The Origins Of The 'Second' Temple ─ Persian Imperial Policy And The Rebuilding Of Jerusalem

A number of plausible, even if controversial, recreations of the events surrounding the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem during the early Achaemenid empire (c. 538-424 BCE) should exist and vie for primacy of place, says Edelman (biblical studies, U. of Sheffield), but they do not; in contrast, the biblical account is accepted at face value as a reliable historical record, with only a few harmonizations and modifications proposed from time to time. She does not aspire to an exhaustive account, but only a programmatic investigation to stimulate debate. Distributed in the US by the David Brown Book Company. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Diana Edelman is a senior lecturer in the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield. Her research has focused on the King Saul in history and tradition, Israelite religion during the time of the monarchy, and now is centering on the emergence of Judaism in the Persian period with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. She is the author of King Saul in the Historiography of Judah (Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) and editor of The Fabric of History: Text, Artifact and IsraelAes Past (Sheffield Academic Press, 1991), You Shall not Abhor an Edomite for He is your Brother: Edom and Seir in History and Tradition (Scholars Press, 1995) and The Triumph of Elohim: From Yahwisms to Judaisms (Kok Pharos 1995; reprinted by Eerdmans).