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Queens on the Edge: Parallel Stories about Female Leaders in Josephus

Tue, December 18, 12:45 to 2:15pm, Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center, Waterfront 3 Ballroom

Abstract

Josephus's descriptions of Jewish female rulers who lived in the late Second Temple period parallel and interact with one another. In his retellings, these women represent the interests of the Jews of Judea, embody their internal tensions, and live on the political margins of Judean society. The first, Salome Alexandra, ruled Judea as queen regnant, the second, Berenice, was the sister of Agrippa II and co-ruler of Chalcis with Agrippa, and the third, Helena of Adiabene, converted to Judaism. These women used their political authority to support the Pharisees, but they also had close contact with powerful antagonists of the Pharisees. Their relationships with Pharisaic leaders, and with gentile or Hellenized leaders who opposed them, suggest that these women never fully integrated into Judean society.

Josephus emphasizes the piety of Salome, Berenice, and Helena, but portrays them as being easily manipulated by the men around them. Key parallels, moreover, link these women with one another. Helena and Berenice both take on nazirite vows to ensure the safety of their son and their subjects, respectively. These vows underscore their commitment to Pharisaic customs. Salome and Helena, likewise, both submit to pressure exerted by Jews who are engaged in intra-Jewish conflicts. In Salome's case, these Jews are Sadducees and Pharisees, and in Helena's case, these are Jews who disagree over whether converts to Judaism must practice circumcision. Finally, Salome and Helena marry men who oppose Pharisaic leaders, and they ultimately forge a separate path by supporting the Pharisees.

Ancient texts about women often reveal less about their personal experiences and more about how they function as symbols of societal realities. Josephus's descriptions of women should not, then, be considered historically accurate, but instead should be read as expressions of categorical typologies. Indeed, the commonalities among Jewish queens in Josephus's writings suggest that Josephus applies literary tropes to their biographies to present them as subjugated to the men in their families, and to the patriarchal religious leaders of Judean society. In doing so, these women become vehicles that serve to authorize Pharisaic leadership without being imbued with the individualist power that would undermine it.

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