While many periods in history have received intensive study, the late Second Temple Period in Judaism--the historical era into which Jesus was born, raised and conducted his ministry--none was more consequential for the formation of the embryonic, nascent, and apostolic Christian communities and thus for the church across the ages.
In Stone and Dung, Oil and Spirit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus Jodi Magness (Professor in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina) examines archaeological and literary evidence in order to shed new light on Jewish daily life in Judea, Galilee, Idumaea, and Peraea during it climactic period from the mid-first century (c. 50 BC) to 70 AD, the time of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by Rome.
Magness provides fascinating details on a broad spectrum of subjects including:
