Hezser Catherine. The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Daily Life in Roman Palestine

Oxford University Press, 2010. — 507 p. — ISBN 978–0–19–921643–7.The idea for this Handbook was born during my conversations with Yaron Eliav and Zeev Weiss during the last five years, when we considered the creation of a new version of Samuel Krauss' multi‐volume Talmudische Archäologie. Such a new version remains a task of gargantuan proportions that will perhaps be accomplished by scholars in the future. In the meantime, this Handbook is meant to fill the gap, and to provide scholars and students with up‐to‐date surveys and tools for the study of the various areas of ancient Jewish daily life.
A Handbook is always a joint undertaking, and a collaboration of the contributors, the editor, and the publisher. Since so many different people are involved, the production of such volumes usually takes longer than anticipated, as was also the case with this work. I would like to take this opportunity to especially thank all those who submitted their chapters in time. Yitzhar Hirschfeld, who had agreed to write the chapter on domestic architecture, died shortly after he had signed the contract. May his memory be for a blessing. Special praise is due to those who stepped in at short notice to fill the gaps left by those who could not deliver, or whose submissions did not fit the Handbook's programme.