"Osarseph Osarseph or Osarsiph () is a legendary figure of Ancient Egypt who has been equated with Moses. His story was recounted by the Ptolemaic Egyptian historian Manetho in his ""Aigyptiaca"" (first half of the 3rd century BC); Manetho's work is lost, but the 1st century AD Jewish historian Josephus quotes extensively from it. The story depicts Osarseph as a renegade Egyptian priest who leads an army of lepers and other unclean people against a pharaoh named Amenophis; the pharaoh is driven out of the country and the leper-army, in alliance with the Hyksos (whose story is also told by"
"Josephus (grandfather of Josephus) Josephus (; flourished 1st century BC and 1st century, born about 30 BC) was an ethnic Jew living in Jerusalem. Josephus was the son born to Matthias Curtus and his unnamed Jewish wife. He came from a wealthy family and through his father he descended from the priestly order of the Jehoiarib, which was the first of the twenty four-orders of Priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. His paternal grandparents were Matthias Ephlias and the daughter of the High Priest Jonathon. Jonathon may have been Alexander Jannaeus, the High Priest and Hasmonean ruler who governed Judea"
"religious material from the Septuagint that was codified by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians. The other primary source for the Hasmonean dynasty is the first book of ""The Wars of the Jews"" by the Jewish historian Josephus, (37– 100 CE). Josephus' account is the only primary source covering the history of the Hasmonean dynasty during the period of its expansion and independence between 110 to 63 BCE. Notably, Josephus, a Roman citizen and former general in the Galilee, who survived the Roman–Jewish wars of the 1st century, was a Jew who was captured by and cooperated with the Romans, writing"
"history, with special emphasis on the first century CE and the First Jewish–Roman War (66-70 CE), including the Siege of Masada. His most important works were ""The Jewish War"" ( 75) and ""Antiquities of the Jews"" ( 94). ""The Jewish War"" recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation. ""Antiquities of the Jews"" recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Greek and Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into first century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity. (See main article Josephus on Jesus). Born into one of Jerusalem's elite families, Josephus introduces himself"
"Josephus, Justus' rival, criticized the Tiberian's account of the war and defended his own conduct in the ""Autobiography"", from whose polemical passages we derive most of what we know about Justus' life. As well as a history of the war, Justus also wrote a chronicle of the kings of Israel from the time of Moses to Agrippa II, which Photios remarked failed to make any mention of Jesus Christ. Neither of his works has survived. Justus of Tiberias Justus of Tiberias was a Jewish author and historian living in the second half of the 1st century AD. Little is known"
"Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny the Younger. Of the four, Josephus' writings, which document John the Baptist, James the Just, and Jesus, are of the most interest to scholars dealing with the historicity of Jesus. Tacitus, in his ""Annals"" written 115, mentions ""Christus"", without many historical details (see also: Tacitus on Jesus). There is an obscure reference to a Jewish leader called ""Chrestus"" in Suetonius. According to Suetonius, chapter 25, there were some in Rome, during the reign of emperor Claudius (c. AD 50), who were ""continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus."" Paul the Apostle, a 1st-century"
"refer to the statement by 1st-century historian Josephus in ""Against Apion"" (2.204) that the ""law requires that they (children) be taught to read"" as an indication of high literacy rate among some 1st-century Jews. Richard A. Horsley, on the other hand, states that the Josephus reference to learn ""grammata"" may not necessarily refer to reading and may be about an oral tradition. There are a number of passages from the Gospels which state or imply that Jesus could read. The Jesus Seminar stated that references in the Gospels to Jesus reading and writing may be fictions. John Dominic Crossan who"
"biblical text and up to the Jewish War, or the First Jewish–Roman War, 66 to 73 CE. This work, along with Josephus's other major work, ""The Jewish War"" (""De Bello Iudaico""), provides valuable background material to historians wishing to understand 1st-century AD Judaism and the early Christian period. In the preface of ""Antiquities of the Jews"", Josephus provides his motivation for composing such a large work. He writes: Now I have undertaken the present work, as thinking it will appear to all the Greeks worthy of their study; for it will contain all our antiquities, and the constitution of our"
