Excerpts from Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt
"Jewish Pilgrimage and Jewish Identity"
Edited by David Frankfurter
Authored By Dr. Allen Kerkeslager
Brill, Leiden, Boston, Koln; 1998
"Exodus traditions played a central role in Jewish identity in the Greco-Roman period. The mythology of national origins, the distinctive outlines of Jewish ritual and legal practice, and the Jewish liturgy read in the synagogues were all based directly upon the exodus traditions. Jerusalem appropriated the ritual potential of these traditions through the yearly pilgrimage festivals celebrated in the temple. Read more ...