(Re-)Shaping Empires in the Hasmonean Era

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Sarah Schulz
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology ; Roman Catholic Theology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 571092505

The project explores how representations of empire were (re)shaped in biblical texts, focusing on the Hasmonean era. By combining historical reconstruction with approaches to social and political memory, it examines how depictions of empires may reflect ideological and political agendas from Hasmonean times. Current scholarship on biblical representations of empire is divided between historical reconstruction, which traces imperial influence on texts, and construction approaches, which interpret them as expressions of social and political memory. This project bridges the divide by integrating both and examining how portrayals of empires changed over time. Focusing on the Hasmonean era—a period still underrepresented in biblical empire studies—it explores how ideological interests shaped depictions of the Persian and Babylonian empires in biblical texts. 1. How were portrayals of the Babylonian and Persian empires (re)shaped in biblical texts during the Hasmonean era? 2. How did these depictions reflect or serve political interests, especially in (de-)legitimizing authority? 3. What differences emerge between portrayals in the Hebrew and Greek Bibles, and what do they reveal about textual and redactional history? 4. How do literary strategies – such as gendered imagery and role inversion – construct imperial figures and reflect Hasmonean views on identity and power? The project uses a multi-method approach combining diachronic textual analysis with historical and hermeneutical perspectives. (1) Textual- and literary-critical methods trace how imperial representations were (re)shaped in selected biblical texts. (2) External sources from the Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic periods provide historical context and help assess the ideological framing of these portrayals. (3) Hermeneutical approaches from memory and gender studies examine how imperial imagery reflects and constructs collective identity, political ideology, and gendered concepts of power. The project redefines the understanding of imperial representations in the Hebrew Bible by offering new perspectives on the intersection of history, ideology, and literature in ancient Jewish texts. By examining how Hasmonean political interests influenced the (re)shaping of biblical depictions of empire, it deepens our understanding of Jewish political thought and identity in the Second Temple period. Key innovations include: 1. Bridging the methodological gap between reconstruction and construction approaches for a more integrated reading of empire. 2. Demonstrating the formative impact of Hasmonean ideology on biblical redaction. 3. Challenging assumptions about the historical reliability of Persian- and Hellenistic-period narratives by foregrounding their literary and ideological complexity.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria, United Kingdom
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Benedikt Eckhardt; Professorin Dr. Katharina Pyschny