"The once buried manuscripts themselves date from the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Nag Hammadi codices are housed in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt. To read about their significance to modern scholarship into early Christianity, see the Gnosticism article. The works of Josephus provide crucial information about the First Jewish-Roman War and are also important literary source material for understanding the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls and late Temple Judaism. Josephus includes information about individuals, groups, customs and geographical places. His writings provide a significant, extra-Biblical account of the post-Exilic period of the Maccabees, the Hasmonean dynasty, and"
"Justus of Tiberias Justus of Tiberias was a Jewish author and historian living in the second half of the 1st century AD. Little is known about his life, except as told by his political and literary enemy Josephus Flavius. Justus, the son of Pistus, was born in Tiberias, a highly Hellenistic Galilean city and was a man of learning. He was close to the Tetrarch Agrippa II and became a leading citizen of his hometown. During the First Jewish-Roman War (66-73), he ran into conflict with Josephus, a Jewish leader in Galilee. When the Romans had reconquered Galilee, Justus sought"
"The Jewish War The Jewish War or Judean War (in full Flavius Josephus's Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans, , ""Phlauiou Iōsēpou historia Ioudaikou polemou pros Rōmaious biblia""), also referred to in English as The Wars of the Jews, is a book written by Josephus, a Roman-Jewish historian of the 1st century. Divided into seven books, it opens with a summary of Jewish history from the capture of Jerusalem by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 168 BC to the first stages of the First Jewish–Roman War (Book I and II). The next five"
"beyond political history to include institutions and religious and private life. Josephus does offer this wider perspective in ""Antiquities"". To compare his historiography with another ancient historian, consider Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Feldman lists these similarities: ""Dionysius in praising Rome and Josephus in praising Jews adopt same pattern; both often moralize and psychologize and stress piety and role of divine providence; and the parallels between … Dionysius's account of deaths of Aeneas and Romulus and Josephus's description of the death of Moses are striking."" The works of Josephus are major sources of our understanding of Jewish life and history during the"
"Joseph Scottus Joseph or Josephus Scottus (died between 791 and 804), called the Deacon, was an Irish scholar, diplomat, poet, and ecclesiastic, a figure in the Carolingian Renaissance. He has been cited as an early example of ""the scholar in public life"". His early life is obscure, but he studied first under Colcu, probably at Clonmacnoise, and then under Alcuin at York, probably in the 770s. At York he met and befriended Liudger, a Frisian and future Bishop of Münster, whom he mentions in a poem requesting a ""polished staff"". Joseph eventually wound up at the court of the Frankish"
"domination, and suggests him as the model of a loving father. Josephology Josephology is the theological study of Saint Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Records of devotions to Joseph go back to the year 800 and Doctors of the Church since Saint Thomas Aquinas have written on the subject. With the growth of Mariology, the theological study of Joseph also grew and in the 1950s specific centers for it were formed. The modern study of the theology concerning Joseph is one of the newest theological disciplines. Saint Jerome's ""Against Helvidius"" (c. 383) paved the way for aspects"
"have repeatedly confirmed his version of events. The prevailing modern view is that Herodotus generally did a remarkable job in his ""Historia"", but that some of his specific details (particularly troop numbers and dates) should be viewed with skepticism. Nevertheless, there are still some historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story. The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the 1st century BC in his ""Bibliotheca Historica"", also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars, partially derived from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus. This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus's. The Greco-Persian wars are also described in less"
"first conferred on him by the first-century BC Roman orator Cicero. Despite Herodotus's historical significance, little is known about his personal life. His ""Histories"" primarily deals with the lives of Croesus, Cyrus, Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius, and Xerxes and the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale; however, his many cultural, ethnographical, geographical, historiographical, and other digressions form a defining and essential part of the ""Histories"" and contain a wealth of information. Herodotus has been criticized for the fact that his book includes a large number of obvious legends and fanciful accounts. Many authors, starting with the late fifth-century"
