Blood Accusation; Conversions, forced; Coins; Emancipation of the Jews; Bulls, Papal; Apostasy and Apostates; Messiah and Messianic; Bible under the headings Law, Old Testament, Pentateuch, Scriptures, Septuagint, Translations, and Vulgate; Education under the headings, Colleges, Rabbinical and Talmudical, Law, Schools, Talmud, and Talmud Torah. These summaries will be suggestive, it is hoped, to the teacher of Jewish history and to the student with sufficient devotion to the subject to pursue it topically and pragmatically as well as in its chronologic sequence. As an illustration of what use may be made of it, the compiler has prefixed to the index a guide to the study of Jewish history by means of the biographies of its great men, an apostolical succession, as it were. Under the class-names there given, the names of all persons of each class will be found grouped in the index. Again, if it is desirable to trace out a topic, as, for instance, the development of Hebrew grammar, or the cultivation of medicine among Jews, etc., the index is helpful by means of its lists of names of grammarians, physicians, astronomers, historians, poets, etc., under these and similar heads.

To facilitate its use, the student is urged to read the directions preceding the index. Great difficulties attach to the systematic arrangement of the names of persons connected with ancient and mediæval history of all kinds. In Jewish history, even down to recent times, these difficulties are largely increased by the comparatively late introduction among Jews of family names in the accepted modern sense, and by their introduction among Spanish Jews earlier than among the others. The scheme adopted by Zedner, in his British Museum catalogue, has been followed as far as the peculiarities of our author and his subject, and its presentation in a modern language, permitted it. The arrangement is not ideal, but every effort has been made to minimize the difficulties.

In this preface, precedence has been given to the index, because, in spite of the consensus of opinions among connoisseurs, the importance of indexes and their usefulness are in some quarters still held to stand in need of vindication. In the book, however, the first place is occupied by a contribution whose value will be disputed by none, namely, the Memoir of the author, the greatest historian of the Jews. The Committee believes, not only that the public has a taste for biographical studies, but that in this instance it will be pleased with the choice of biographer, Dr. Philipp Bloch, rabbi of Posen, a disciple of Graetz and for more than a quarter of a century his intimate friend. Although not quite seven years have elapsed since Graetz passed away, and many that were closely associated with him are still among the living, it was not easy to find the man qualified for the task of writing his biography. Graetz was not inclined to be communicative about his early life or his emotional experiences. He had met with disappointments that emphasized the reticence of his nature. The venerable wife of the deceased historian was kind enough to put all her husband’s literary remains at the disposal of the biographer, who herewith acknowledges his deep obligation to her for the help thus afforded his work. The greater part of material of this kind, especially in the form of letters, Graetz burnt before his last change of residence. But his interesting diary was spared. It was kept with more or less regularity from 1832 to 1854, though for the latter part of this period it is hardly more than a bald summary of events, and the disappearance of loose leaves curtails the information that might have been gathered from it. The biographer’s thanks are due also to the Board of Curators of the Fränkel Bequests for kindly putting at his service the documents in their archives bearing on Graetz’s connection with the Breslau Jewish Theological Seminary, thus enabling him to verify facts long in his possession. Dr. Bloch furthermore availed himself of Dr. B. Rippner’s interesting brochure, “Zum siebzigsten Geburtstage des Professors Dr. Heinrich Graetz,” and of Professor Dr. David Kaufmann’s eloquent eulogy of his teacher, “H. Graetz, der Historiograph des Judenthums.” The Committee believes, that in securing the co-operation of Dr. Bloch it has been the instrument of eliciting an important original contribution to Jewish biographical literature.

The Chronological Table is another feature of the volume to which attention must be called. In the eighth volume of the German edition of the “History,” Professor Graetz introduced a similar table, reciting the succession of events from the Maccabæan struggle to the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal. The present analysis includes the whole of Jewish history up to the year 1873 of this era. It assumes to be nothing more than a summary of the “History of the Jews” by Graetz. As no attempt has been made to indicate whether his conclusions are endorsed by the scholars of our day, it becomes a duty to refer to the vexed question of Biblical chronology. Since the time of Archbishop Ussher (1580–1656)--not to mention the Talmudic Seder Olam Rabba--it has been the subject of dispute, which is complicated by the various eras, the Seleucidæan, the Roman, and the Era of the World, in use among the Jews at different times. Even now the most diversified opinions are held by scholars, and no system has met with general acceptance. Graetz discusses the matter exhaustively in Note 19 of Vol. I of the German original of his “History.” His researches led him to oppose the results of the historians Niebuhr, Ewald, and Movers, and of the Assyriologists Brandes, Smith, and Schrader. He inclines to the views of Oppert, who applied the information derived from the Assyrian inscriptions to the vindication of the Biblical chronology nearly as determined by Ussher. Since Graetz wrote his note (1873), almost amounting to a treatise, evidence for the one or the other opinion has been strengthened or invalidated by the more minute and extended study of the monuments, inscriptions, and other records of Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria. The reader interested in the subject is referred to the works of such scholars as Duncker, Oppert, Kamphausen, and Eduard Meyer.

Finally, it is hoped, that the four maps accompanying the Index Volume will meet with favor and frequent use. They have been inserted in a pocket and not bound with the book, so that they may be removed readily for reference in connection with any volume the student may be reading. The two maps of Palestine and that of the Semitic World are reproduced, with modifications, from Professor George Adam Smith’s forthcoming Bible Atlas. The one of the Jewish-Mahometan World was made for the Society by Mr. J. G. Bartholomew of the Edinburgh Geographical Institute, the cartographer who drew the other three maps. The maps of the Jewish-Mahometan World and the Semitic World are general reference maps; the two of Palestine represent the political divisions of the land, the one at the time of the Judges, the other at the time of Herod the Great.

The Committee expresses the hope that this sixth volume, an epitome of Jewish history, may “manifest its treasures,” “facilitate the knowledge of those who seek it, and invite them to make application thereof.”

March, 1898.

CONTENTS.