Ancient Jewish Cosmology- Research Proposal
Eshbal Ratzon
The scientific discipline of the history of science has flourished during the recent period, with
intensive research conducted around the world. Yet within this field, ancient Jewish science
has not garnered the attention it deserves due to its interdisciplinary requirements. It is rare
to find scholars with both the training in the exact sciences and the qualification to discuss
complicated old Judaic texts. Jewish science is not only important in its own right, but also
had an immense impact on the thinking of Jewish and Christian scientists in later generations,
sometimes without their awareness, as well as on thinking of the Jews of the time in other
fields of life, such as religion.
The proposed study is part of a large-scale project that I plan to carry out, encompassing
ancient Jewish cosmology from the Bible to the Talmudic literature. As the first stage of the
grand research, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the conception of the structure of the
universe in the Ethiopic Book of Enoch (1 Enoch). 1 Enoch is unique in the ancient Jewish
literature due to its direct concern with science and the extent of its astronomical content.
The next stage relates to Jewish sources of the period of the Second Temple. They include: A.
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha written in the land of Israel before the destruction of the
Temple. Especially important are Jubilees 2, a reiteration of the creation story of Genesis 1;
Jubilees 8-9, which retell the division of the land to the sons of Noah; and Sirach 43, a poetic
praise to God for the creation of the world; B. Dead Sea Scrolls, among which, the Hymns
(especially the Hodayot Scroll and the Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice) and the Wisdom Literature,
literary genres in which descriptions of the world as a whole, and of the sky and heavenly
bodies in particular, are relatively abundant; C. The writings of Flavius Josephus (relevant
references are i.a. Josephus’s interpretation of the creation of the world, in Antiquities 1:2733, and Josephus’s comparisons of the structure of the Tabernacle and the Temple to various
components of the universe in The Jewish War 5,5:208-217, and in Antiquities 3:123-187).
Additional sources containing extensive cosmological material, such as the writings of Philo, 4
Ezra, 2 Baruch, the Book of Adam and Eve, 2 Enoch, and others, will be reviewed at a later
stage and will be aggregated into a comprehensive study of the cosmological beliefs of the
Second Temple Jews.
Very little has been written, in general, about the conceptions of the Jews of the land of Israel
in the Second Temple Period regarding the structure of the universe. The publications listed
below mainly discuss specific books, especially Jubilees, or specific parts of the universe, such
as the geography of the earth, descriptions of the heavens, or the underworld. Researchers
who have written about geography in Jubilees include Grelot (22), Alexander (9), Scott (33,
34), and Werman (39, 40). Cosmology in Jubilees was addressed by VanderKam (37), who
wrote about the interpretation of the creation story in Jubilees. Studies encompassing a larger
number of sources include Himmelfarb, whose book on travels of apocalyptic heroes in hell
(23) and heaven (24), discuss several cosmological descriptions; Wright’s book, The Early
History of Heaven (41), which is highly valuable for the section of my work dealing with the
structure of the sky; and Jackson’s Enochic Judaism (25). In addition, most of the writing on
science in the scrolls has concerned astronomy, astrology, and the calendar. These areas were
expanded upon by Albani, Glessmer, and Ben-Dov in several publications highlighting the
Babylonian influence on Jewish sources.
My dissertation on the conceptions of the universe in the Book of Enoch uncovered a number
of new findings, which will be further examined in other Second Temple sources. For example,
my research indicated that the flat earth in the Book of Enoch is square-shaped, rather than
round. In my opinion, this is congruent with the description in the Bible, and contrasts with
the shape commonly described in Greek and Mesopotamian texts. In the proposed research,
I intend to examine whether this view persisted, unswayed by many years of Greek and
subsequently Roman rule. My research also showed that in contrast to the prevalent view,
there is no evidence in the Book of Enoch that the populated part of the earth was believed
to be encircled by a river, as in the Babylonian Maratu or the Greek Oceanus. Alexander posits
that the Table of Nations in Jubilees contains a description of such an Oceanus, as part of its
commitment to the Ionic map of the world; but this conclusion should be reexamined.
