Sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud : Christian and Sasanian contexts in late antiquity / Yishai Kiel.

Includes bibliographies and index.

Within this close textual analysis of the Babylonian Talmud, Yishai Kiel explores rabbinic discussions of sex in light of cultural assumptions and dispositions that pervaded the cultures of late antiquity and particularly the Iranian world. By negotiating the Iranian context of the rabbinic discussion alongside the Christian backdrop, this groundbreaking volume presents a balanced and nuanced portrayal of the rabbinic discourse on sexuality and situates rabbinic discussions of sex more broadly at the crossroads of late antique cultures. The study is divided into two thematic sections: the first centers on the broader aspects of rabbinic discourse on sexuality while the second hones in on rabbinic discussions of sexual prohibitions and the classification of permissible and prohibited partnerships, with particular attention to rabbinic discussions of incest. Essential reading for scholars and graduate students of Judaic studies, early Christianity, and Iranian studies, as well as those interested in religious studies and comparative religion.

Cover; Half-title page; Title page; Copyright page; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Introduction; Overview; The Babylonian Talmud as a Sasanian Work; Sexuality and Religious Demarcation; Sex and the Interplay of Law and Narrative; Mythologizing Sexuality; Textual Stratification and Synoptic Reading of the Talmud; Pahlavi Literature; Part I; 1 Talmudic, Christian, and Zoroastrian Notions of Sexual Desire; Introduction; Sexual Gratification in Babylonian Rabbinic Culture; The Demonic Reification of Sexual Desire; Extinguishing Desire with Sex; Paul on Sexual Desire

Sex and Desire in ZoroastrianismConclusion; 2 Sex and the Sages; Introduction; Between Palestine and Babylonia; Marriage versus Study in Zoroastrianism; The Models of Moses and Zarathustra; Was Ben .AAzzai Really Celibate?; Conclusion; 3 Sexual Etiquette and Identity Demarcation; Introduction; Persian Modesty; Daytime Sex and Adiabenian Converts; Conclusion; 4 The Mythologization of Sexuality; Introduction; Adam and the Demons: Between Palestine and Babylonia; Creation by Emission; Conclusion; Part II; Introduction; 5 The Pahlavi Doctrine of Xwēdōdah; Introduction; Objections to Xwēdōdah

Xwēdōdah as Positive LawPurity of Lineage; Increasing Love; Cultural and Moral Relativism; A Battle against Evil; The Rectification of Sin; Mythical Prototypes; Legal Concerns; 6 Noahide Law and the Inclusiveness of Sexual Ethics; Introduction; Noahide Law: Natural or Positive; Biblical Foundations; The Sinaitic and Noahide Codes of Sexual Conduct; The Palestinian Rabbinic Discussion; The Babylonian Discussion; Explaining the Differences; 7 Incestuous Riddles; Talmudic Riddles; Zoroastrian Connections; 8 Incest between Law, Narrative, and Myth; Introduction; The Mythical Origins of Xwēdōdah

Cain, Abel, and their SistersLot's Daughters and Jam; Conclusion; 9 Confessing Incest to a Rabbi; Introduction; Internal Difficulties and Anomalies; An Early Rabbinic Interpretation; Confessing to a Religious Authority; Confessing to a Rad; Rav Ḥisda as Rad; "Xwēdōdah Cancels a Death Sentence"; Conclusion; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index

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