Creator Bio

Carol Bakhos

Carol Bakhos is professor of Jewish studies and of the study of religion at the University of California, Los Angeles. She holds the Robert E. Archer Chair in the Study of Religion. She earned a masters in theology from Harvard University (1992) and did her doctoral work at the Jewish Theological Seminary (2000). Prior to joining the department of Near Eastern Languages at UCLA, she taught at Middlebury College (1998–2002). She is currently the chair of the Study of Religion program and director of the Center for the Study of Religion at UCLA. Her research interests include Jewish studies generally, rabbinic literature, late antique Judaism, and comparative Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, with a focus on scriptural interpretation. In addition to many scholarly articles, she is the author of The Family of Abraham: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Interpretations (2014) and Ishmael on the Border: Rabbinic Portrayals of the First Arab (2006) and editor of several books, including Judaism in Its Hellenistic Context (2004), Current Trends in the Study of Midrash (2006), and the coedited works The Talmud in Its Iranian Context (2010), Islam and Its Past (2017), The Jewish Middle Ages (2023), and Making History (2024). She has served on the board of the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) for several years and from 2013 to 2015 was the AJS vice president for outreach. She also served as coeditor of AJS Review. She is the editor of The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 2: Emerging Judaism, 332 BCE–600 CE.

Content by Carol Bakhos

Guide

Early Evidence for the Synagogue

3rd Century BCE–1st Century CE

Primary sources and archaeological remains, such as inscriptions, document the earliest Jewish communal worship spaces.

Guide

Early Jewish Dress and Adornment

4th Century BCE–6th Century CE

Jewish clothing in the Roman era consisted mainly of wool or linen tunics and mantles made in accordance with Jewish law. Archaeological finds also include sandals, jewelry, tefillin, and personal items.

Guide

Hellenistic Conquest of the Levant

4th Century BCE | Hellenistic Period

Alexander’s conquest brought the Levant under Greek rule, influencing Jewish life for centuries. His death led to decades of regional war and power struggles among his successors, the Diadochi.

Guide

Herod's Building Program

1st Century BCE

Amid his larger building program, Herod remade Jerusalem into a sprawling, overcrowded, and multilingual city.

Guide

Medicine in Ancient Judaism

4th Century BCE–6th Century CE

Ancient Jewish medical knowledge was embedded in theological texts such as the Talmuds and midrash.

Guide

Roman Rule in Palestine

1st Century BCE–3rd Century CE

The relationship between the Roman Empire and Judea was fraught from the start. Even as Herod aimed to unite Jews around a renovated Temple in Jerusalem, the incompatibility of the two cultures came to the fore, culminating in revolt.

Guide

The Ancient Synagogue

4th Century BCE–6th Century CE

Ancient synagogues served as central hubs for Jewish prayer, study, and community life. Archaeological evidence and primary texts reveal the evolution of these sacred spaces from the Hellenistic era to Late Antiquity.

Guide

The End of Antiquity

4th–6th Centuries

Jewish communities adapted to Christian and Sasanian rule through synagogue-centered life, new leadership models, and growing rabbinic and liturgical traditions.

Guide

The First Jewish Revolt

66–73

Trace the causes and battles of the First Jewish Revolt, from the siege of Jerusalem to the destruction of the Temple and the fall of Masada.

Guide

The Hasmonean Period

2nd–1st Centuries BCE

After leading a revolt against the Seleucids, the Hasmoneans assumed the priesthood, formed a monarchy, and expanded their territory and cultural reach.

Guide

The Hasmonean Revolt

Led by Mattathias and his sons, the Hasmonean Revolt was a rebellion against Antiochus IV and his efforts to suppress Jewish ancestral practices.

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The Rise and Decline of the Hasmonean Dynasty

2nd–1st Centuries BCE

After the Hasmonean Revolt, Jonathan and Simon establish a short-lived independent Judean kingdom, eventually brought down by a succession crisis and Roman intervention.

Guide

The Sabbath in Early Judaism

2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE

Sabbath observance served as a key Jewish identity marker in antiquity. Beyond refraining from labor, early Jews organized their lives around a seven-day week involving shared meals, study, and synagogue visits.