In my teaching and research, I have examined several topics related to religious practices in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods and how these practices operated at local levels, especially in terms of political power and identity formation. My work on “Artapanus” and my book, Aseneth of Egypt, contribute to this discussion about Jewish identity politics by connecting these literary traditions with papyrological, epigraphical, and archaeological evidence from Ptolemaic Egypt. My work on the ancient Jewish novel, “Aseneth,” has led me in a new direction in the study of Pseudepigrapha (a classification of literature related to biblical texts and preserved in later, often Christian, codices). I am currently completing a Hermeneia commentary on “Aseneth” (a.k.a., “Joseph and Aseneth”) that branches out from the typical format for that series. I am providing a translation and commentary of three distinct Greek texts of the story, and I am analyzing their placement and use in their respective codices. I am interested in the book history of these individual tellings, and expanding on my first book, I continue to challenge the use of reconstructed texts in the study of Judaism in antiquity.

Educational Background & Specialties
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Educational Background

  • Ph.D.: Biblical Studies (Hebrew Bible), The University of Chicago Divinity School, 2005

Specialties

  • Second Temple Judaism
  • Religion in Ptolemaic Egypt
  • Jewish Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha