Mapping Galilee: Josephus, Luke, and John in Light of Critical Geography

Due to renewed interest in historical Jesus research and increased archaeological activity in the region, the investigation of first century CE Galilee has evolved into an important subfield within the broader study of Ancient Judaism and the New Testament. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how Galilee is portrayed, primarily in ancient writings and secondarily in modern scholarship, as a variously mapped space, using insights from the discipline of critical geography as an evaluative lens. It will be argued that a deliberately spatial approach to Galilee has been largely overlooked, despite the fact that all history has a geographical or spatial component. The goal is not to outline a more accurate, conventional map of ancient Galilee, but to look at the way in which Galilee as a space becomes a tool in the hand of each author and a container for their own specific ideologies. To understand more fully Galilee's separate functions within the writings of Josephus, the Gospel of Luke, and the Gospel of John, insights are drawn from the writings of various critical geographers and theorists, particularly Edward Soja, Edward Said, and Geoff King, and then applied to these ancient texts. Soja's concept of "Thirdspace" is employed in the analysis of Josephus, showing that his Galilee serves as an apologetic concept and a platform for his own self-portrayal as the ideal leader of the Galileans. The geographical conundrums of the Gospel of Luke are reevaluated in light of Said's notion of "imaginative geography" and recast instead as a rather typical conceptualization of the Galilee region from the standpoint of the "outsider." The theoretical approach that emerges from King's notion of "cartographic meaning" is applied to the Gospel of John in order to demonstrate how the evangelist manipulates his own conceptual mapping of Galilee for the ultimate purpose of portraying Jesus' true origins as being from above as opposed to any earthly sphere. The entire study is done within the context of reasserting geography as a critical discipline. When Galilee is viewed through a similarly critical lens, it is revealed as more than just a passively described, fixed background for the lives and activities of Josephus and Jesus. It becomes an interpreted space, a conceptualized "map," which is laden with meaning, significance, and purpose for each individual author.