Persian Imperial Mythology and the Origins of Jewish Demonology - Mark Leuchter

Jewish literature of the Hellenistic period and beyond evidences a steady increase in lore about demons and their dangers. These beings are agents of chaos, threats to the created order, enemies of God and dangers to the safety and integrity of Jewish life. But contrary to scholars who see this as a result of the encounter with Hellenism, the origins of this concept of demonology can be traced to the experience of Jews in Persian Yehud and the function of Achaemenid mythology within imperial society. The rise of demonology is coeval and indeed coextensive with the fall of the Persian empire and the implications of a failed myth of imperial order.

Mark Leuchter is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism and Director of Jewish Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. His publications include An Empire Far And Wide: The Achaemenid Dynastic Myth and Jewish Scribes in the Late Persian Period (Oxford University Press, 2024) and The Levites and the Boundaries of Israelite Identity (Oxford University Press, 2017). He is one of the editors of the New Oxford Bible Commentary, an executive board member of the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies, and contributes regular op-eds to Religion Dispatches, Smerconish.com, and other public facing venues. His favorite band is Rush.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 • 306 Royce Hall • 2PM
Persian Imperial Mythology and the Origins of Jewish Demonology
2024-2025 Etta and Milton Leve Scholar-in-Residence

Mark Leuchter (Temple University)
Moderator: Catherine Bonesho (UCLA)

Cosponsored by the UCLA Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World