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Project name - Analysing violent variations in ancient Jewish narrative

Project number- 359600

Narrated violence is presently treated as a self-evident phenomenon in ancient Jewish literature (c. 500 BCE – 300 CE). Violence as a concept is reduced to a physical act of harm, understood by ancient authors in the same way modern readers. Framing violence in this way creates interpretative problems when addressing these texts and their use throughout history. This basic construction of violence limits our appreciation of how violence is not simple, and the meaning of violence does not remain consistent between cultures and over time. AViVa will analyse the conveyed norms of violence in depictions of warfare in ancient Jewish literature to examine variation in episodes of violence over the course of conflict. This innovative concept will drastically move analysis of ancient war narratives forward and enable truly meaningful cross-cultural engagement on the subject of probity in war. In this way, we can develop a more precise language for discussing conflicts and harm in our own time.