Danya: A Woman of Ancient Galilee

Danya, a literate, independent-minded young woman, grows up in the village of Nazareth. Personal betrayals, social restrictions, and family tragedies crush Danya's dream of fighting to free her people from Roman domination. Instead she is married off and lives as an outsider in the sophisticated city of Sepphoris, the Roman capital of Galilee. Danya struggles to write her own life, a story woven into the political, religious, and cultural conflicts of the tumultuous world of ancient Palestine early in the first century. Her companions include some real historical and scriptural figures: Joanna, the wife of Herod's chief steward; Judah ben Hezekiah, the leader of a Galilean insurrection; Jesus, before his public life; and his mother Mary, among others. This extensively researched, fast-paced narrative has its roots in the study of the historical Jesus. However, Danya's writings give voice to the silent women of that era. Her search for a meaningful life, though unique to her world, is both universal and contemporary.