Thomas Jefferson: Monticello, UVA, and Hebrew/ANE Studies

Introduction

One of my hobbies when I have the occasional free weekend is traveling to new cities to which I’ve never been. As Baltimore is only about 150 miles (or a three-hour drive) from Charlottesville, VA, I spent this weekend in the historic “C’ville,” as the locals call it. Among other activities, I toured Monticello, visited the University of Virginia, spent time relaxing at the Jefferson Vineyards, and learned a lot about the life and legacy of Thomas Jefferson. The purpose of this blog post is to summarize these highlights with particular attention to how they relate to the study of Hebrew and the ancient Near East.

Jefferson: Life and Legacy

Most people know Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) for being America’s diplomat to France during the American Revolution, our first Secretary of State, second Vice President, third U.S. President, or any of his other many political activities. However, Jefferson most desired to be remembered for three achievements: (1) author of the Declaration of Independence, (2) author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and (3) founder of the University of Virginia. He commanded that these three be sketched “on the faces of the Obelisk the following inscription, & not a word more.” Jefferson’s epitaph, which I saw earlier today, was indeed an obelisk, which is an architectural form originating in ancient Egypt. Fittingly, the tombstone of Jean François Champollion, the greatest Egyptologist of the period who died only six years after Jefferson, is also that of an Egyptian obelisk. I had the privilege of visiting Champollion’s gravesite at Cimetière du Père Lachaise in January 2023.

Jefferson’s Monticello

Monticello was the plantation home of Jefferson located near Charlottesville, VA. After the death of his father at only 14, Jefferson received a large inheritance and began designing the main house of his future estate according to neoclassical design which he learned by studying the principles of the Italian Renaissance. The name Monticello means “little mountain” in Italian, one of the many languages Jefferson was able to read. The site of Monticello was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and since 1938 its depiction remains on the reverse of the U.S. nickel and the two-dollar bill, the only non-government building on U.S. currency.

The part of the history of Monticello which interests us here is the role of Uriah P. Levy (1792-1862) in its preservation. Levy was the first Jewish American to make the rank of commodore in the U.S. Navy (equivalent to today’s rear admiral, an O-8 grade officer). Levy deeply admired Jefferson for his extensive writings on religious liberty. After Jefferson’s death, the Monticello estate was encumbered with debt and was sold to James Turner Barclay, a missionary and explorer to Palestine (Barclay’s Gate in Jerusalem still bears his name). Three years later, Barclay sold it to Levy who worked to preserve Monticello. The Levy estate later sold it in 1923 to a private non-profit organization, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which still owns and manages it today.

Jefferson and the University of Virginia (UVA)

The final achievement to discuss is Jefferson’s life focus on education, including a knowledge of classics, religion, history, and language. Jefferson was such a towering intellect that when President Kennedy hosted the 1962 Nobel Laureates at the White House, he said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone” (Kennedy, “Remarks at a Dinner Honoring Nobel Prize Winners of the Western Hemisphere,” April 29, 1962). Jefferson was educated at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where he studied Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, and of course English, although it is unlikely that he read much Hebrew or other Semitic languages. Nevertheless, books among Jefferson’s 7,000-volume personal library included classics of Jewish and Hebrew Studies such as Robert Lowth’s De sacra poesi Hebræorum which was bequeathed to him by his William and Mary professor, George Wythe, in 1806. For other books which Jefferson owned and sold to the U.S. government as the first collection of the Library of Congress, see the Sowerby Catalogue, a five-volume annotated bibliography compiled by the bibliographer, Emily Millicent Sowerby, between 1952-1959.

One personal connection on the history of the famous Jefferson Bible is also in order. It’s well-known that Jefferson created his own version of the gospel account of Jesus, which he called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth extracted textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French & English. Jefferson literally used a razor and glue to cut out selected verses of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and then pasted the excerpts in chronological order to create a single cohesive gospel account. In doing so, Jefferson sought to clarify Jesus’ moral teachings, which he believed provided “the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.” (here). In 1895, the Smithsonian Institution purchased the original Jefferson Bible under the leadership of Cyrus Adler, who in 1887 was the very first graduate of the newly established Department of Near Eastern Studies (then called the Oriental Seminary) at Johns Hopkins. In addition to serving as the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, Adler also became president of Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning in Philadelphia and Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York.

Conclusion

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the third and second U.S. presidents respectively, both died on July 4, 1826, the Jubilee (50^th anniversary) of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson penned. Even this fact symbolically connects Jefferson with the Hebrew Bible. The idea of the 50^th year as a Jubilee year comes from Leviticus 25:8-10: after seven cycles of seven years (49 years), the following year was consecrated among the ancient Israelites as a year of liberty: וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּ֗ם אֵ֣ת שְׁנַ֤ת הַחֲמִשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּקְרָאתֶ֥ם דְּר֛וֹר בָּאָ֖רֶץ לְכָל־יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ יוֹבֵ֥ל הִוא֙ תִּהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall become a Jubilee (יוֹבֵ֥ל => Jōbēl => Jubilee) for you” (Lev 25:10a). In this year, the land is given rest, enslaved people are freed, and debts are forgiven. It is, of course, fitting that Jefferson died on the Jubilee of his greatest achievement, the proclamation of liberty for the American people. While Jefferson died at Monticello in the early afternoon of July 4, Adams (then 91 years old) died at about 6pm in the evening at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts. Not knowing that Jefferson had died just a few hours earlier, Adams whispered his final words in this earthly life: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” These words couldn’t be more true today.

About The Author

Matthew Saunders

Matthew Saunders is a PhD student in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He researches the languages and literatures of the ancient Near East, especially Aramaic Studies, Ugaritic Studies, and Comparative Semitics.

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