66 MORTEN HØRNING JENSEN (c) The question of land ownership and the balance between es- tates and small-plot farming is complex indeed. We know with cer- tainty that an imbalance was in place granting all the better lowland tracts to the rich elite. There might have been an increase in this re- gard. On the other hand, this was a fact of life that was well-known even in earlier societies, including those of the pre-exilic Israelites and the Persian and Hellenistic Judaeans. (d) At the same time, excavations thus far have revealed that at least some rural villages or towns were expanding right up until the war of 66. (e) Further, excavators have found evidence of a certain amount of specialized fabrication facilities which suggests commerce and interaction. (f) This further connects with the impression of the standard of the living units in the rural villages. The idea of “a uniform peasant” mudbrick house is not attested. (g) Regarding monetization, the detailed study of D. Syon indi- cates that the standard bronze coinage remained Hasmonean dur- ing the Herodian period. No rapid change was introduced. (h) A newly presented study of the tax system indicates the same. While the tax burden was undoubtedly perceived to be severe, it was not rapidly rising during the Herodian era. (i) Finally, there is also no evidence indicating that first-century Galilee was struck by continuous droughts or generally suffered from an unpleasant or severe climate limiting agricultural productivity. When these findings are applied to Scott’s conflict model, it should come as no surprise that I am compelled to conclude that, since rapid change cannot be attested to any notable degree, the socio-economic conditions of rural life were most likely stable, as well, from a relative perspective. This leads me to my final conclusion, which is really a suggestion, namely that we need to broaden our conceptual approach in our description of ancient Galilee, re-introducing religious motivation as a driving force. While Mason may be correct in pointing out that the term “religion” is a modern concept at an etic level, religious motivation is present throughout our sources at an emic level 75. Recent studies emphasize that the entire late Second Temple period saw a “burst” in 75 Cf. S. MASON, “Jews, Judaeans, Judaizing, Judaism: Problems of Categorization in Ancient History”, JSJ 38 (2007) 457-512.