Da diversi anni si è giunti a ritenere che l’Antico Testamento sia stato scritto non da un solo uomo che si riteneva dovesse essere stato Mosè, che doveva essere stato un testimone dei fatti da lui descritti, ma che la Sua compilazione sia avvenuta secoli dopo gli avvenimenti narrati da una scuola di pensiero all’interno della Chiesa primitiva ebraica. Successivamente i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche confortate delle datazioni al radiocarbonio hanno dimostrato che fosse necessaria una riscrittura della storia d’Israele, riscrittura che comunque non incrinava la tesi che uno stato d’Israele potente e unitario fosse realmente esistito sotto Davide e Salomone, e che fosse realmente esistito un ‘Primo Tempio’. Ma la più recente critica mette in dubbio anche il concetto stesso di regno unito, mettendo così in crisi il racconto biblico, negando anche un collegamento tra i regni Israele e ai tempi della loro nascita. Ma l’autore, dopo una lunga ricerca ed in base a quanto da lui rilevato, ipotizza che questo non sia corretto, in quanto ai tempi dei re Davide e Salomone esisteva effettivamente un potente regno di Giuda, ma che non risiedeva a Gerusalemme, così come Salomone fece costruire un monumentale Tempio, ma sempre non a Gerusalemme. L’autore ritiene che questi due re vissero e regnarono in Egitto, e che, come i loro antenati Patriarchi, fossero dei faraoni appartenenti al potente impero Hyksos, che fondarono la XV dinastia ed anche la XXII, entrambe governate da sovrani appartenevano alla discendenza di Terach, il padre di Abramo. Questi importanti personaggi che infine riuscirono ad impadronirsi del potere in Egitto dovevano già avere conquistato un vasto territorio che andava dalla Mesopotamia al fiume Nilo, comprendenti anche il regno di Edom in Transgiordania, dove governarono Seir, che corrispondeva ad Abramo, il figlio Ismaele ed Esaù, che ereditò il trono prendendo in sposa una figlia di Ismaele, che portava una titolatura che comprendeva Maaca-Bashemat.

In 1638, a small book of no more than 92 pages in octavo was published “appresso Gioanne Calleoni” under the title “Discourse on the State of the Jews and in particular those dwelling in the illustrious city of Venice.” It was dedicated to the Doge of Venice and his counsellors, who are labelled “lovers of Truth.” The author of the book was a certain Simone (Simḥa) Luzzatto, a native of Venice, where he lived and died, serving as rabbi for over fifty years during the course of the seventeenth century. Luzzatto’s political thesis is simple and, at the same time, temerarious, if not revolutionary: Venice can put an end to its political decline, he argues, by offering the Jews a monopoly on overseas commercial activity. This plan is highly recommendable because the Jews are “wellsuited for trade,” much more so than others (such as “foreigners,” for example). The rabbi opens his argument by recalling that trade and usury are the only occupations permitted to Jews. Within the confines of their historical situation, the Venetian Jews became particularly skilled at trade with partners from the Eastern Mediterranean countries. Luzzatto’s argument is that this talent could be put at the service of the Venetian government in order to maintain – or, more accurately, recover – its political importance as an intermediary between East and West. He was the first to define the role of the Jews on the basis of their economic and social functions, disregarding the classic categorisation of Judaism’s alleged privileged religious status in world history. Nonetheless, going beyond the socio-economic arguments of the book, it is essential to point out Luzzatto’s resort to sceptical strategies in order to plead in defence of the Venetian Jews. It is precisely his philosophical and political scepticism that makes Luzzatto’s texts so unique. This edition aims to grant access to his works and thought to English-speaking readers and scholars. By approaching his texts from this point of view, the editors hope to open a new path in research into Jewish culture and philosophy that will enable other scholars to develop new directions and new perspectives, stressing the interpenetration between Jews and the surrounding Christian and secular cultures.

The first comprehensive guide to women's promotion and use of textual culture, in manuscript and print, in Renaissance Italy.

Europe’s boundaries have mainly been shaped by cultural, religious, and political conceptions rather than by geography. This volume of bilingual essays from renowned European scholars outlines the transformation of Europe’s boundaries from the fall of the ancient world to the age of decolonization, or the end of the explicit endeavor to “Europeanize” the world.From the decline of the Roman Empire to the polycentrism of today’s world, the essays span such aspects as the confrontation of Christian Europe with Islam and the changing role of the Mediterranean from “mare nostrum” to a frontier between nations. Scandinavia, eastern Europe and the Atlantic are also analyzed as boundaries in the context of exploration, migratory movements, cultural exchanges, and war. The Boundaries of Europe, edited by Pietro Rossi, is the first installment in the ALLEA book series Discourses on Intellectual Europe, which seeks to explore the question of an intrinsic or quintessential European identity in light of the rising skepticism towards Europe as an integrated cultural and intellectual region.

The aim of the second part of the project on the impact of the racial laws under the Mussolini regime is to offer the reader a critical edition and an English translation of 139 letters that were exchanged between the victims of those laws (and their relatives and friends) and the Jesuit Pietro Tacchi Venturi (1861–1956) who interceded with the Fascist government in order to circumvent or alleviate various provisions of the 1938 anti-Jewish legislation.

A collection of essays exploring key aspects of the relationship between Rome and its empire.