Department of Assyriology (Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Culture)
Subject: Reconstructing Jewish Communities of Ancient Babylonia: A Study of the Babylonian Exiles in Light of the Al-Yahudu Archives
Supervisors: Prof. Wayne Horowitz
Abstract: My Dissertation topic is, “Reconstructing Jewish Communities of Ancient Babylonia: A Study of the Babylonian Exiles in Light of the Al-Yahudu Archives.” The Āl-Yahudu tablets are a collection of a just over 200 Akkadian cuneiform tablets which were written between 572 to 477 BCE and pertain to an exilic Jewish/Judean community in the Babylonian (and subsequent Achaemenean) empire. The Babylonian Exile, which gave rise to the Babylonian Talmud, was one of the most formative periods in the history of the Jewish people. The Bible devotes more chapters to the time of the Babylonian Exile and its prophets than to any other event in Jewish memory. Before the discovery of the Al-Yahudu tablets almost no direct and contemporary extra-Biblical sources could be found to attest to the Babylonian captivity of Judah. Suddenly, with the discovery of the Al-Yahudu tablets, the prosopography of Jews mentioned in cuneiform sources during the Babylonian exile increases by over 100% including 88 Yahwistic names from this archive alone. Because it was scribal custom to write the place, day, month and year that the tablet was written, we have nearly a one hundred year uninterrupted exact chronology for the activities of this exilic Judean community. In my research I discuss connections between Babylonian Akkadian sources pertaining to exilic Jewish communities and their relationships to Prophetic literature and the Babylonian Talmud. I also compare and contrast the situation of Jewish exiles in Babylon to Jewish exiles in Elephantine and discuss their social and economic status as well as family units and relationships.
Bio: Jan Safford did a bachelor’s degree at the University of South Carolina in Classical Greek and Latin with a minor in ancient Philosophy. After studying Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, Safford did a master’s degree in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Rothberg International School at Hebrew University. Safford is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Hebrew University of Israel in the Assyriology department and is the recipient of the President’s scholarships as well as the Rotenstreich scholarship. Safford reads Sumerian, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, Aramaic, Hebrew, and various other Canaanite dialects.
Publications
1. Safford J., & Kechagias A., Speaking Ancient Akkadian as a Living Language: Volume One. Polis Institute Press (Forthcoming, 2022).
2. Horowitz W., Oshima T., Sanders S., Bloch Y., Safford J., Wilson J., Zilberg P. Cuneiform in Canaan: The Next Generation (second edition). Eisenbrauns. Pennsylvania. 2018.
3. "Jewish Women in Cuneiform Sources During the Babylonian Exile.” Presented at the 232nd meeting of the American Oriental Society. Boston, March 20th, 2022.
4. “Philological Problems in the Book of Isaiah in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls: The case of MT Isa 9 vs. 1QIsaa, 4QIsace.” Presented at the National Association of Professors of Hebrew Annual Conference on Hebrew Language. June 25th, 2014.
Rotenstreich Stipend 2022/23
President Scholarship 2021/22