In 30/29 BC the Roman Cornelius Gallus under the later emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) destroyed Thebes.

Queen Agrippina II

The beautifully carved head of Queen Agrippina II (10-59 AD), wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Nero, with her facial features and tight lips seeming to suggest a mischievious look, can be seen in BAR, Vol. IX, Jan/Feb 1983, p. 50.

Antonius Felix

Antonius Felix claimed to seek improved relations with the Jews of Judea, but there was apparently great friction between him and the people - at least when he struck those coins in 54 and 58 AD showing on one side Jewish symbols as palm trees or palm fonds and on the other side Roman crossed shields and spears.[See BAR, Mar 1987, p. 54.]

Second Revolt (135 AD) Jewish Gold Coin

Herod the Great in order to safeguard his regime and protect his family from possible attacks of his subjects as well as from Cleopatra constructed 3 major fortresses in the south of Judah. They were the fortress of Masada, the fortress prison of Machaerus in present day Jordan (Here John the Baptist was beheaded according to Josephus), first constructed by Alexander Jannaeus, overlooks the Dead Sea, and the incredible Herodium (Jebel Fureidis), located ca. 4 miles southeast of Bethlehem.

A beautiful tetradrachma gold coin depicting possibly the entrance to the Herodian Temple sanctuary which was totally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD as predicted by Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:1,2), featuring the two letters was reportedly excavated legally in Jerusalem and thought to have been minted by the Jewish rebels. The coin can be seen in BAR, Vol. 23, Nov/Dec 1997, p. 48.

See also David M. Jacobson, `Herod the Great Shows His True Colors' in Near Eastern Archaeology, Sep 2001, p. 100-104. Showing both sides of a bronze coin. One side features a trident the other the cap of Dioscuri with a star, both are pagan symbols. The magazine shows many ancient coins of various denominations and origins.

Adam Kolman Marshak, Yale June 2007, writes `The Dated Coins of Herod the Great: Towards a New Chronology' in which he claims that the well known Herodian period "dated coins" ought to be dated to 27 BC to commemorate the rebuilding and renaming of Samaria/Sebaste in Augustu's honor.[BAR, Jul/Aug 2007, p. 16. Sebaste was so named by King Herod, Joesphus, Antiquities, Book XV, ch. ix, Sec. 5, p. 329.]

Jewish Books and the Library of Alexandria

It was Demetrius Phalerius librarian at the Alexandrian library who said in a speech that Aristeas, a courtier of Ptolemy I Philadelphus (284-247 BC), urging the king that copies be made of the sacred books of the Jews for his great library in Alexandria. This story is also mentioned by both Philo and Flavius Josephus.

"Now it is necessary that thou shouldst have accurate copies of them. And indeed this legislation is full of hidden wisdom, and entirely blameless, as being the legislation of God; for which cause it is, as Hecateus of Abdera says, that the poets and historians make no mention of it, nor of those men who led their lives according to it, since it is a holy law, and ought not to be published by profane mouths." [Josephus, `Antiquities', Book 12, chap. 2, Sec. 4.]

Palestine: 37/36 BC Herod, aided by Roman consul Sosius, takes Jerusalem from Antigonus.; 25-12 BC period of Herod's constructions.; 25 AD Ministry of John the Baptist.; `Jewish question' in Alexandria comes to a head with embassy to Gaius.;

Nemrud Dagh - Babel

Nemrud Dagh ("da" means "mountain") is located where the Euphrates River exits the eastern, inner Taurus mountains, the burial site of the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes (62-32 BC). The account of the building of Babel and its tower is told in Genesis 11. It begins with the statement that all the people spoke the same language. Next, we are told of the "exodus" of a group of people from the area first settled by Noah and his descendants after the flood: "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there." Gen. 11:1-2. It takes not much to deduce that the people who left the area of the ark traveled to the west. Common sense adds the additional information that they traveled along a river - a water supply for the people as well as their flocks and herds would have been an absolute necessity. Therefore, they began their journey at the beginning of one of the mountain streams that was a tributary of the Euphrates River near the area of the ark and followed it to the west until they came to a plain. -- Studying topographical and flight maps of the region, the observer will notice the place where the Euphrates River exits the mountainous region - roughly a two hundred fifty mile journey from the region of the ark. And there, where the mountains end, is a plain. -- But another, more direct route would have taken them in a southwest direction for about one hundred forty miles until they reached the west side of Lake Van. From there, they would have traveled along the more south-eastern branch of the Euphrates River headwaters about fifty miles through a mountain pass then exiting onto the vast plain where they would travel west until they reached the Euphrates. These are the only two natural east-west routes across Anatolia. Which route they took, we may never know. However, both would have brought the group to the same general area. -- Putting ourselves in their place, we may conclude, they would have traveled no further, provided the region contained all the natural resources that they would have needed, which it did. We assume that here is the "plain in the land of Shinar" where they "dwelt". On the map, you can see the location of Mt. Ararat (the region of the ark).

