Sculpting Idolatry in Flavian Rome: (An)Iconic Rhetoric in the Writings of Flavius Josephus.

• Author: Dawson, Kathy Barrett
• Position: Book review

Sculpting Idolatry in Flavian Rome: (An)Iconic Rhetoric in the Writings of Flavius Josephus. By JASON von Ehrenkrook. Early Judaism and Its Literature, vol. 33. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2011. Pp. xiv + 226. $29.95 (paper).

In this monograph, a revision of his University of Michigan PhD dissertation, von Ehrenkrook challenges the consensus opinion that Judaism during the Second Temple period was strictly and uniformly aniconic. Even though a literal reading of Josephus' narratives describing Jewish resistance to Roman images appears to bolster this view, von Ehrenkrook proposes that these narratives should not be taken literally. Nor, in his opinion, should the lack of archaeological evidence from first-century Jerusalem be the basis for the broad generalization that all Jews, regardless of location, were aniconic prior to 70 C.E. Rather, he argues that tension exists between Josephus' interpretation of the second commandment in exegetical contexts and the formulation of the proscription against images in his narrative passages. In order to understand the narrative sections properly, the reader must recognize Josephus' rhetorical concerns.

While von Ehrenkrook builds on previous investigations of Josephan rhetoric by Joseph Gutmann and John M. G. Barclay, his study of Bellum Judaicum and Antiquitates Judaicae takes into consideration the contemporary discussion of sacred space and identity formation. His book demonstrates the ubiquity of visual imagery in the Greco-Roman world and the extent to which Jews participated in their visual environment while, at the same time, appraising Josephus' writings in light of both his Roman citizenship and his ethnic/religious identity. According to von Ehrenkrook, a proper recognition of Josephus' literary and rhetorical skills precludes the possibility that Josephus was either a mindless copyist or a traitor who, in penning Antiquitates Judaicae, sought redemption for his earlier pro-Roman stance. On the contrary, he argues that Josephus' aniconic narratives were "sculpted" in an effort to preserve Jewish identity under Roman subjugation and the punitive fiscus Iudaicus (p. 18).

Von Ehrenkrook admits that a focus on Josephan rhetoric might distort other literary and archaeological evidence. In order to present a balanced assessment of the variety of views that may have existed among Jews, his second chapter presents an overview of the literary and material evidence from throughout the...