Jacob Ashkenazi
Biographic Data
| ID | 1459429 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jacob Ashkenazi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jacob |
| FAMILY NAME | Ashkenazi |
| SIGNATURE | ASHKENAZI J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7777-4958 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Why so many? Analysing church multiplicity in Late Antique southern Levant
This paper investigates the proliferation of churches in the Late Antique Levant, challenging the traditional emphasis on Christological and liturgical diversity as the primary drivers. Instead, it argues that socio-religious competition, rooted in the practice of Christian euergetism — a form of public generosity adapted from Classical traditions — played a central role in shaping the religious landscape. Through detailed analysis of both urban …
Excavations at Two Galilean Churches
As part of a three-year research project on late antique Christian sites in the Galilee, funded by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), we conducted excavations at four church sites. While the findings from two of these sites have already been published, this paper presents the results of investigations at the remaining two: Ḥorvat Gilon and Ḥorvat Ḥesheq. At Ḥorvat Gilon, previously known only through surveys, our excavation revealed the archite…
Constructing Monastic Landscapes of Southern Syria in Late Antiquity
While monastic landscapes in arid surroundings can be more easily defined, interpreting the imprint of monks on rural arable landscapes is more challenging. In the current study, I face this challenge by examining a late antique rural landscape, the fertile Vulcanic plains of southwest Syria, in the light of the document known as “the letter of the archimandrites of Arabia.” Analyzed by the distinguished orientalist Theodore Nöldeke in 1875, the …
The Greek Inscriptions from ‘The Church of St. Peter’ at Bethsaida (el-‘Araj)
In 725 CE Willibald bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria visited and stayed overnight at a place called Bethsaida, where he visited a church said to have been built on the location where the house of Peter and Andrew had formerly stood. In 2021 a Byzantine basilica was discovered at the site of el-‘Araj, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Three Greek inscriptions adorned the mosaic floor of the church, one of which mentions ‘The chief of the …
Kerygmatic Landscapes of the Galilee and the Quest for the Historical Jesus
Der vorliegende Artikel beschäftigt sich in Auseinandersetzung mit Karl Ludwig Schmidt und dessen Blick auf den historischen Jesus mit der Bedeutung und Intention der geographischen Bezüge auf Galiläa in den Evangelien. Im Kern lautete Schmidts Argument, dass der Erzählrahmen der Evangelien von den Evangelisten stammt und deswegen nicht zur Rekonstruktion der historischen Ereignisse im Leben Jesu herangezogen werden kann. Nach seiner Auffassung h…
Family Rural Churches in Late Antique Palestine and the Competition in the ‘Field of Religious Goods’
An intriguing phenomenon of late antique Palestine is the abundance of rural churches located outside village boundaries yet obviously in close contact with them, having been constructed by wealthy local patrons. What led to the establishment of such churches and how did they differ from similar building initiatives within the village boundaries? In answering these questions, this article takes a sociological stance, using Pierre Bourdieu's ‘theo…
Monasteries and Villages
Monasticism played a significant role in the Late Antique economy of the Holy Land, as it did in neighboring regions, a role that can be traced both in hagiography and in archaeology. Though holy men settled in secluded monasteries in the desert of the Holy City, most of the monks of Palestine were living in and near villages throughout the land. The rural monastery housed presses that produced wine and oil in quantities exceeding the needs of th…
The Jewish elite of Sepphoris in late antiquity
The inscriptions from the cemeteries of Sepphoris serve as a vivid reflection of Jewish life and culture in this vibrant city of late antique Palestine. Two of these burial inscriptions are studied in this article: a bilingual inscription (Greek and Aramaic) and a Greek inscription that was uncovered more than a century ago and mistakenly read as a dedicatory inscription from an unexcavated synagogue. Reading the first one and rereading the secon…
Holy Man versus Monk—Village and Monastery in the Late Antique Levant
In this essay I set out to offer a new interpretation of rural monasticism in Late Antiquity. The commonsensical understanding of the monk is of a holy man who played a key role in shaping the rural landscapes of Late Antique Levant. I want to suggest a distinction between the holy man, usually presented as a living saint in hagiographic literature, and the monk, who was a product of rural society and an integral part of the human landscape in th…
Family Rural Churches in Late Antique Palestine and the Competition in the ‘Field of Religious Goods’
An intriguing phenomenon of late antique Palestine is the abundance of rural churches located outside village boundaries yet obviously in close contact with them, having been constructed by wealthy local patrons. What led to the establishment of such churches and how did they differ from similar building initiatives within the village boundaries? In answering these questions, this article takes a sociological stance, using Pierre Bourdieu's ‘theo…
Monasteries and Villages