Website based views on the Septuagint

"Because some of the elements appear to be legendary e.g. 72 translators being separated and then when their individual translations were compared, each of the copies were worded identically the same.

At 09:19 AM 1/20/99 -0800, you wrote: Thank you K. Why do you refer to Aristeas' proposal as being a legend? I want to add a note. The Epistle ad Aristeam only describes the origins of the Pentateuch, not the entire Greek OT. If you read it, you also discover that King Ptolemy wined and dined them--and in the symposium tested their wisdom. In that sense the work is an apology for Judaism. The Neviim and Cethuvim were translated by various people, at different times. There are involved theories about the different recensions. Look up the articles in the Anchor Bible Dictionary and IDB. You might also consult the Cambridge History of the Bible and S. Jellicoe's work on the Septuagint for more detailed information. There is also an edition, by Moses Hadas if my memory serves me, in the Dropsie College series on Jewish apocrypha and pseudepigraphic works published almost a generation ago now by Harper and Row. You might also read the introduction to the Rahlfs edition for a brief account of different recensions."

Edgar Krentz, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago; From: `http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/1999-January/003597.html'

J. Wilson & V. Tzaferis, `Banias Dig Reveals King's Palace' But which king? in BAR, Vol. 24, Jan/Feb 1998, p. 54-61. The well illustrated story of the discovery of the Herodian period palace makes interesting reading.

Miscellaneous Finds from this Period

01) Bronze coins from 42/43, the time of Herod Agrippa I, AD found in the burial cave of Caiphas inside the skull of an adult woman. The two views of the very corroded coin show little detail. It may have been put into the mouth of the woman before internment, perhaps as an ancient, pagan custom followed also by Greeks. Also found was a small (4.33 in) slander glass bottle. [Zvi Greenhut, `Burial Cave of the Caiphas Family' in BAR, Vol. 18, Sep/Oct 1992, p. 29-36.]
02) A burial place for rabbis was located at the town of Beth Shearim, in the slopes of hills of southern Galilee. 27 cavernous catacombs were found in a vast underground maze of caverns containing Greek inscriptions. Those buried there included: Judah ha-Nasi (Judah the prince, the Patriarch Rabbi). [Ibid. from 01) above p. 46-57.]
03) In 1935 outside the wall of Jerusalem's Old City was found a limestone fragment of a 19 inch high Herodian period Temple inscription written in Greek of which the shaded part remained:

"Let no gentile enter within the partition and barrier surrounding the Temple, and whosoever is caught shall be responsible for his subsequent death." [BAR, Vol. 18, Sep/Oct 1992, p. 61.; Also BAR, Vol. 29, No. 4, Jul 2003, p. 41.]
It is possible that Jesus had read this inscription during the time of his ministry. (May require IE to read correctly.)
The Greek writing of the name of `Alexander son of Simon' was found on a stone ossuary who was possibly the son of Simon of Cyrene, Mark 15:21. The Hebrew name for `Cyrene' was `qrnyh' [BAR, July 2003, p. 47-49]

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General Bible Knowledge

We learn now that the New Testament reference of the crowing of a rooster (Mark 14:30 and others) actually refers a Roman bugle like instrument which was blown to indicate partitions in daily time. The Greek word for rooster is `alektwr' (alektor) and for the sounding of it we read, `alektorophonia'. The Latin word for rooster is `gallus', the same word as for the inhabitants of Gaul, who commonly kept chicken on their property. It is a play on words in the Greek, characterizing the shrill sound of the instrument and comparing it to the crowing of a rooster.

