Braverman Brunch & Lecture with Scholar Michael Satlow: Ancient Israel & the Origins of the Bible

04 May @ 9:30 am - 11:00 am

Location: Social Hall

Guest scholar, Michael Satlow, will offer a talk on “The Forgotten Kingdom: Ancient Israel and the Origins of the Bible.” Professor Satlow’s fascinating interpretation of how an ancient collection of obscure Israelite writings became the sacred text that it is today is sure to impart new knowledge. Drawing on cutting-edge historical and archeological research, he’ll trace the story of how, when and why Jews and Christians gradually granted authority to texts that had long lay dormant in a dusty temple archive. The Bible, Satlow maintains, was not the consecrated book it is now until quite late in its history. Join us for this informative presentation and brunch sponsored by the Kenneth and Roberta Braverman Adult Education Fund.

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About our Guest Speaker

Michael Satlow received his Ph.D. in Ancient Judaism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and is currently a Professor of Religious Studies and Judaic Studies at Brown University, where he teaches a wide range of courses to both graduate and undergraduate students.  A leading scholar in his field, his work specializes in the history of Jews and Judaism in antiquity but he also writes, researches and teaches more broadly.

Satlow’s books include Jewish Marriage in Antiquity; Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, Practice; How the Bible Became Holy; and Judaism and the Economy: A Sourcebook (editor). Recent work includes a forthcoming book, An Enchanted World: The Spiritual Landscape of Late Antiquity and the The Rabbinic Citation Network (co-authored with Michael Sperling), a digital analysis of rabbinic texts.

He has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Endowment of the Humanities; was a Fulbright Scholar; and held the Seymour Gitin Distinguished Professorship at the W. F. Albright Institute. Satlow founded and directs the Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine project, a source of free and accessible inscriptions and their English translations of Israel/Palestine from the Persian period through the Islamic conquest (ca. 500 BCE – 640 CE); publishes a blog titled Then and Now available on his website, mlsatlow.com, and Substack; and created a podcast called “From Israelite to Jew.”