"Centre and periphery" frameworks have been particularly helpful for research on systems whose dynamics are strongly influenced by a substantially unequal distribution of qualities. But what can these frameworks, in all their present diversity and in their various "re-conceptualizations," contribute to the study of the early Second Temple period? The essays in this volume address this question through the prism of, for instance, the location of Jerusalem, diasporic communities, Torah, roles of temples and royal courts, Jerusalem/Gerizim, the Zion tradition, the universal kingdom of YHWH, the literary history of some texts, socio-linguistic choices, and gender.

Contributors: Erik Aurelius, Bob Becking, Ehud Ben Zvi, Kare Berge, Diana Edelman, Beate Ego, Ann-Cathrin Fiss, Friedhelm Hartenstein, Sylvie Honigman, Louis C. Jonker, Peter Juhas, Magnar Kartveit, Gary N. Knoppers, Francis Landy, Christoph Levin, Kathrin Liess, Reinhard Muller, Urmas Nommik, Juha Pakkala, Laurie E. Pearce, Hermann-Josef Stipp