The Future of Caiphas

According to the words of Jesus, Caiphas will be one of those who, in a special resurrection, will see the Lord Jesus on the day of His Second Coming appearing in the clouds. As the epitome of religious arrogance, the theologian Caiphas was selected by God to witness his foolish denial of everything he should have believed and accepted. There may be others like him. See Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62 and Revelation 1:7.

Thracian chariot found - In August 7, 2008 it was reported that Bulgarian archaeologists unearthed a 1,900-year-old well-preserved chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, 360 km east of Sofia. Daniela Agre said the complete four-wheel chariot was found near the village of Borisovo. At the funerary mound, the team also discovered table pottery, glass vessels and other gifts for the funeral of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat. - In a separate pit, they unearthed skeletons of two riding horses apparently sacrificed during the funeral of the nobleman, along with well preserved bronze and leather objects, some believed it was the horses harness. - The Thracians were an ancient people that inhabited the lands of present day Bulgaria and parts of modern Greece, Turkey, Macedonia and Romania between (conventional, evolutionary long age) 4,000 B.C. and the 6th century, when they were assimilated by the invading Slavs. Some 10,000 Thracian mounds — some of them covering monumental stone tombs — are scattered across Bulgaria.

Parthian Rulers
From King Artabanus II (12-38 AD) can be seen a coin in BASOR, No. 250, Spring 1983, p. 65.

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Acts 10: 9-10

While many of us may be prepared to answer false religious charges, we may not as well be prepared to answer false political charges. But these latter charges were exactly those leveled against Christ and the apostles.

When the apostles were charged to have been followers of the Christ who had been crucified by the Romans, that was then a serious charge against them. We read, "In the meantime the high priest and those with him had `called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel.' The priests and rulers had decided to fix upon the disciples the charge of insurrection, to accuse them of murdering Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), and of conspiring to deprive the priests of their authority. They hoped so to excite the mob that it would take the matter in hand and deal with the disciples as it had dealt with Jesus. They were aware that many who did not accept the teachings of Christ were weary of the arbitrary rule of the Jewish authorities and anxious for some change. The priests feared that if these dissatisfied ones were to accept the truths proclaimed by the apostles, and were to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, the anger of the entire people would be raised against the religious leaders, who would then be made to answer for the murder of Christ. They decided to take strong measures to prevent this." {AA 80.2}

Such charges, `insurrection, murder and conspiracy' were leveled against the followers of Christ when they were persecuted for their faith. Christ himself had been falsely accused with the following charge, "And they were more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place." Luke 23:5

While today this charge may not sound so bad, in those days it was a serious charge for the Jewish nation was a land of great political and religious turbulence and the Romans had learned to continually look for discontent and uprisings among the people. At the first sign they would deal with it quickly and severely. To be charged with `stirring' up the people was a charge of sedition and revolt.

Here we read additional charged laid against Jesus. We read, "And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king." Lk. 23:1,2

These even more serious charges of `perverting the nation', `forbidding to give tribute to Caesar' and `saying that he was Christ the king,' thus setting himself up in the place of Caesar were very serious charges brought against our Savior Jesus Christ.

When only confronting the Pharisees, charges against Christ were mostly of a religious nature, but once they got into a Roman court that changed. The Romans would not care about religious disagreements, but they would care about political charges brought against Christ.

We read, "The priests were in a dilemma. They saw that they must cloak their hypocrisy under the thickest concealment. They must not allow it to appear that Christ had been arrested on religious grounds. Were this put forward as a reason, their proceedings would have no weight with Pilate. They must make it appear that Jesus was working against the common law; then He could be punished as a political offender. ... " {DA 725.4}

And then a few pages later we read the charge Jesus was condemned for.

"Treason against the Roman government was the crime for which Jesus was condemned ..." {DA 772.4}

We may recall that the trial of Christ was not the first time that the rulers had brought charges against Him. They used such charges earlier in his ministry. They accused Him of setting up a rival kingdom and subvert their authority. We read, "They represented that He was seeking to set up a rival kingdom, and consulted with them how to destroy Him. To excite the Romans against Him, they had represented Him as trying to subvert their authority." {DA 538.2}

Many others before Christ had been accused using political charges.

Political Charges against David

Saul had represented David as a conspirator and a traitor lying in wait that he might possess the kingdom himself.

We read, "Saul had represented David as a traitor and a conspirator, lying in wait to take the life of the king, that he might possess the kingdom himself. The king had represented the matter to the people in such a light that it seemed necessary to deprive David of his life, that the prosperity of Israel might be preserved." {ST, November 9, 1888 par. 3}

Political Charges against Jeremiah

We read, "Through the pleading of these men of influence the prophet's life was spared, although many of the priests and false prophets, unable to endure the condemning truths he uttered, would gladly have seen him put to death on the plea of sedition." {PK 418.3}

Political Charges againste Nehemia and the Wall Builders

"The report was spread that Nehemiah was plotting against the Persian monarch, intending to exalt himself as a king over Israel, and that all who aided him were traitors." {PK 642.1}

Political Charges against the Apostle Paul

The following describes events when Paul was in Thessalonica. After he had been preaching there for a while, there occurred a great uproar. We read,

"But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." {Acts 17:5-7}

Paul was charged with the political crime of doing contrary to the decrees of Caesar and setting up another king - very serious charges indeed.

Anther example is this one which started out in Jerusalem.

"For we have found this man a pestilent fellow (defamation of character), and a mover of sedition ..." {Acts 24:5}

"In his speech, Tertullus charged Paul with crimes which, if proved, would have resulted in his conviction for high treason against the government." {AA 420.1}

As to Paul's final imprisonment they still charged him with the same charge, only with a much more heinous character. We read,

"The Jews brought against Paul the old charges of sedition and heresy, and both Jews and Romans accused him of instigating the burning of the city." {AA 494.2}

Thus we see the seriousness of these charges brought against Paul. It might compare to a charge today of leveling half the city of New York; that is how serious they were.

The Apostle John was accused of the following, "John was accordingly summoned to Rome to be tried for his faith. Here before the authorities the apostle's doctrines were misstated."

Here we have the false religious charges.

"False witnesses accused him of teaching seditious heresies. By these accusations his enemies hoped to bring about the disciple's death." {AA 569.3}

False Charges Leveled During the Reformation

Early English reformers had similar charges brought against them.

They were "... hunted as foes of the church and traitors to the realm..." {GC88 94.1}

Charges Brought Against Martin Luther

"Not content with this victory, Aleander labored with all the power and cunning at his command to secure Luther's condemnation. With a persistence worthy of a better cause, he urged the matter upon the attention of princes, prelates, and other members of the assembly, accusing the reformer of sedition, rebellion, impiety, and blasphemy." {GC88 147.1}

Over and over again, Reformation time Protestants were charged with political crimes when they were being persecuted for their faith.

This was probably because of the persecutions Francis I. conducted against the Protestants in France. We read, "Hardly had Francis I. concluded his penitential procession, when he again turned to the Protestant princes of Germany and attempted to resume his negotiations with them. They not unnaturally asked of him an explanation of his recent proceedings. Why so anxious to court the favor of the Protestants of Germany when he was burning the Protestants of France? Where there two true faiths in the world, to create a realm on the west of the Rhine, and the religion of Wittenberg on the east of the river? But the king was ready with his excuse and his excuse was that of almost all persecutors of every age, `the king had not been burning Lutherans but executing traitors,' if those he had put to death had invited foreign sentiment. It was not for their religion but for their sedition that they had been punished. Such was the excuse which Francis gave to the German princes in his letter of the 15th of February." [Wylie, J.A. (1808-1890), History of Protestantism, Vol. 2, p. 207.] The Bible teaches, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."Luke 3:14.

In the last days these type of charges will again be brought against the people of God.

"There will come a time when, because of our advocacy of Bible truth, we shall be treated as traitors." {6T 394.2}

"Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment-keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction will be put upon their motives." {GC88 592.1}

For God's people the work of preparation must be based on the Word of God. We cannot base it on emotions. We must search our hearts and examine everything and if something is wrong, correct in right away. However, at the same time it is a dangerous thing to take opposition as a sign that we are doing the wrong thing and begin to doubt whether or not the Lord has been leading us. It is exceedingly dangerous to do that.

But some, upon meeting opposition might be influenced by charges. We read,

"As the opposition rises to a fiercer height, the servants of God are again perplexed; for it seems to them that they have brought the crisis." That means God's people will encounter such experiences. We will be wondering and it may seem to us that we brought the crisis upon ourselves. How will we stand when we are hit with such a trial and we are tempted to wonder, have we done the right thing?

