Between Yahwism and Judaism: Judean Cult and Culture during the Early Hellenistic Period (332-175 BCE)

This Element seeks to characterize key aspects of the cult and culture of the Judean populace at large, in Judea and the diaspora, during the Early Hellenistic period (332–175 BCE). It asks if this period signals cultural continuity with the Yahwism of the past, or cultural rupture with the emergence Judaism as known from later times. It investigates: administrative structures, whether Torah was widely observed, how and where Judeans performed cultic worship of YHWH and if this had become exclusive of other deities, adoption of Greek cultural elements and what literature was well-known and influential, including “Biblical” literature. It concludes that while no rupture is evident, and the Early Hellenistic period marks a strong degree of continuity with the Yahwism of Persian times, in some senses the era paved a way for the subsequent transition into the Judaism of the future.