Jewish Women Philosophers of First-Century Alexandria Philo's 'Therapeutae' Reconsidered

by Taylor, Joan E.

• ISBN13: 9780199259618
• ISBN10: 0199259615
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The "Therapeutae" were a Jewish group of ascetic philosophers who lived outside Alexandria in the middle of the first century CE. They are described in Philo's treatise De Vita Contemplativa and have often been considered in comparison with early Christians, the Essenes, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. But who were they really? This study focuses particularly on issues of history, rhetoric, women, and gender in a wide exploration of the group, and comes to new conclusions about the "Therapeutae" and their relationship with the Jewish allegorical school of exegesis in Alexandria. The volume includes a new translation of De Vita Contemplativa.

Author Biography

Joan E. Taylor is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of History at University College London and Honorary Fellow in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand

Table of Contents

List of Figures	xii
List of Abbreviations	xiv
I. PHILO'S `THERAPEUTAE' RECONSIDERED
On Method	3	(18)
Philo's De Vita Contemplativa in Historical Context	21	(33)
Identity: The name `Therapeutae' and the Essenes	54	(20)
Placements: The Geographical and Social Locations of the Mareotic Group	74	(31)
The Philosophia of Ioudaismos	105	(21)
Allegory and Asceticism	126	(28)
A Solar Calendar	154	(19)
II. WOMEN AND GENDER IN DE VITA CONTEMPLATIVA
Paradigms of `Women' in Discourses on Philosophia	173	(54)
Women and Sex in De Vita Contemplativa	227	(38)
Gendered Space	265	(46)
Gender Blenders: Moses, Miriam, and Music	311	(30)
Conclusion	341	(8)
Appendix 1. Partial translation of Philo of Alexandria, De Vita Contemplativa	349	(10)
Joan E. Taylor
Appendix 2. De Migratione Abrahami 86-96	359	(2)
Francis H. Colson
George H. Whitaker
Appendix 3. Epitome of Chaeremon the Stoic, `On the Egyptian Priests'	361	(4)
Pieter van der Horst
Bibliography	365	(26)
Index of Greek Terms	391	(4)
General Index	395