Profile (English)

Biography

Isabel Ana Virgolini studied Romance languages and Theology at the University of Salzburg (BA, BEd) and Theology and Biblical Studies at the Université catholique de Louvain (MA). Since 2023, she is working as a doctoral researcher in the DFG-funded project Self-Organisation and Horizontal Binding Forces: Local Authorities in Ancient Judaism from the 6th Century BC to the 1st Century AD. 

Research

With her dissertation project "Local Authorities and Horizontal Binding Forces in the Second Temple Period. Case Studies on the Social Structures in Judean Communities", Isabel Ana Virgolini chooses a historiographical perspective. Old Testament texts and non-biblical sources are used to reconstruct instances of local self-regulation in ancient Judean communities. For this purpose, the analysis of specific "diaspora" communities such as Elephantine, Herakleopolis, and Alexandria is suitable, in order to demonstrate variety both diachronically and synchronically. Concerning diachrony, three time periods are considered: Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman times. Egypt, as a common geographical reference point, can facilitate the reflection on the results regarding the development of instances of local self-regulation. On a synchronic level, the social organization of the respective local communities and the function of local authorities are examined. Finally, the objective is to investigate the correlation between evidence of local self-regulation found in the Old Testament scriptures and the results of the case studies.