Jerusalem—one of the most contested sites in the world. Reconstructing Jerusalem takes readers back to a pivotal moment in its history when it lay ruined and abandoned and the glory of its ancient kings, David and Solomon, had faded. Why did this city not share the same fate as so many other conquered cities, destroyed and forever abandoned, never to be rebuilt? Why did Jerusalem, disgraced and humiliated, not suffer the fate of Babylon, Nineveh, or Persepolis? Reconstructing Jerusalem explores the interrelationship of the physical and intellectual processes leading to Jerusalem’s restoration after its destruction in 587 B.C.E., stressing its symbolic importance and the power of the prophetic perspective in the preservation of the Judean nation and the critical transition from Yahwism to Judaism. Through texts and artifacts, including a unique, comprehensive investigation of the archaeological evidence, a startling story emerges: the visions of a small group of prophets not only inspired the rebuilding of a desolate city but also of a dispersed people. Archaeological, historical, and literary analysis converge to reveal the powerful elements of the story, a story of dispersion and destruction but also of re-creation and revitalization, a story about how compelling visions can change the fate of a people and the course of human history, a story of a community reborn to a barren city.
Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Reconstructing Jerusalem: Outline, Method, Scope
The Rise and Fall of State Ideology in Judah
Problems in Post-collapse Judean Society
"No Houses Had Been Built": The Archaeology of Persian-Period Jerusalem
The Settlement
Fortifications
Epigraphic Evidence
Burial Site and Significant Material Remains
Interpretations and Regional Context
Recreating Jerusalem: The Isaianic Perspective(s)
Reconstruction in Deutero-Isaiah
Reconstruction in Trito-Isaiah
Conclusions
Revitalizing Jerusalem: The Perspective of Haggai
The Date and Organization of the Work
The Temporal Frame and Sitz-im-Leben
The Nature of the Restoration
Reconstruction as a Covenant Imperative
The Temple as Bourse
Zerubbabel as Hoffnungsträger for the Temple's Reconstruction
Conclusions
Reconsecrating Jerusalem: The Perspective of Zechariah 1–8
The Composition of the Text
The Temple and the Community in the Divine Combat Cycle
Conclusions
Reforming Jerusalem: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives from Zechariah 9–14 and Malachi
The Explicit and Implied Imperial and Regional Context(s)
Persians and Edomites in Malachi
Judean Leadership and the Community
The Status of the City and the Temple
Conclusions
Conclusion: From Cult to Culture
The Two Dimensions
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
“While the restoration of the temple is often viewed as the return of divine favor to God’s people, Ristau successfully demonstrates that for the post-exilic prophets . . . this is only true inasmuch as it reestablishes Jerusalem as the city of Yahweh’s habitation and the locus of the Davidic house. Due to its extensive use of untransliterated and untranslated Hebrew—and the occasional untranslated German—this important volume would be most useful for graduate students or scholars interested in Persian Yehud.”
