, Sandmel focuses on the literature which produced the long-term results rather than trying to describe comprehensively the religious situation of the early centuries of this era. This focus explains the lack of critical historical methodology in the presentation of eminent rabbinic sages. "For," as he writes, "the goal here is to reflect the role of these men as the tradition viewed them and the legends are as useful for that purpose as would be historical reliability, with which modern desideratum the ancient sources were not at all concerned" (p. 236).

Sandmel is at his best in presenting Hellenistic Jewish literature. The profile of Philonic thought is a gem of lucidity and conciseness. The presentation of Christianity is limited to a survey of Christian Scripture-a bit surprising since the presentation of Rabbinic Judaism extends well into the partistic period-and underscores the connections with Syna- gogue Judaism. The happy expression "Synagogue Judaism" is one of Sandmel's salient contributions to the discussion of the relationship of Judaism and Christianity and to the character of that Judaism out of which Christianity emerged. The emphasis on "Synagogue" as opposed to "Rabbinic" avoids many scholarly pitfalls and is as a felicitous way as any of lumping a variety of Jewish expressions under a single rubric without excessive violence to the differences. Indeed, his concluding chapter on "Synagogue Judaism and Chris- tianity" deserves rereading.

When regarded as a text, the book's major deficiency is the lack of references to recent periodical literature for the student to pursue a point. Indeed, except for some notable exceptions, the book could have been written over a genera- tion ago. Nonetheless, having so much information digested into one book outweighs this lack anrd should not prevent the book from serving as a staple in college courses dealing with "Judaism and Christian beginnings."

REUVEN KIMELMAN

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

The Islamic Jesus: An Annotated Bibliography of Sources in English and French. By DON WISMER. (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, Vol. 58). Pp. xix + 305. New York and London: GARLAND PUBLISHING INC. 1977. $29.00.

This bibliography, limited as it is to English and French materials, is obviously the work of a researcher who is primarily a librarian. It is this aspect of the rather strange collection of materials that is probably most helpful to the reader. Many lists and cross references help in finding out how librarians deal with Arabic names, periodicals, series, and the other problems that bedevil the innocent reader. A great deal of work went into this book, which has its uses, although much of the material listed has more to do with Christian views of the Islamic view of Jesus than with the place of Jesus in Islamic doctrine and literature.

WILLIAM M. BRINNER

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

Staudies in the A rabi I)ialect of the Selni- \Nomadli al- 'Agarma Tribe (al-Balqd-' District. Jo(lran). By HEIKKI

PALVA. Pp. 109. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Orientalia Gothoburgensia, No. 2. Stockholm: NORSTEDTS

TRYCKERI. 1976. Sw. Cr. 40.

Narratives andi Poems from He.sbdn. 4rahic texts recordedl amiong the semi-nomad1ic al-'Agarma Tribe (al-Balqd- District, Jordlan). By HEIKKI PALVA. Pp. I 10. Acta U niversitatis Gothoburgensis, Orientalia Gothoburgensia, No. 3. Stockholm: NORSTEDTS TRYCKERI. 1978. Sw. Cr. 50.

These two short volumes continue the series begun by Bernhard Lewin in his Notes on Cahali, the Arabic dialect spoken by the Alawis of "Jebel Ansariye" (1970). These

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