Monasticism played a significant role in the Late Antique economy of the Holy Land, as it did in neighboring regions, a role that can be traced both in hagiography and in archaeology. Though holy men settled in secluded monasteries in the desert of the Holy City, most of the monks of Palestine were living in and near villages throughout the land. The rural monastery housed presses that produced wine and oil in quantities exceeding the needs of th…
Holy Man versus Monk—Village and Monastery in the Late Antique Levant
In this essay I set out to offer a new interpretation of rural monasticism in Late Antiquity. The commonsensical understanding of the monk is of a holy man who played a key role in shaping the rural landscapes of Late Antique Levant. I want to suggest a distinction between the holy man, usually presented as a living saint in hagiographic literature, and the monk, who was a product of rural society and an integral part of the human landscape in th…
Holy Man versus Monk—Village and Monastery in the Late Antique Levant
In this essay I set out to offer a new interpretation of rural monasticism in Late Antiquity. The commonsensical understanding of the monk is of a holy man who played a key role in shaping the rural landscapes of Late Antique Levant. I want to suggest a distinction between the holy man, usually presented as a living saint in hagiographic literature, and the monk, who was a product of rural society and an integral part of the human landscape in th…
Monasteries and Villages
Monasticism played a significant role in the Late Antique economy of the Holy Land, as it did in neighboring regions, a role that can be traced both in hagiography and in archaeology. Though holy men settled in secluded monasteries in the desert of the Holy City, most of the monks of Palestine were living in and near villages throughout the land. The rural monastery housed presses that produced wine and oil in quantities exceeding the needs of th…
The Jewish elite of Sepphoris in late antiquity
The inscriptions from the cemeteries of Sepphoris serve as a vivid reflection of Jewish life and culture in this vibrant city of late antique Palestine. Two of these burial inscriptions are studied in this article: a bilingual inscription (Greek and Aramaic) and a Greek inscription that was uncovered more than a century ago and mistakenly read as a dedicatory inscription from an unexcavated synagogue. Reading the first one and rereading the secon…
Family Rural Churches in Late Antique Palestine and the Competition in the ‘Field of Religious Goods’
An intriguing phenomenon of late antique Palestine is the abundance of rural churches located outside village boundaries yet obviously in close contact with them, having been constructed by wealthy local patrons. What led to the establishment of such churches and how did they differ from similar building initiatives within the village boundaries? In answering these questions, this article takes a sociological stance, using Pierre Bourdieu's ‘theo…
Kerygmatic Landscapes of the Galilee and the Quest for the Historical Jesus
Der vorliegende Artikel beschäftigt sich in Auseinandersetzung mit Karl Ludwig Schmidt und dessen Blick auf den historischen Jesus mit der Bedeutung und Intention der geographischen Bezüge auf Galiläa in den Evangelien. Im Kern lautete Schmidts Argument, dass der Erzählrahmen der Evangelien von den Evangelisten stammt und deswegen nicht zur Rekonstruktion der historischen Ereignisse im Leben Jesu herangezogen werden kann. Nach seiner Auffassung h…
Constructing Monastic Landscapes of Southern Syria in Late Antiquity
While monastic landscapes in arid surroundings can be more easily defined, interpreting the imprint of monks on rural arable landscapes is more challenging. In the current study, I face this challenge by examining a late antique rural landscape, the fertile Vulcanic plains of southwest Syria, in the light of the document known as “the letter of the archimandrites of Arabia.” Analyzed by the distinguished orientalist Theodore Nöldeke in 1875, the …
The Greek Inscriptions from ‘The Church of St. Peter’ at Bethsaida (el-‘Araj)
In 725 CE Willibald bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria visited and stayed overnight at a place called Bethsaida, where he visited a church said to have been built on the location where the house of Peter and Andrew had formerly stood. In 2021 a Byzantine basilica was discovered at the site of el-‘Araj, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Three Greek inscriptions adorned the mosaic floor of the church, one of which mentions ‘The chief of the …
Excavations at Two Galilean Churches
As part of a three-year research project on late antique Christian sites in the Galilee, funded by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), we conducted excavations at four church sites. While the findings from two of these sites have already been published, this paper presents the results of investigations at the remaining two: Ḥorvat Gilon and Ḥorvat Ḥesheq. At Ḥorvat Gilon, previously known only through surveys, our excavation revealed the archite…
Why so many? Analysing church multiplicity in Late Antique southern Levant
This paper investigates the proliferation of churches in the Late Antique Levant, challenging the traditional emphasis on Christological and liturgical diversity as the primary drivers. Instead, it argues that socio-religious competition, rooted in the practice of Christian euergetism — a form of public generosity adapted from Classical traditions — played a central role in shaping the religious landscape. Through detailed analysis of both urban …
Archaeology and Historical Studies (9 works) · Ancient history (8 works) · Archaeology (8 works) · History (8 works) · Biblical Studies and Interpretation (7 works) · Art (6 works) · Geography (6 works) · Antique (5 works) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology (3 works) · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History (3 works)