The Second Jewish Revolt against the Roman dominion (132-135 CE) considerably changed the political and cultural landscape of Jewish Palestine. Judaea was almost completely devastated, and Jewish life shifted from Judaea to the Galilee. The Roman victory, however, was won at great cost. The last decade has seen some stunning developments in research on the Bar Kokhba War. In particular, recent archaeological findings provide new material for evaluation. This volume is based on a conference which took place in November 2001 at Princeton University and gathers a distinguished array of scholars working at the forefront of research on the Bar Kokhba period. It appraises the state of the subject in light of the present scholarly discussion and evaluates the historical importance of this major event and its repercussions for the subsequent history of the Jews in Roman Palestine. A concluding essay investigates the use of Bar Kokhba’s image in modern Israeli culture.
Survey of contents:

Peter Schafer: Preface - Peter Schafer: Bar Kokhba and the Rabbis - Martin Goodman: Trajan and the Origins of the Bar Kokhba War - Yoram Tsafrir: Numismatics and the Foundation of Aelia Capitolina: A Critical Review - Benjamin Isaac: Roman Religious Policy and the Bar Kokhba War - Aharon Oppenheimer: The Ban of Circumcision as a Cause of the Revolt: A Reconsideration - Ra'anan Abusch: Negotiating Difference: Genital Mutilation in Roman Slave Law and the History of the Bar Kokhba Revolt - Hanan Eshel: The Dates Used during the Bar Kokhba Revolt - Menahem Mor: The Geographical Scope of the Bar Kokhba Revolt - Hannah M. Cotton: The Bar Kokhba Revolt and the Documents from the Judaean Desert: Nabataean Participation in the Revolt (P. Yadin 52) - Werner Eck: Hadrian, the Bar Kokhba Revolt, and the Epigraphic Transmission - Glen W. Bowersock: The Tel Shalem Arch and P. Nahal Hever/Seiyal 8 - Amos Kloner and Boaz Zissu: Hiding Complexes in Judaea: An Archaeological and Geographical Update on the Area of the Bar Kokhba Revolt - Yuval Shahar: The Underground Hideouts in Galilee and their Historical Meaning - Yaron Z. Eliav: The Urban Layout of Aelia Capitolina: A New View from the Perspective of the Temple Mount - Yael Zerubavel: Bar Kokhba’s Image in Modern Israeli Culture