Originally addressed to the Society of Biblical Literature, Haupt’s discussion of Purim serves as an excellent introduction to one of the lesser understood festivals of Judaism. Approaching the question historically, he notes that the book of Esther was composed during the reign of Judas Maccabeus, and he correlates it to the Babylonian New Year. Tracing the holiday through the Maccabean period, Haupt draws in several extra-biblical sources and suggests that Esther could have been a form of the May-queen. He discusses the origin of the title “purim” from various languages, ultimately deciding on the Old Persian explanation. Moving forward, Haupt brings the festival into the more modern period, showing how the ancient tradition continues to exist. A useful resource for anyone interested in turn-of-the-century thought on the origins of an enigmatic biblical festival, this contribution is both readable to the layperson and scholarly as well.

Paul Haupt (1858-1926) was a renowned biblical scholar and Assyriologist. He wrote works on many of the books of the Jewish Scriptures and matters of Semitic linguistic import. He received his doctorate degree in Semitic Languages from the University of Leipzig. He taught at the University of Göttingen and Johns Hopkins University and was a founder of Beiträge zur Assyriologie and also became coeditor with Friedrich Delitzsch of the Beiträge zur Assyriologie und semitischen Sprachwissenschaft. Professionally active, he served as President of both the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Oriental Society.