Judaism
The religion and people of Israel and Judah and their scriptures, from the Hebrew Bible through rabbinic and medieval Jewish scholarship.
Category: Culture, Peoples
- c. 1208 BCEThe Merneptah Stele names Israel
A stele of Merneptah records the Libyan and Sea Peoples attacks and a Canaanite revolt. It holds the earliest known mention of Israel ("Israel has been wiped out"), which it treats as a people or tribe, not a city or country.
- c. 622 BCEKing Josiah's reform after a 'book of the law' is found in the Temple
In his 18th year, c. 622 BCE, Josiah of Judah centralizes worship in Jerusalem after a scroll is found in the Temple. Many scholars link it to an early form of Deuteronomy; some see the account as largely legendary.
- c. 587 BCEBabylon destroys Jerusalem and exiles Judah's elite
Nebuchadnezzar II burns Jerusalem and its Temple in 587 or 586 BCE and deports Judeans to Babylonia. In exile, scribes gather and reshape the traditions that would form the Hebrew Bible.
- c. 457 BCEEzra brings the Torah to Jerusalem
According to tradition, the priest and scribe Ezra leads a return from Babylon c. 457 BCE and reintroduces the Torah in Jerusalem. Many scholars place the Torah's final shaping and authority in this Persian period.
- c. 250 BCE – 132 BCEThe Hebrew scriptures are translated into Greek: the Septuagint
Jews in Ptolemaic Egypt, probably around Alexandria, translate the Torah into Greek in the 3rd century BCE and the other books by 132 BCE. Some copies include books later called deuterocanonical.
- 167 BCEThe Maccabean revolt begins
In 167 BCE, as Antiochus IV's decrees ban Jewish practices, the priest Mattathias kills a Jew sacrificing to an idol and a Seleucid officer, and the revolt begins. His son Judas Maccabeus leads it after 166.
- 164 BCEThe Temple is rededicated: Hanukkah
In 164 BCE the Maccabees take Jerusalem, and cleanse and rededicate the Temple on 25 Kislev, the origin of Hanukkah. The Seleucid ban on Jewish practice is revoked. Judas dies at Elasa in 160.
- c. 150 BCEPharisees, Sadducees and Essenes emerge
In the mid-2nd century BCE, under the Hasmonean priest-rulers, Jewish groups take shape: Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. Pharisees accept an oral Torah and the Sadducees only the written one; the Essenes live apart. Josephus first mentions the Pharisees under Jonathan.
- 141 BCEJudea becomes independent
In 141 BCE Simon Thassi expels the Seleucid garrison from the Acra citadel in Jerusalem. The year before, Demetrius II had exempted Judea from tribute. This marks the start of the Hasmonean state.
- 134 BCEJohn Hyrcanus succeeds Simon
Simon Thassi is assassinated in 135 or 134 BCE and his son John Hyrcanus succeeds him. Antiochus VII besieges Jerusalem for about a year; a truce costs Hyrcanus a payment, the city walls and troops against the Parthians. After Antiochus dies he stops paying tribute.
- c. 134 BCEThe settlement at Qumran
A settlement is built at Qumran by the Dead Sea between 134 and 104 BCE, under Hyrcanus or somewhat later. Most scholars link it to the Essenes, but it has also been read as a fortress, villa or workshop. It is destroyed in the Jewish War, about 68-73 CE.
- c. 110 BCEHyrcanus conquers Samaria and Idumea
From about 110 BCE Hyrcanus takes Samaria, Idumea and Transjordan. He destroys the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim and, reportedly, forces the Idumeans to convert, though some scholars dispute it. Herod's family later comes from Idumea.
- 104 BCEAristobulus I takes the title of king
In 104 or 103 BCE Aristobulus I becomes the first Hasmonean to take the title basileus (king), joining it to the high priesthood. His father Hyrcanus had separated civil rule from the priesthood in his will; Aristobulus imprisoned his mother.
- c. 96 BCEAlexander Jannaeus fights the Pharisees
After taking Gaza around 96 BCE, King Alexander Jannaeus faces a civil war with Pharisee opponents, who pelt him with citrons at Tabernacles. Rebels ally with the Seleucid Demetrius III. Josephus says Jannaeus later crucifies about 800 Jews, mostly Pharisees, in Jerusalem.
- 76 BCESalome Alexandra reigns
From 76 to 67 BCE Queen Salome Alexandra rules Judea after Alexander Jannaeus, with her son Hyrcanus II as high priest. She shares power with the Pharisees, whose influence grows, and rabbinic tradition remembers her reign as a golden age.
- 67 BCEHyrcanus II and Aristobulus II go to war
Near the end of Salome Alexandra's life, her younger son Aristobulus II seizes fortresses and declares himself king. After she dies in 67 BCE a civil war with his brother Hyrcanus II, backed by Antipater, draws in Rome. It ends in 63 with Pompey.
- 63 BCEPompey captures Jerusalem
After a three-month siege Pompey takes Jerusalem in 63 BCE. Judea becomes a client state of Rome.
- 47 BCEAntipater helps Caesar; the Herodian rise
In 47 BCE Antipater the Idumaean, adviser to Hyrcanus II, helps Julius Caesar at Alexandria and is rewarded with Roman citizenship and the post of procurator of Judea. He gives his sons Phasael and Herod the governorships of Jerusalem and Galilee. He is poisoned in 43.
