Bible History

Josephus on early 1st Century Roman Palestine

Selected texts from Josephus on early 1st Century Roman Israel by Dr. James D. Tabor. ARCHELAUS'S ETHNARCHY IS REDUCED INTO A [ROMAN] PROVINCE. THE SEDITION OF JUDAS OF GALILEE. THE THREE SECTS. THE DEATH OF SALOME. THE CITIES WHICH HEROD AND PHILIP BUILT. PILATE OCCASIONS DISTURBANCES. TIBERIUS PUTS AGRIPPA INTO BONDS BUT CAIUS FREES HIM FROM THEM...

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Chronology of Roman Rulers

Chronology of Roman Rulers (200 BCE""565 CE). By Dr. K.C. Hanson...

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Josephus on John the Baptizer

Selected texts from Josephus on early 1st Century Roman Israel by Dr. James D. Tabor. Antiquities of the Jews XVIII Chapter 5. HEROD THE TETRARCH MAKES WAR WITH ARETAS, THE KING OF ARABIA, AND IS BEATEN BY HIM AS ALSO CONCERNING THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. HOW VITELLIUS WENT UP TO JERUSALEM; TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF AGRIPPA AND OF THE POSTE...

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Marcus Aurelius Statue

Roman Emperor (161-180 CE) Roman marble Pergamon Museum, Berlin Reconstructed at and on loan to J. Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles, California photo ©K. C. Hanson 2002. This exhibition features the conservation of a statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who ruled the Roman Empire from A.D. 161 to 180. The statue belongs to the Pergamon Muse...

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Josephus on John the Baptizer

Selected texts from Josephus on early 1st Century Roman Israel by Dr. James D. Tabor. HEROD THE TETRARCH MAKES WAR WITH ARETAS, THE KING OF ARABIA, AND IS BEATEN BY HIM AS ALSO CONCERNING THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. HOW VITELLIUS WENT UP TO JERUSALEM; TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF AGRIPPA AND OF THE POSTERITY OF HEROD THE GREAT....

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Kinship in Bible Times

From Dr. K. C. Hanson, "The social domain of kinship covers a broad range of institutions: genealogy and descent, marriage and divorce, and dowry-systems and inheritance. Because kinship in the ancient Mediterranean impacted virtually every part of life and every other social domain, it is fundamental for readers of the Bible to have a solid grasp ...

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The Pilate Inscription

The Pilate Inscription [text & interpretation] Language: Latin; Medium: limestone; Size: 82 centimeters high 65 centimeters wide; Length: 4 lines of writing; Genre: Building Dedication Dedicator: Pontius Pilate (praefect of Judea) Approximate Date: 26-37 CE; Place of Discovery: Caesarea, Israel; Date of Discovery: 1961; Current Location: Israel...

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Josephus on the Death of James

Selected texts from Josephus on the Death of James, brother of Jesus, in 62 C.E. by Dr. James D. Tabor. Josephus, Antiquities Book 20: chapter 9 CONCERNING ALBINUS UNDER WHOSE PROCURATORSHIP JAMES WAS SLAIN; AS ALSO WHAT EDIFICES WERE BUILT BY AGRIPPA....

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Census Edict for Roman Egypt

This document shows a census ordered by Gaius Vibius Maximus, the Rmoan Prefectus of Egypt. GREEK TEXT (from Hunt & Edgar 1934:108), TRANSLATION by K. C. Hanson (Adapted from Hunt & Edgar). Language: Greek; Medium: papyrus; Length: 21 lines of writing; Genre: Official Edict; Date: 104 CE; Place of Discovery: Egypt Date of Discovery: ? Curre...

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Josephus' References to Crucifixion

"Josephus (b. 37 C.E.) is our best literary source for the practice of crucifixion in Israel during the Greco-Roman period. As a general in command of the Jewish forces of Galilee in the Great Revolt against Rome (66-73 C.E.), he reports his attempts to save the lives of three crucified captives by appealing directly to the Roman general Titus. One...

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