Jews and Christians Writing: Introduction to the literary Sources of Late Antiquity

In the first centuries of the Common Era, under Roman rule, rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity evolved, and with them developed the rabbinic and Christian literature. In this course we will survey the primary sources that are used in the study of late antiquity, from rabbinic literature through Roman law and Greco-Roman literature, to the evolving Christian corpus. We will discuss questions of genre, editing and content, as well as the relation and differences between these corpora, and will discuss their use as historical sources.