JiiWISH ART. 204 JEWISH SECTS. the capture of Jerusalem by Titus, as the condi- tions of the dispersion afterwards did not allow of any iiulcpemlent art. The earliest archa;olo- gical material known is their pottery, which has been found in considerable quantities, especially at Tcll-el-llesj', where Professor Petrie's sys- tematic excavaticms have enabled him to distin- guish several perio<ls marked by superimposed strata of ruins, liis periods are: (I) An Amorite; (2) a Phoenician; and (3) a .Jewish period. .Jewish designs seem maiiily to be copies of Phoenician models, which were tlieni- selves copies of other Oriental arts. In the tame way the Jewish glyptics were remotely de- rived, through the Canaanites and Phd'iiicians, from the glyptics of Bahj'lonia and .Assyria; the Hebrew seals, few of which are earlier than the ]Vraceabean age, varA'ing only by the predomi- nance of floral and geometric design, owing to the aversion of tlie Jews to reproducing the hu- man figure. Xotliing remains of Jewish metal- work; carving in wood and ivory and overlaying with melal were practiced, but no works are e.x- tant; nor do we know anything of the artistic character of Jewish pictorial decoration, weaving, or erobroideiy. The tombs near .Jerusalem (Tombs of the Kings, etc.) and scattered through- out Palestine are similar to the late Hellenistic and Ivonian works of their class throughout Syria (see Tomb), and Herod, when reviving the pros- perity of Palestine, rebuilding the temple and founding Csesarea, with its magnificent struc- tures, frankly adopted the style of Roman art. To this time and tn the succeeding century be- long the few remaining ancient synagogues in Galilee. Consult: Bliss, Tellelllesii (London, 1894); De Sauley, L'art JudaU/iie (Paris, 1858) : Perrot and Chipiez, Hiaioire de l'art dans I'antiquitc, vol. iv. (Paris. 1882-98). See Syna- GOCUE. JEWISH CHAUTAtTQTJA ( shii-ta'kwa ) SO- CIETY, The. Conceived and founded in 1893 by its chancellor. Dr. Henry Berknwitz. of Phila- delphia, this society is modeled on the mother Chautauqua of New York. In 189" the first as- sembly was held in Atlantic City, and this focus- ing of the work has so greatly prospered that the original session of two weeks has now been ex- tended to three. Here the creation of depart- ments for study and entertainment is similar to those of other Chautauquas. Jlore than this. the influence of the .society has resulted in the London '.Jewish Study Society.' The olTicial or- gan is the Menorah Mniiazliie of Xew York, and there is also an Asscmhli/ Record, published at Philadelphia, besides special series of various publications. The society was incorporated in 1899, and is administered by the following oflTi- cers: a chancellor, :i president, a treasurer, a secretary and director, .a field secretary, a board of trustees, and an educational coimcil. Con- sult: Special Krries i'o. 7 of the .Jewish Piiblica- tion Society of America (Philadelphia. 1902); the ilenorah Magazine (New York, since 1897) ; Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education. JEWISH LANGUAGE AND LITERA- TITRE. See Jews. JEWISH SECTS. A term applied to certain divergent schools of religious thought, which grew up in the midst of .Judaism during the three centuries preceding the Christian Era. In this icstricted sense we have only two .Jewish sects, the Pharisees (q.v.) and the Sadducees (q.v.). It should, however, be added that the adherents of these 'sects' not only belonged to the .same reli- gious conmiunity, but also adhered to the same liractical religious law. iuid consequently could not well look upon each other as heretics. The I'hari.sees and Sadducees represent parties rather than sects, and illustrate the two ten<lencies of .Icwish religious thought — the one emphasizing tradition and the other bringing into greater prominence the element of faith, combined, how- ever, with theological speculation. Apart from IHilitical differences which also existed, the chief |)oints at issue between them were cer- tain abstract doctrines in connection with the peculiar manner in which the law, as far as it is contained in the Scriptures, was interpreted and further developed. The I'harisces claimed for certain time-hallowed observations and dix:- trincs not found in the l{il>le a divine origin, tracing them back through tradition to Mose.s and Sinai. The Hadducees rejected the divine origin of the 'oral law.' as well as certain spir- itual dogmas not distinctly set forth in the sacred record. Jlore distinctly a .sect were the Esscnes (q.v.), who formed a kind of brother- hood, chiefly intent upim the exercise of practical virtues, and ruled by a severe codp of morals. The SdnKirifaiiK, earlier than either Pharisees. Sadducees, or Kssenes. may also be regarded as a Jewish sect, inasmuch as they recognized merely the Pentateuch and Hook of .toshua as authorita- tive sacred writings, established a cult of their own on Mount Gerizini (see Ebai. and (Jerizim), and during the entire post-exilic period to the days of .Jesus maintained opposition to the .Jeru- salem cult, and took no part in the movements that led to the establishment of Rabbinical .Juda- ism. A remnant of them still exists at Nablus (the modern Shechem). See Samaritans. At a later period, shortlj' before and after Christ, numerous divergent religious doctrines, for the most part the result of a confused mix- ture of .Judaism and Hellenism, or rather .lex- andrianisni. were promulgated, and fo>md ad- herents both within and without the pale of Judaism. Many and obscure are the names of these "sects' recorded by the early fathers of the Church, but very little is known respecting their history and dogmas. Tn the eighth century various religious move- ments among the .Jews led to the rise of a number of sects. These movements should be studied in connection with the contemporary religious fer- ment among Jlohammedans. who separated about this time into several distinct schools of thought. (See jMoHAMMEnAN Sects.) Persia was the cen- tre of this ferment, and there, about T.'iO, arose a certain Obadiah ahu Isa ibn Ishak of Ispahan, who led the .Jews in a. revolt against the yoke of Talnnidical authority, though he retained quite a number of the specifically Talmudieal regula- tions. He adopted some_of the rites and customs of Islam; and while not claiming to be the Mes- siah, as a certain Serenus had done some thirty years previously, to whom the movement of Abu Isa can in a measirf. be traced, yet did maintain that he was the forerunner of the Messiah. He incited his followers to revolt against the rule of the caliphs, and fell in battle. His followers maintained themselves as a .sect up to the tenth century, known as Isavites or Ispahanites. A
