The Aseneth Home Page
Mark Goodacre
Welcome to The Aseneth Home Page, the web site devoted to Joseph and Aseneth, a Pseudepigraphical tale told about the Biblical Patriarch Joseph and his Egyptian wife Aseneth. This site provides an introduction, translation, bibliography and links. The site was created in 1999 to coincide with a University of Birmingham course that I was teaching. It was redesigned by Viola Goodacre in 2025, and I have added lots of new content to coincide with its relaunch.
Image: Rembrandt’s Jacob’s Blessing (1656, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie); Source: Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Introduction
An introduction to Joseph and Aseneth, answering these questions and more:
- Who is Aseneth?
- What is Joseph & Aseneth about?
- Where should I start?
Image: The birth of Ephraim; Source: anonymous master, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
David Cook’s Translation
A translation of Joseph and Aseneth, taken from H. F. D. Sparks (ed.), The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984), pp. 473-503. Reproduced with permission.
Image: Ruth Rose as Asenath in a 1914 production of Joseph and His Brethren.; Source: Otto Sarony Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Bibliography
A bibliography of texts and studies about Joseph and Aseneth, with links where available online. If you know of missing or incomplete entries, please let me know and I will add them to this site.
Image: Genesis 41:45 – Joseph is given Aseneth to be his wife.; Source:Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Resources
A collection of links to external sites on Joseph and Aseneth, including texts, related texts, discussions, art, elists and other online resources.
Image: Asenath throws the Idols out of the Tower; Source: Sailko, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Essays
Links to essays on Joseph and Aseneth.
Image Maytê Piragibe as Asenate in the 2013 Brasilian film José do Egito; Source: https://www.sigueme.net/mujeres-de-la-biblia/asenat-hija-de-potifera-esposa-de-jose-biblia