Jewish Women Philosophers of First-Century Alexandria: Philo's 'Therapeutae' Reconsidered

by Joan E. Taylor

Overview

The 'Therapeutae' were a Jewish group of ascetic philosophers who lived outside Alexandria in the middle of the first century CE. They are described in Philo's treatise De Vita Contemplativa and have often been considered in comparison with early Christians, the Essenes, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. But who were they really? This study focuses particularly on issues of history, rhetoric, women, and gender in a wide exploration of the group, and comes to new conclusions about the 'Therapeutae' and their relationship with the Jewish allegorical school of exegesis in Alexandria. The volume includes a new translation of De Vita Contemplativa.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199259618
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/29/2004
Pages:	434
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.13(d)

About the Author

Joan E. Taylor is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of History at University College London and Honorary Fellow in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand

Table of Contents

1. Philo's 'Therapeutae' Reconsidered1. On Method2. Philo's De Vita Contemplativa in Historical Context3. Identity: the Name 'Therapeutae' and the Essenes4. Placements: The Geographical and Social Locations of the Mareotic Group5. The Philosophia of Ioudaismos6. Allegory and Asceticism7. A Solar Calendar2. Women and Gender in De Vita Contemplativa8. Paradigms of 'Women' in Discourses on Philosophia9. Women and Sex in De Vita Contemplativa10. Gendered Space11. Moses, Miriam, and MusicConclusion