Lecture 12

        Herod died in 4 BCE and his kingdom was divided among three of his sons, whose powers were very limited. Archelaus became “ethnarch” of Judea; he was an ineffective ruler and was recalled to Rome and sent into exile in 6 CE. Herod Antipas became “tetrarch” of Perea and Galilee; he ruled from 4 BCE until exile in 39 CE. Herod Philip became “tetrarch” of Iturea and Trachonitis, northwest of Sea of Galilee; he ruled from 4 BCE until death in 34 CE. Pontius Pilate was the only Roman governor of Judea mentioned in the Gospels. He was ineffective & provoked the Jews. Pilate also was the one who tried Jesus and ordered his execution. He was recalled back to Rome in 36/37 CE because he minted coins with pagan symbols on them, which angered the Jews. His existence is proved by the Pontius Pilate Inscription, which is a block of stone with an inscription addressed to Pilate himself. Most of the Roman governors in Jerusalem were “inexperienced and inept, which caused Jewish nationalism on the rise, growing internal Jewish conflict, provocations from all sides, and steady decline of law and order.” The Jewish Revolt Coin was a way for the Jews to declare independence from the Romans. Then in 66 CE  revolt breaks out. In 68 CE, Nero committed suicide, then Vespasian was proclaimed emperor, and then his son, Titus, took charge in Spring 70 CE. The northern city falls and the temple was destroyed by Titus. The temple remained in ruins until Hadrian built a temple to Jupiter in 135 CE, for which the Jews had to pay a Temple Tax. Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, and banned all Jews from ever visiting Jerusalem except on the 9^th of Ab so they could mourn the defeat of their city. The Bar-Kokhba revolt occurred in 132 CE when Bar-Kokhba thought he could take back Jerusalem as the messiah.  He minted revolt coins that looked exactly like the revolt of 70 CE coins, except the words were frequently misspelled. In response to the Bar-Kokhba revolt Hadrian punished the Jews bloodily and banned circumcision. In response to the destruction of the Temple, the Jews built synagogues to worship in. It was now that Judaism became a spiritualized religion because there was no longer a physical temple or place to worship. All that mattered now was the “kingdom” in heaven; they no longer needed to make sacrifices or go to temple as long as they praised the Lord. Judaism went from a religion of blood sacrifice to a religion of the law/bible.