My previous work reinforced Himmelfarb's opinion that only one firmament is known to the
authors of 1 Enoch (24). The evolution of the belief in multiple firmaments during the Second
Temple period will be examined as well as its sources of influence. Other components of the
heavens and their functions will be evaluated, such as the heavenly gates. The heavenly bodies
are sometimes described in the Book of Enoch as living creatures with free will, and at other
times as part of a fixed natural order. I will address the question whether these two viewpoints
continue to be represented in the Jewish literature of the Second Temple Period. As the
Astronomical Book of Enoch was extensively investigated by others, my Ph.D. did not regard
its lunar theory. However, several issues still remained unresolved. Mathematical
interpolation might help find a consistence explanation, which might shed new light on time
measuring in the circles responsible for this text.
Finally, in the Book of Enoch, the ‫( רוחות‬ruchot - an Aramaic term for both winds and spirits)
have a key role in the creation of the world, as well as in supporting its existence and
functioning. Such a central role for winds/spirits is not known in the cultures surrounding the
land of Israel, nor in the Bible. In the Book of Parables (the second and latest part of the Book
of Enoch), these spirits are explicitly identified with angels. I will attempt to determine
whether this cosmological conception was integrated with the angelology that developed in
Second Temple Judaism, and whether differences can be identified among the various sources
in terms of their attitude towards spirits.
Evaluation of sources of influence and reasons for disagreements will follow the assessment
of the content of the views apparent from the texts. Research on the Second Temple Period
tends to emphasize the cultural impact of the Hellenistic powers and the Roman Empire, due
to the gain in their political power, while minimizing the importance of the connections that
continued to be maintained with the neighboring Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Phoenician
cultures. Of the general research on the connections between Judaism and Hellenism in the
Second Temple Period, the most noteworthy work is by Hengel. In the area of cosmology,
examples include the work of Werman (39), Alexander (9) and Scott (33, 34). Nonetheless,
some researchers do highlight the affinity of Jewish cosmology during this period with
Mesopotamia, suggesting that the Hellenistic influence on Jewish conceptions of the structure
of the universe was delayed. Among these we could count Grelot (22), Wright (41), Albani (7),
and Ben-Dov (2, 3, 13). My study of the Book of Enoch continues this line of inquiry and adds
the Phoenician/Canaanite culture as another connection that has been insufficiently
emphasized up to this point in the context of the Second Temple Period. This link is close both
in geographical and in cultural terms. Furthermore, during certain periods, the Phoenicians
may have served to connect the land of Israel and Mesopotamia with Greece.
However, the extensive research pointing to Greek influence on Jewish culture in other areas
cannot be disregarded; such an influence is certainly present in the late Second Temple Period
sources. In the proposed research, I intend to examine this connection within the later
literature, up to the destruction of the Temple, and to identify the time and sources in which
the Greek influence becomes significant.
In addition to external political and cultural processes, the internal division in the Jewish
society was a significant factor in shaping the various cosmological conceptions. The question
is whether the attitudes, beliefs, and customs of the different groups affected their ideas
regarding the structure of the universe or vice versa. I will attempt to examine the extent of
the various groups’ commitment to Biblical viewpoints, as against the degree of penetration
of external cultures, and consequently the efforts to integrate the two cultural perspectives.
Attention will also be given to the question whether the various literary genres (such as
apocalyptic, wisdom, and liturgical texts) are consistent in their cosmologies.
Moving beyond philosophical, cultural, and social influences on the external and internal
planes, the use of empirical means to reach cosmological conclusions should be considered.
The possibility that astronomical observations and scientific experiments were conducted in
the land of Israel, as in other Mediterranean regions and in Mesopotamia, cannot be
discounted. In this context, reference points include the object found at the site of the
Qumran settlement, interpreted by Albani and Glessmer (20) as a sundial, though Ben-Dov
(14) disputes this reading of the artifact. Neugebauer, a historian of science with a prominent
standing in the field, stated that the astronomy reflected in 1 Enoch is essentially primitive
(28, 29). In my dissertation and in a forthcoming paper I challenge his opinion, indicating that
the development of a special system of heavenly gates based on the Babylonian science in the
book, points to an attempt to provide a more accurate scientific explanation of the observed
movements of the sun and the moon, even if this effort did not eventually lead to modern
cosmology. I intend to determine whether such scientific observations and theories are
unique to the Book of Enoch during this period, or whether there may be evidence of
additional work of the same nature. If so, the weight given to observations should be
compared to the extent of influence of literary traditions and theoretical philosophical
inquiries, especially when these sources of knowledge appear to contradict each other.
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