Lisbeth S. Fried, University of Michigan
The Concept of "Impure Birth" in Fifth Century Athens and Judea

Abstract:

In a tribute to Tikva Frymer-Kensky, this paper examines the notion of “impure birth” in 5th century Judah and Athens and compares the legal rights of the foreigner, of foreign wives, and the inheritance rights of their offspring. The two situations have strange parallels. In the mid-fifth century Athens (451-450), Athenian citizens had suddenly to prove descent from an Athenian mother, as well as from an Athenian father. Five thousand Athenians were consequently struck from the citizenship rolls as being of ‘impure birth.’ Of these, some were put to death, others were exiled, others were allowed to live in Attica, but deprived of their rights. Confiscation of property and loss of life threatened those allowed to remain in Athens. Those who sued for their citizenship rights and lost their suit were executed. This paper seeks to understand this attitude, and asks if a common origin lies behind the Athenian citizenship laws and the attitudes toward foreign wives visible in Ezra-Nehemiah.