"on to Renaissance Europe, though he remained well read. However, since the 19th century his reputation has been dramatically rehabilitated by archaeological finds that have repeatedly confirmed his version of events. The prevailing modern view is that Herodotus generally did a remarkable job in his ""Historia"", but that some of his specific details (particularly troop numbers and dates) should be viewed with skepticism. Nevertheless, there are still some historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus from Sicily, writing in the 1st century BC in his ""Bibliotheca Historica"", also provides an account of"
"have survived in the works of others, especially in those of two early Christian writers – Justin Martyr (ca. 100 CE) in Samaria and the mid-3rd century Lactantius in North Africa – who drew on them by way of confirmation that what themselves held to be revealed truth had already been uttered. Only one of these pseudepigraphic works – referred to as the ""Book of Hystaspes"" or the ""Oracles of Hystaspes"" or just ""Hystaspes"" – is known by name. This work (or set of works) of the first century BCE is referred to by Lactantius, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria,"
"century, the ""Jewish War"" was ""partially rewritten as an anti-Jewish treatise, known today as Pseudo-Hegesippus, but <nowiki>[which]</nowiki> was considered for over a millennium and a half by many Christians as the ""ipsissima verba"" of Josephus to his own people."" One of the reasons the works of Josephus were copied and maintained by Christians was that his writings provided a good deal of information about a number of figures mentioned in the New Testament, and the background to events such as the death of James during a gap in Roman governing authority. Because manuscript transmission was done by hand-copying, typically by"
"Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), known by his nomen and cognomen Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, military general, and historian who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He is also known as an author of Latin prose. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, a political alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power as ""Populares"" were opposed by the"
"Josephology Josephology is the theological study of Saint Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Records of devotions to Joseph go back to the year 800 and Doctors of the Church since Saint Thomas Aquinas have written on the subject. With the growth of Mariology, the theological study of Joseph also grew and in the 1950s specific centers for it were formed. The modern study of the theology concerning Joseph is one of the newest theological disciplines. Saint Jerome's ""Against Helvidius"" (c. 383) paved the way for aspects of future Josephite devotion with his assertion that Joseph was always"
"""who was called Christ"" but as ""the aforementioned Christ"" and sees this as confirmation that he had mentioned Jesus the Christ earlier, namely in the ""Testimonium"". Josephus wrote all of his surviving works after his establishment in Rome (c. AD 71) under the patronage of the Flavian Emperor Vespasian. As is common with ancient texts, however, there are no extant (surviving) manuscripts of Josephus' works that can be dated before the 11th century, and the oldest of these are all Greek minuscules, copied by Christian monks. Jews are not known to have preserved the writings of Josephus perhaps because he"
"school, possibly about the year 215. He knew Greek (in which language he wrote), Latin, and Hebrew. He was at one time a soldier and had been a pagan; he wrote all his works as a Christian. Whether Africanus was a layman or a cleric remains controversial. Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont argued from Africanus's addressing the priest Origen as ""dear brother"" that Julius must have been a priest himself but Gelzer points out that such an argument is inconclusive. Africanus wrote ""Chronographiai"", a history of the world in five volumes. The work covers the period from Creation to the"
"an orthodox Aristocrat-Priest who became associated with the philosophical school of the Pharisees as a matter of deference, and not by willing association. The works of Josephus include useful material for historians about individuals, groups, customs, and geographical places. Some of these, such as the city of Seron, receive no mention in the surviving texts of any other ancient authority. His writings provide a significant, extra-Biblical account of the post-Exilic period of the Maccabees, the Hasmonean dynasty, and the rise of Herod the Great. He describes the Sadducees, Jewish High Priests of the time, Pharisees and Essenes, the Herodian Temple,"
"works, and some tragedies and comedies. There is an article on him in the Suda. Towards the end of his life he composed a universal history in 144 books, although the Suda mentions only 80 books. But references to books 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, (8), 96, 103, 104, 107, 108, 110, 114, 123 and 124 are known. Extensive fragments of the first seven books are preserved in quotation in the ""Excerpta"" compiled at the order of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. These cover the history of the Assyrians, Medes, Greeks, Lydians, and Persians, and are important also for Biblical history. Josephus probably"
