Course Descriptions

Semester Course Schedule Long-Term Program Dates Short-Term Program Dates Entrance Requirements Course Descriptions

HIST 5/331 History of the Second Temple Period - Credit Hours: 3

Semester normally offered: Spring

Course Description

An overview of the history of ancient Israel during the formative period of both Judaism and Christianity. It also provides a background to the Apocrypha and the New Testament. The course will use a combination of biblical, archaeological and historical data, emphasizing the distinct methodologies used in the study of each.

Course Equivalencies

This course fills equivalencies in the following areas:  

  • History
  • Bible
  • Early Judaism

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, the student should be familiar with:

  • sources used in the reconstruction of the history of Israel during the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods;
  • the history of the Middle East in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods;
  • the composition of the social and religious life of Israel during the Second Temple Period;
  • the basic outline of the history of the Land of Israel during the Second Temple Period;
  • influences of Greek culture on the development of Judaism; and
  • the historical background of the birth of Christianity.

Field Study

Four days of interactive field studies including a day to the Shephelah focusing on Hellenistic and Maccabean time periods, a day to the Judean Wilderness focusing on the Herodian Period, a two-day field trip to the Galilee focusing on the time of Jesus and the Second Jewish Revolt.