Should we take such a strong stand? Should we continue standing as we have? How will we be able to stand when such a trial comes upon us?

The answer is in the continuation of this quote:

"... But conscience and the Word of God assure them that their course is right; and although the trials continue, they are strengthened to bear them. The contest grows closer and sharper, but their faith and courage rise with the emergency. Their testimony is, "We dare not tamper with God's Word, dividing his holy law, calling one portion essential and another non-essential, to gain the favor of the world. The Lord whom we serve is able to deliver us. Christ has conquered the powers of earth; and shall we be afraid of a world already conquered?" {GC88 609.2}

Since the 6th hour in which Jesus was led into Pilat's Judgment Hall was before the crucifixion, that means that the 6th hour before the crucifixion had to be either 12 A.M. (noon) on Thursday or 12 P.M. (midnight) on Thursday according to modern time reckoning. Why should the Jews take Jesus to Pilat at midnight? For the same reason that they arrested Him and brought Him to Annas and Caiphas by night - because they feared the people, and they wanted to keep things quiet.

"18:13 And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
18:14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
18:15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and [so did] another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
18:16 But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
18:17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also [one] of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.
18:18 And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.
18:19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.
18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
18:21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
18:22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?
18:23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?
18:24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
.............
18:28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover." John 18:13-24, 28.

In order to determine how long Jesus was in the custody of the Jewish leadership we learn that Jesus was first taken to Annas, John 18:13-24, where they waited for the coming morning to bring Jesus to trial, John 18:28, before the Sanhedrin. The time which elapsed from the Sanhedrin trial to his burial was from early Thursday morning, the 15th day of the month, to about sunset Friday, the 16th, a total of 36 hours. Add to this the total hours from his burial about midnight Friday night to his resurrection on the first day of the week, equals about another 36 hours. All in all then the time from the arrest of Jesus to his resurrection was 72 hours, 3 days and 3 nights from Thursday morning to Sunday morning.

There are many parallels and indications about the birth, life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ throughout the Bible. One important aspect may be to realize that the virgin birth of Jesus was not the only miraculous birth we find in the Bible. Other amazing birth accounts are the birth of Ishmael and Isaac.

Ever wandered about the puzzling differences in names and number of ancestors as we find them in Matthew chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 3? The explanation is fairly simple to understand without haveing to repeat all the names. All we need to look at are the last two or three names.

In Matthew we have 26 generations from David to Jesus through the line of Joseph, his stepfather (not a true paternal line), and perhaps incidentally this also includes the royal line of Solomon (Solomon>Rehoboam). Here we have then Jesus as the son of his "stepfather" Joseph. That means, Joseph was not his birth father, only the father who raised him up - Compare Matthew 1:16.

Jacob > Joseph > Jesus

In Luke chapter 3 we have 42 generations from David to Jesus in reverse order using the maternal line (the legal line) of descendants. Then we have Jesus presented as the stepson of Joseph, the son-in-law of Heli.

Jesus > Joseph the son-in-law of > Heli

Therefore, Heli was the father of Mary and these genealogies used the word "father" for father by birth as well as for "step-father".

The number of names being more in Luke from David to Jesus is so for the same reason. The family line of Mary had more members. They may have lived shorter lifes over that span of time.

Why does the Bible give the genealogy these two ways? Because they wanted to show to the people without a doubt that Jesus was of a line of sinners, both, on his stepfather's side and his mother's side. That is important because Jesus never sinned. That is how he could be the Savior of all mankind who ever lived. He died already for all. The sins of all people who ever lived were laid upon him. [Some say that for Jesus to qualify as the Saviour He also needed to be of both lines of descendants, the royal (Matthew) and the legal line (Luke 3:31: Nathan).] Those who believe that and accept him as their savior and choose to live like he did, then repent from their sins and imitate his life of not sinning will be able to better their life, live happier and be saved at the end of time.

Most Christians have only part of the truth as taught in the Bible. Most want to go to heaven on their own terms. They want God to accept them as they are without changing their life from a life of continuing in sinning.

The Bible teaches that the glory of God is to sinners a consuming fire. When God ends the reign of sin in this world, when he comes in the clouds, only those who accepted Jesus as their savior will be able to stand on their feet and welcome Him. All people have only two choices: For or against God.

God will end the reign of sin in this world soon. We do not have much time left.