The Demise (and Subsequent Resurrection) of Jewish Historiography in the Second Temple Period

Abstract

Jewish historiography ceased to exist as a distinct genre during the Second Tem ple period, a time otherwise marked by rather prolific Jewish cultural production. The process whereby this has come about has been described by Yerushalmi as that of the displacement of history by memory. The present article seeks to identify the social context within which this dis placement took place, namely, that of the gradual socio-political marginalization of the Jews in the course of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.