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Antiquities of the Jews (Antiquitates Judaicae in Latin) was a work published by the important Jewish historian Flavius Josephus
Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
 about the year 93
93

Events...
 or 94
94

Year 94 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar....
. Antiquities of the Jews is a history of the Jewish people
Jewish history

Jewish history is the history of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Jewish culture. Since Jewish history encompasses nearly four thousand years and hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes....
, written in Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 for Josephus' gentile patrons. Beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve are the First man or woman created by God in the Hebrew creation story told in Genesis 1-2....
, it follows the events of the historical books of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, but sometimes omits or adds information.

This work, along with Josephus's other major work, The Jewish Wars, provides valuable background material to historians wishing to understand first-century Judaism and the early Christian period.

twenty volume work was completed in the last year of the Roman emperor Flavius Domitian
Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
.






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Antiquities of the Jews (Antiquitates Judaicae in Latin) was a work published by the important Jewish historian Flavius Josephus
Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
 about the year 93
93

Events...
 or 94
94

Year 94 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar....
. Antiquities of the Jews is a history of the Jewish people
Jewish history

Jewish history is the history of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Jewish culture. Since Jewish history encompasses nearly four thousand years and hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes....
, written in Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 for Josephus' gentile patrons. Beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve are the First man or woman created by God in the Hebrew creation story told in Genesis 1-2....
, it follows the events of the historical books of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, but sometimes omits or adds information.

This work, along with Josephus's other major work, The Jewish Wars, provides valuable background material to historians wishing to understand first-century Judaism and the early Christian period.

Content

This twenty volume work was completed in the last year of the Roman emperor Flavius Domitian
Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
. He claims that interested persons have pressed him to give a fuller account of the Jewish culture and constitution. Here, in expounding Jewish history, law and custom, he is entering into many philosophical debates current in Rome at that time. Again he offers an apologia for the antiquity and universal significance of the Jewish people.

Beginning with biblical
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 creation
Creation

Creation may refer to:In religion and philosophy:*Creation myth, a supernatural mytho-religious story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, earth, life, or the universe....
, he outlines Jewish history. Abraham
Abraham

Abraham is a man featured in the Book of Genesis and an important figure in several monotheistic religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam traditions regard him as the founding Patriarchs of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples....
 taught science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
 to the Egyptians
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
, who in turn taught the Greeks
Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
. Moses
Moses

Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
 set up a senatorial priestly aristocracy, which like that of Rome resisted monarchy. The great figures of the biblical stories
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 are presented as ideal philosopher-leaders.

There is also an autobiographical appendix defending Josephus' own conduct at the end of the war when he cooperated with the Roman forces.

Manuscripts

The extant copies of this work, which all derive from Christian sources, even the recently-recovered Arabic version, contain two passages about Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
. The long one has come to be known as the Testimonium Flavianum. If genuine, it is the earliest record of Jesus in Jewish sources, and as such is sometimes cited as independent evidence for the historical existence of Jesus
Historicity of Jesus

The historicity of Jesus concerns the Historicity of the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. Scholars often draw a distinction between Jesus as reconstructed through historical methods and the Christ of faith as understood through theological tradition....
. Most scholars view the Testimonium Flavianum as partially genuine with some Christian interpolations.

Translations

One of the best known translations of this work was provided by William Whiston
William Whiston

William Whiston , was as England theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism....
 in 1737, which has been in print continuously since then. However, the Loeb Classical Library
Loeb Classical Library

The Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by the Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek Literature and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each left-hand leaf, and a fairly...
 has a more recent translation normally preferred academically.

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