Who Was Babatha? Jewish Biography as History Dr. Henry Abramson

Screen Shot 2014-11-12 at 4.33.36 PM

Rolling her precious documents and carefully wrapping them in a leather pouch tied with twine, Babatha buried her entire legal history in the floor of the cave she shared with Bar Kochba’s rebels. They would remain entombed in that desolate refuge for 1800 years until their discovery by archaeologist Yigael Yadin, and then the life of an otherwise forgotten 2nd-century woman suddenly came to light: her marriages, custody battles for her son, property disputes, and much more. The Babatha archive constitutes an amazing source of information for the history of Jewish women in ancient Israel.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/xp5OLZKC8Xw]

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: