Self-organization and horizontal binding forces: local authorities in ancient Judaism from the 6th century BCE to the 1st century CE.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Barbara Schmitz
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 517261575

The project investigates the self-organization processes initiated by local authorities from the 6th century BCE to the 1st century CE and asks both about the horizontal binding forces and about their relation to the local Judean community and the local society. The group of local authorities in Judean communities, which were mostly informal and collegial in organization, shapes governance processes at the local level through shared regulatory needs. The development of local authorities and their significance for the self-organization of Judean communities in the 600-year period under study will be analyzed in urban, civil society complex spaces as well as in rural regions. The analysis will be carried out for different locations (Judea, Diaspora) and for different forms of statehood (Babylonia, Persia, Hellenistic kingdoms, Rome). The aim of the project is to investigate both the historical development of local authorities diachronically and synchronically their function and significance for the contemporary Judean community and local society. To this end, the sources are split in two dissertations according to genre: 1) 'historiographically' oriented texts (or theologically influenced historical-narrative historiography) and 2) fictional narratives. As parallel case studies, the dissertations therefore necessarily differ in their methodological approach, but both conceptually pursue in their source analysis the central question of investigating horizontal binding forces in self-organization processes at the local level under the aspects of regulatory needs, cohesion, and recognition. Due to the wide time frame, the geographical diversity and the different forms of statehood, comparative evaluations in the longue durée are possible in order to be able to specify the complexity and differentiation of horizontal binding forces in various state and local arrangements of order.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants