The Scroll of Antiochus (1)
Publication Date: December 24, 2016
Chapter: Yuletide Jamboree
Hello, friends, and happy holidays! Or happy, I dunno, Spring, if you’re reading this some other time of the year like a weirdo. As I’m writing this, in December 2016, Christmas and Hanukkah overlap, so I figured it was a good time for Lit Brick’s annual Holiday Jamboree to look at some ancient Jewish texts to celebrate the season.
What I found was the Scroll of Antiochus. The scroll’s origins are clouded in mystery, like most ancient texts, but many scholars seem to think it was first written - in Aramaic - around the 2nd Century CE. It tells the story of Hanukkah, though some details differ from the Talmud, and from First and Second Maccabees.
Which is to say, when you’re reading my goofy comics, be aware that I’m riffing specifically on the Scroll of Antiochus, not on the story of Hanukkah as commonly told and celebrated today. They’re basically the same in the broad strokes, but vary in some of the finer details.
Also, since I don’t read Aramaic or Hebrew, I’ll be drawing my dumb comics based on a translation written by Rabbi David Sedley, and published by TorahLab. You can find it freely online, if you’re curious. Google is your friend. Enjoy, and - again - happy holidays.
As for this specific strip: Antiochus was King of the World at this point, and even proclaimed himself to be a god. He also put his own face on all of the kingdom’s money, because that’s a thing God Kings do.
Author: ??? • Year: ??? • Info: Wikipedia
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Lit Brick is a comic started by Jodie Troutman in an effort to read the entire Norton Anthology of English Literature. Having eventually succeeded in that goal, it now features comics about all manner of random literature. For more of Jodie's work, visit longtalljodie.com!
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