"Honoured in her time": Queen Shelamzion and the Book of Judith.

The Book of Judith is a tale about a time in Jewish history when the Jews were threatened with annihilation and saved by a pious widow. It is also an example of the early Hellenistic novel and evinces many hitherto unexplored ties to Hellenistic literature; however, even when these similarities are accounted for, the characterization of Judith, the book's main character, stands out in marked contrast to other Hellenistic female heros. Although the date of composition of the work is still disputed, there is strong evidence that links the work to the Hasmonean period. It was during this period that a woman ruled Judea; this woman was Shelamzion, whom Josephus refers to as Salome Alexandra. Charles Ball, Solomon Zeitlin, and the contemporary feminist scholar Tal Ilan postulate that the Book of Judith was written as a means of promoting the popularity of this Hasmonean queen; however, the idea has not been thoroughly examined by scholars. This dissertation explores the possibility that the Book of Judith was written as political propaganda for the only Hasmonean queen, Shelamzion. The first part of the dissertation explores literary patronage and propaganda in the Hellenistic period. Part Two examines the literary world of Shelamzion, the world which gave birth to the Hellenistic novel. The third part offers a fresh evaluation of Josephus' accounts of Shelamzion's reign; these accounts are found in The Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities . Her reign is examined against the backdrop of the politically powerful female descendants of Ptolemy Soter I, the various Cleopatras of the second and first centuries B.C.E. The final section assesses the Book of Judith as political propaganda for Shelamzion, revisiting anthropological studies of honour and shame and discussing the similarities between Shelamzion and Judith