Best known for writing The Jewish War, he was born in Jerusalem —then part of the Roman province of Judea —to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed Hasmonean royal ancestry.

Flavius Josephus was a Jewish priest, scholar, and historian who wrote valuable works on the Jewish revolt of 66–70 and on earlier Jewish history. His major books are History of the Jewish War (75–79), …

Josephus is our only source of knowledge for much of the history of Judaism in the First Century CE. His books provide essential background for an understanding of both the beginning of modern Judaism …

Mar 25, 2024 · Born Yosef ben Matityahu in Jerusalem, in 37 C.E., Josephus lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in Jewish history. His life spanned the Roman occupation of Judea and the …

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 C.E. in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, …

Oct 11, 2021 · Josephus emphasized the ethics and morals of Judaism against (typical) Jewish charges of immorality among non-Jews. Beginning in the 19th century and beyond, Josephus became central …

Oct 16, 2025 · Josephus (Flavius Josephus) was a 1st-century Jewish historian whose work Antiquities of the Jews, and particularly the Testimonium Flavianum, offers the most-cited extra-biblical …

One of our most important sources for all the history of this period is the Jewish historian, Josephus. Josephus himself grew up in and around Jerusalem; he claims to have been a part of the...

Flavius Josephus (c. 37-100 AD) was a first-century Jewish historian born into a priestly family in Jerusalem. Although details about his youth come primarily from his own writings, he reports that he …

Sep 1, 2025 · Drawing on his own experience and firsthand reports, Josephus wrote Jewish War in the late 70s. An earlier version of the tragic history, in Josephus’s native Aramaic, was sent to the Jews …