- c. 20 BCEHerod rebuilds the Temple
About 20-19 BCE Herod begins rebuilding the Second Temple and its platform. The sanctuary is done in about a year and a half; ancillary works go on for roughly 80 years. This is the Temple of Jesus's time, destroyed by Rome in 70 CE.
- 4 BCEHerod the Great dies
Herod dies in 4 BCE by most scholars' reckoning (1 BCE by another school). Augustus honors his will: Archelaus gets Judea, Samaria and Idumea, Antipas Galilee and Perea, Philip lands to the north-east. The Massacre of the Innocents appears only in Matthew.
- 6Judas of Galilee resists the census
In 6 CE Judas of Galilee urges Jews not to register for Quirinius's census. Josephus calls his movement the "fourth philosophy" beside Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes and blames it for the later war with Rome. Whether it founded the Zealots is disputed.
- 26Pontius Pilate becomes prefect of Judea
Pontius Pilate governs Judea from 26 CE to 36 or 37, under Tiberius, keeping Caiaphas as high priest throughout. Josephus reports clashes over imperial standards in Jerusalem and an aqueduct paid from the Temple treasury. A 1961 inscription at Caesarea names him.
- 40Caligula orders a statue in the Temple
In 40 CE, after Jews tear down an altar to the imperial cult at Jamnia, Caligula orders a statue of himself placed in the Jerusalem Temple. Philo leads delegations to the emperor and Agrippa opposes the plan. Caligula is assassinated in early 41.
- 66The First Jewish-Roman War
From 66 to 73 or 74 CE Judea revolts against Rome, in what the sources call the War of Destruction. Corrupt governors, economic strain and religious zeal all play a part. It ends with Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed and the end of Jewish political independence.
- 66The revolt breaks out; Gallus is defeated
In 66 CE riots in Caesarea escalate after the governor Gessius Florus, who had plundered the Temple treasury, answers with force, and rebels kill the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. Syria's legate Cestius Gallus marches on the city but is defeated at Beth Horon.
- 67Josephus surrenders at Yodfat
After the fall of Yodfat in 67 CE, the Jewish commander Josephus surrenders to Vespasian and, by his own account, foretells that Vespasian will be emperor. Freed in 69, he serves Titus at Jerusalem and then writes the war's main history. Many Jews saw his claim as self-serving.
- 70The Second Temple is destroyed
The Second Temple burns in the summer of 70 CE, on 10 Av in Josephus's account, the day Tisha B'Av recalls. Josephus says Titus tried to save it; later writers say he ordered it burned. Scholars are divided. Excavations show burn layers and fallen stones.
- 70Titus besieges Jerusalem
In spring 70 CE Titus surrounds Jerusalem, full of Passover pilgrims, while factions inside fight one another and burn food stores. The Romans breach the walls and the Antonia fortress, and the Upper City falls in late summer. Josephus's 1.1 million dead is thought exaggerated.
- c. 70Yohanan ben Zakkai and Yavneh
The Talmud says the sage Yohanan ben Zakkai left besieged Jerusalem in a coffin and asked Vespasian to spare Yavneh. At Yavneh he turned a school into a centre of learning, where prayer came to replace sacrifice. The tale is unconfirmed, but rabbinic Judaism took shape there.
- c. 73The siege of Masada
The Roman governor Flavius Silva besieges Masada, the last rebel stronghold, held by about 960 Sicarii and their families, traditionally in 72-73 CE, though some date it 73-74. Josephus says the defenders killed one another rather than surrender; several scholars doubt this.
- c. 81The Arch of Titus
About 81 CE Domitian builds the Arch of Titus on Rome's Via Sacra after his brother's death. Its reliefs show the triumph of 71, with the Temple menorah among the spoils, one of few contemporary images of Temple objects. It later becomes a symbol of the Jewish diaspora.
- c. 920The Aleppo Codex, a model Masoretic Hebrew Bible, is written in Tiberias
Around 920 the scribe Shlomo ben Buya'a copies the consonants of the Hebrew Bible in Tiberias. Aaron ben Asher later adds vowels and Masoretic notes, making it a reference text for the Hebrew Bible.
- 1008The Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete Hebrew Bible, is copied
A colophon dates the Leningrad Codex to 1008 (possibly 1009) in Cairo. It is the oldest known complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible and the base text of most modern scholarly editions.
- c. 1190Maimonides writes the Guide for the Perplexed
Maimonides (d. 1204) composes the Guide c. 1185-1190, seeking to reconcile Aristotelianism and science with the Torah. It is highly controversial in his day; French rabbis burn copies at Montpellier.
- 1488The first complete printed Hebrew Bible appears at Soncino
In 1488 the Soncino printers in northern Italy publish the first complete printed Hebrew Bible, without commentary. Most sources date its completion to 22 April 1488; some give February.
- 1517Daniel Bomberg prints the first Rabbinic Bible in Venice
In 1517 the Venetian printer Daniel Bomberg issues the first Mikraot Gedolot, the Hebrew Bible with Aramaic translations and commentaries. A corrected second edition under Jacob ben Hayyim became the standard.
- 1878Wellhausen's Prolegomena gives the documentary hypothesis its classic form
In 1878 the German scholar Julius Wellhausen argues that the Torah was compiled from four originally independent sources written centuries after Moses. His formulation dominates Old Testament scholarship for generations.
- 1946 – 1956The Dead Sea Scrolls are found at Qumran
From late 1946 Bedouin shepherds and then excavators recover about 15,000 scrolls and fragments from caves near Qumran, until 1956. Dating from c. 3rd century BCE to 1st century CE, they include the oldest biblical manuscripts known.