[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Walls not a fortress make



-> From: HuldrychZ@aol.com
-> To: orion@pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il
-> Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 07:45:46 -0500
-> Subject: Re: Walls not a fortress make
->
-> In a message dated 96-04-02 01:37:51 EST, you write:
->
-> >But to be back on the point: akthough there may be no evidence of a
-> >conceived politically conducted destruction of manuscripts,
-> >manuscripts would nevertheless be 'endangered' items in times of war
-> >
-> >
->
-> I think this point is well taken.  In war, everything is subject to
-> destruction.  It does not seem lilkely that a marauding group of
-> anti-text Roman soldiers needs to be postulated.  The simple fact
-> that a Jewish colony existed was enouch in 68 CE for the romans to
-> do their worst.
->
-> Jim West

I think you are correct, Jim. You reminded me of various mosaic floors I
have seen in Israel, such as in the synagogue floor in Na'aran (near
Jericho), and in other places, where iconoclasts had removed the images
of animals and/or humans leaving just the outline of the image intact.
It was enough for these persons to destroy, in these cases, just the
image to satisfy some internal philosophy concerning images. The Romans
may have destroyed manuscripts, along with buildings, just because they
belonged to Jews
--Jonah Wahrman