Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.31192/np.17.2.4
Going to School in the Ancient World: Towards a Clearer Understanding of Education and Literacy in the 1st Century Palestine
Marko Marina
; Filozofski fakultet, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The question of Jesus’ literacy and education is one of the most interesting questions there is in the Historical Jesus studies. The purpose of the present essay was to show what position did education had in ancient world, especially in Palestine during the 1st century. Looking at the primary sources and secondary bibliography, article concludes that level of literacy was much lower in the ancient world then it is in the modern societies. Also contrary to some scholars, article’s thesis is that there wasn’t any universal network of schools operating in the Palestine during the life of Jesus. Consequently, most people didn’t go to school and they weren’t literate in the sense of being able to read or write comprehensive texts. Testimonies of Philo and Josephus present an ideal, formulated from the perspective of well-educated upper-class Jews, not the reality of average Jew living in 1st century Palestine. In particular, article argues that Josephus is probably presenting a best-case scenario to his Roman readership for what it’s like for other elite Jews like himself. There is no reason to think that the average Jew was able to read and write on a sophisticated level. Also, rabbinic sources come from 3rd or 4th century at best and one cannot use them to reconstruct the world of Palestine prior to 70 A.D. However, essay emphasizes the importance of the graduation of literacy in ancient world, since there is evidence that some people (manual laborers) were literate on a level necessary for them in their daily job (some form of rudimentary knowledge of letters). Article does not go into discussion about Jesus’ literacy per se. Rather it gives a clearer picture of the education and literacy rates in the ancient world so that some further research into Jesus’ literacy would be able to have better understanding of the broader picture.
Ključne riječi
education; Jesus’ literacy; literacy rates; Palestine; schools in ancient world
Hrčak ID:
222477
URI
Datum izdavanja:
9.7.2019.
Posjeta: 2.617 *