Create an original, �grabber� title for your essay and number your pages. Provide an
introduction and a conclusion in your essay. Use the third person voice only. Do not use �I,� �me,�
mine� �we,� �our� �your,� �you,� or �us.� It is possible to express your opinion in the third
person; editorial writers do this sort of thing regularly. Use the past tense, as one always should when
writing about history–the past– and stay away from the dreaded �false� present tense that inexplicably
has become so popular in history documentaries. Avoid slang–that you must also avoid vulgarity should
go without saying. Remember to carefully proofread your papers for spelling, grammar, factual content,
and overall clarity. If writing is a challenge for you, I encourage you to visit Darton State College�s fine
writing center well ahead of the paper due date. You will need to do this since there is usually a backlog
of papers at the Writing Center. Answer all of the following questions in the order provided. You need not
restate the questions; simply write your responses in paragraph form and in complete sentences. You
should devote approximately a typed page for each response. Please do not write out the questions.
1) According to Korb, what religion did most of Palestine�s inhabitants practice in the year one? What
were some of the dietary restrictions and important rituals observed by the adherents of this religion?
Does Korb provide any rationale for these practices? Why or why not?
2) What did it mean to be �unclean� in Palestine during the year one? Was there more than one type of
uncleanliness? Explain.
3) What were the lives of women like in Palestine during the year one? In what ways were women
restricted? What rights, if any, did they enjoy?
2
4) According to Gary Wills (in a quotation from Cicero), what constituted the �extremest penalty� in
first-century Palestine? Why? Please provide numerous and pertinent details in your response.
The highly readable book by Scott Korby provides great insight by which the readers get
insights of the happenings in the Old Testament. The book is set in a most straightforward
manner by examining things such as money, home, food, baths respect and religion. The author
took the fairly exotic topic from the Old Testament in the past two centuries and tries to link
them with the current context. The author takes the familiar things like money, women, and
religion by putting the ancient situations in the contemporary ways of seeing the world 1 .
- According to Korb, what religion did most of Palestine’s inhabitants practice in the
year one? What were some of the dietary restrictions and important rituals
1 Korb, Scott. Life in Year One: What the World Was Like in First-Century Palestine. Riverhead Books, 2010
3
observed by the adherents of this religion? Does Korb provide any rationale for
these practices? Why or why not?
Korb notes that religion was a key issue among the Palestine’s since they were highly
God fearing. The observance of religion among the Palestine’s can be evident from the manner
in which they observed the Sabbath and kept it holy 2 . The nationalist groups began to revolt
against the Roman Empire after the birth of Jesus. According to Korb religion played a key role
in the traditional settlement and most of the things were seen in the religious context. Korb links
religion to the dietary behaviors of the Palestine’s such that some food were accepted while
others were rejected.
According to Korb, the Palestine observed various important rituals observed the
adherents to the religion. These Palestinians valued their children, whether boy child or girl
child, such that marriages were arranged and divorces were tolerated. According to Korb, these
people used ritual paths for purification purposes as part of their godliness and traditional beliefs.
However, Korb notes that the use of ritual baths reduced after the destruction of the second
temple after 70CE 3 .
2) What did it mean to be “unclean” in Palestine during the year one? Was there more
than one type of uncleanliness? Explain.
According to Korb, cleanliness was given great consideration as being unclean was
connected with heavy burden to the society and individuals. In this era, diseases such as leprosy
were linked with uncleanliness and not bacteria as in the case today. The Palestine’s feared
people with leprosy since coming into contact with them would imply coming into contact with a
2 Ibid
3 Korb, Scott. Life in Year One: What the World Was Like in First-Century Palestine. Riverhead Books, 2010
4
dirty person. In this regard, these people were moved away from the normal residential areas into
secluded regions so that they don’t affect the rest of the population with their dirt. Such persons
were made to wear torn clothes with shaggy hairs on their bodies to epitomize their dirtiness.
Apart from disease such as leprosy, there were other forms of uncleanliness that were considered
among the Palestine’s. Marrying from other tribes was considered unclean as people were
encouraged to marry from their own tribes 4 .
3) What were the lives of women like in Palestine during the year one? In what ways were
women restricted? What rights, if any, did they enjoy?
According to Korb, women and men lived different lives in Palestine 5 . The men were
held in high positions as compared to the women. Korb argues that the women were held in the
slavery kind of life while the men enjoyed high privileges in the society. The traditional Palestine
women were subjected to restrictive personal status that often resulted in discrimination of
women by men 6 . Women were restricted in the sense that they could not hold high offices in the
land and lead the people. The women were also restricted in the traditional Palestine in that they
could not be allowed to make crucial decisions that would shape the destiny of the society. On
the other hand, the rights enjoyed by the Palestinian women are not clearly highlighted by the
author.
4) According to Gary Wills (in a quotation from Cicero), what constituted the “extremist
penalty” in first-century Palestine? Why? Please provide numerous and pertinent details in
your response.
4 Ibid
5 Ibid
6 Korb, Scott. Life in Year One: What the World Was Like in First-Century Palestine. Riverhead Books, 2010
5
According to Garry Wills, blasphemy constituted to extremist penalty since people were
so religious. The author argues that it was very hard to separate these people from their religious
beliefs as it took a central place in themselves. Since these people had much regard for their
religion, going against the teachings of the church would amount to blasphemy and the extremist
penalty. In this regard, most of the people who were brought into Roman Empire ended up taking
the Jewish identity as in order to evade extremist penalty. On the other hand, the behaviors that
would not directly touch on the religious beliefs were never given much consideration.