"Joseph (Genesis) Joseph (; meaning ""Increase"", ""Yosef"" ""Yôsēp̄""; ""Yūsuf"" or ""Yūsif""; ""Iōsēph"") is an important figure in the Bible's Book of Genesis. Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, he rose to become vizier, the second most powerful man in Egypt next to Pharaoh, where his presence and office caused Israel to leave Canaan and settle in Egypt. The composition of the story can be dated to the period between the 7th century BCE and the third quarter of the 5th century BCE, which is roughly the period to which scholars date the Book of Genesis. In Rabbinic tradition, Joseph"
"works to the subjects of poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. A large proportion of literature from this time period were histories. Significant historians of the period were Timaeus, Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian of Alexandria, Arrian, and Plutarch. The period of time they cover extended from late in the 4th century BC to the 2nd century AD. Eratosthenes of Alexandria wrote on astronomy and geography, but his work is known mainly from later summaries. The physician Galen pioneered developments in various scientific disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology. This is also the period in which most"
"of ""kalam"" is referred to as a ""mutakallim"" (plural ""mutakallimūn"") as distinguished from philosophers, jurists, and scientists. Jewish apologetic literature can be traced back as far as Aristobulus of Paneas, though some discern it in the works of Demetrius the chronographer (3rd century BCE) traces of the style of ""questions"" and ""solutions"" typical of the genre. Aristobulus was a Jewish philosopher of Alexandria and the author of an apologetic work addressed to Ptolemy VI Philometor. Josephus's Contra Apion is a wide-ranging defense of Judaism against many charges laid against Judaism at that time, as too are some of the works"
"view is that Herodotus generally did a remarkable job in his ""Historia"", but that some of his specific details (particularly troop numbers and dates) should be viewed with skepticism. Nevertheless, there are still some historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story. The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the 1st century BC in his ""Bibliotheca Historica"", also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars, partially derived from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus. This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus's. The Greco-Persian wars are also described in less detail by a number of other ancient historians including Plutarch,"
"as Jesus, and his eventual execution by Herod Antipas is attested to by 1st-century historian Flavius Josephus and the overwhelming majority of modern scholars view Josephus' accounts of the activities of John the Baptist as authentic. Josephus establishes a key connection between the historical events he recorded and specific episodes that appear in the gospels. The reference in the ""Antiquities of the Jews"" by Josephus to John's popularity among the crowds () and how he preached his baptism is considered a reliable historical datum. Unlike the gospels, Josephus does not relate John and Jesus, and does not state that John's"
"Julius Honorius Julius Honorius, also known as Julius Orator, a teacher of geography during Late Antiquity. He is known only by a single work, ""Cosmographia"", which is a set of notes he had written down by one of his students while he lectured about a world map (""sphaera""), and by references to this work by later writers such as Cassiodorus. The importance of the ""Cosmographia"" is that it is one of very few geographical works of this period in which any reliance can be placed. A number of variant manuscripts exist, which have been studied by Nicolet & Gautier Dalché."
"of the documentary hypothesis. In the early 20th century Hermann Gunkel suggested that, unlike the Abraham-Isaac-Jacob stories, the Joseph story formed a single unitary story with literary rather than oral origins. In 1953 Gerhard von Rad made a detailed assessment of its literary artistry and drew attention to its identity as a Wisdom novella, and in 1968 R. N. Whybray argued that unity and artistry implied a single author. All three insights are now widely accepted, and the majority of modern biblical scholars date the Joseph story in its current form to the 5th century BCE Persian era at the"
"of the Jews. In terms of some of his sources for the project, Josephus says that he drew from and ""interpreted out of the Hebrew Scriptures"" and that he was an eyewitness to the wars between the Jews and the Romans, which were earlier recounted in ""Jewish Wars"". He outlines Jewish history beginning with the creation, as passed down through Jewish historical tradition. Abraham taught science to the Egyptians, who, in turn, taught the Greeks. Moses set up a senatorial priestly aristocracy, which, like that of Rome, resisted monarchy. The great figures of the Tanakh are presented as ideal philosopher-leaders."