International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

PALAESTINA BYZANTINA
 I: 
NEW BYZANTINE STUDIES IN ART
Convener:
 Moshe Fischer
Lee I. Levine
, 
The Flourishing of Jewish Art in Late Antiquity and Its Far-Reaching Implications
Rina Talgam
, 
Art and the Development of Religious Identities in the Holy Land in Late Antiquity
Mati Meyer
, 
Hiding in Plain Sight: The Second Coming and the Last Judgment in the Vatican Psalter, gr. 752
Aliza Steinberg
, 
Gender, Representation, Status, Dress Code, Adornment and Bodily Modification 
as Reflected on the Mosaics Pavement within the Historical-Geographic Area 
of Eretz Israel towards the End of Late Antiquity
Lihi Habas
, 
Artistic Changes and Developments in the Churches of Israel and Transjordan under Islamic Rule

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Lee I. Levine
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Archaeology, Jerusalem, Israel; 
[e-mail]
The Flourishing of Jewish Art in Late Antiquity 
and Its Far-Reaching Implications
From their emergence as a recognizable group ca. 1200 BCE, Israelites made use of art in a 
variety of ways. Nevertheless, in the ensuing millennium and a half art played a secondary role in 
the Jews’ religious and cultural identity. Only in the Late Roman and Byzantine eras did Jewish 
art emerge in a hitherto unprecedented scope, intensity, and variety. This lecture will address four 
issues regarding this phenomenon:
1) What were the types of motifs that comprised this artistic repertoire and where did they 
appear?
2) Why did such art surface in the third century and flourish only thereafter?
3) Who was responsible for these developments, and what sector of society does it represent?
4) In the religious and cultural spheres, how does Jewish art compare with the evidence from 
contemporary literary sources? Does it confirm, supplement, or challenge our impressions 
regarding Jewish identity and the response of Jews to the challenges presented by Christian rule?
It will be suggested that the artistic evidence (and indeed the archaeological record generally) 
presents a contrasting picture of Jewish society from that of the literary remains. While written 
sources reflect the tendency of many Jewish religious elites to withdraw from the regnant Byzantine 
culture, focusing heavily on internal, particularistic issues, art demonstrates the willingness of large 
swaths of the Jewish population to engage and interact with the surrounding culture, demonstrating 
a marked proclivity towards accommodation and adaptation.