Syrians in Palestine Practice Circumcision

Josephus

Histories 2.104.2–3

ca. 484–425 BCE

[T]‌he Colchians and Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from the first practiced circumcision. The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge of themselves that they learned the custom from the Egyptians. [ . . . ]

Adapted from the translation ofA. D. Godley.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BCE, provides the first testimony in Greek to Jewish circumcision (his reference to “Syrians in Palestine” likely refers to Judeans). Like many Greek ethnographers after him, Herodotus asserts that these “Syrians” learned the practice from the Egyptians.

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Creator Bio

Josephus

37–100

Flavius Josephus was born into a prominent Jewish priestly family and served as a general stationed in the Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE). He was captured by the Romans and eventually integrated into the Flavian imperial aristocracy, who commissioned him to compose chronicles of the Jewish–Roman war and the history of the Jews. Josephus’ works, all written in Greek, include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and his autobiography, Life of Josephus. These writings provide important insights into the Judaisms of the Second Temple period and include one of the few surviving accounts of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

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