The Cushites in Herodotus and Chronicles: Revisiting the Asa Narrative

Abstract

The theme of "the Cushites " has been investigated in Chronicles by various scholars. The Cushites are mentioned in passing in various passages of the book, but more prominently in the first part of the Asa narrative (2 Chron 14-16). Herodotus has also given attention to them in Book III of his Histories. These ancient discussions of the Cushites are brought into interaction in this article. However, not only the different ways in which these historiographies use the Cushites as rhetorical trope, but also the issue of classical Greek influence on Yehudean literary development form the focus of this article.