The dual ethnic identity of the Jews of Elephantine (5th century BCE) has long puzzled scholars. In the legal documents, the Jews are sometimes identified as ‘Jew’ and at others as ‘Aramean’. In order to discover the logic that underlies this practice, the author compares the ethnic identity tags of the Jews on the island with those applied to members of the local Caspian community. The comparison demonstrates that ‘Aramean’ did indeed serve as an ethnic designation of the Jews—applied by others and by themselves. The reference is neither to language nor to tribe, but rather to territory. ‘Arameans’ were inhabitants of Aram, that is, Syria. The Jews did have a double identity: They were Syrians since they came from the satrapy of Beyond-the-River, i.e., Syria; they were Jews on account of their more narrow regional and religious identity.

中文翻译：

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Elephantine 的种族：犹太人、亚兰人、里海人

Elephantine（公元前5世纪）犹太人的双重种族身份长期以来一直困扰着学者。在法律文件中，犹太人有时被称为“犹太人”，有时被称为“亚兰人”。为了发现这种做法背后的逻辑，作者将岛上犹太人的种族身份标签与适用于当地里海社区成员的身份标签进行了比较。比较表明，“亚兰人”确实作为犹太人的种族名称——由他人和他们自己应用。所指的既不是语言也不是部落，而是领土。“亚兰人”是亚兰的居民，也就是叙利亚。犹太人确实有双重身份：他们是叙利亚人，因为他们来自河外总督，即叙利亚；他们是犹太人，因为他们的地域和宗教身份更为狭隘。