Nature Miracles and Paradoxography in Biblical Reception of the First Centuries CE (2026)

Editor: Monika Amsler

Biancomap — Mappa mundi by Andrea Bianco (1436), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3531879. The circle on the left highlights Alexander in front of the gates of Eden, the circle to the right highlights Makarios’ hospice and a dog head.

This Special Thematic Section is dedicated to the question of the impact and reception of nature miracles collected in lists known as paradoxographies. Long neglected by scholars or termed “popular literature” the studies in this issue treat them as valuable sources of information about the topics that were of significance to people living in the Roman Imperial period. The specific focus on miracles in paradoxographies is paradigmatic of a broader interest in the singular and irregular rather than in the common and regular. This paradigm turned the Gospels into convincing and foundational texts and the Alexander Romance into an inspiration for travel narratives for saints and rabbis; it made miracles the backbone of Jewish festal and fast calendars, as well as synagogue plays and decorations.

Introduction
Monika Amsler

Between Paradoxography and Aretalogy: The Jewish Scroll of Fasts
Maureen Attali

The “Miracle-Mongers”: the Gospels at the Edges of Empire
Robyn Walsh

The Reception of Paradoxography in the Babylonian Talmud
Monika Amsler

The Life of Makarios the Roman (BHG 1004–1005) and the Alexander Romance: Truth, Fiction and the Paradoxographic
Julie van Pelt

Paradoxography at Dura? Miracles and Natural Wonders in the Paintings of the Synagogue
Barbara Crostini