Ever since I sought material to teach a class on the inter-testament period back in 1994, I discovered there was not much written on the subject. So, I decided to change that. From the creation of the world to the rebuilding of the Temple by Zerubbabel and reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, nothing has piqued my interest as much as what happened after these events. The study of inter-testament history is fascinating, important, and lacking in most Christian educations. Through our learning of theinter-testament, we can better understand the people, politics, and history of theNew Testament.
I wrote
The Bridge to the New Testament: A Comprehensive Guide to the Forgotten Years of the Inter-Testament Period
A deeper understanding about the history of a period can be gained by examining the coinage of that time. Coins were the billboards and TV commercials of ancient history. David Hendin is the world-renowned expert on Biblical and inter-testament coinage. He does an excellent job of showing multiple versions of each denomination (since ancient coin dies were never identical) and explaining their history as well. David was also kind enough to verify the authenticity of the coins I present in my book. He discovered that I had inadvertently acquired what I thought was a valuable coin (of Aristobulus I of the Hasmoneans), but it was actually an overstrike of a less-valuable coin (Alexander Jannaeus).
This is the fourth edition of the most widely used reference in the field of ancient Biblical and Jewish Coins, with more than 10,000 copies already in print. It is also the most complete edition yet, listing more than 550 different coins while maintaining the same numbering system as Hendin's popular third edition. Hendin has dramatically expanded the text with extensions and significant new material. This new edition contains a full 38 pages of photographic plates illustrating more than 500 coins and weights. Aimed at both beginning and advanced collectors, Hendin compiles the knowledge he has accumulated in the 34…
The Quest just makes you excited, particularly if you are going to visit Jerusalem after reading it. It lays out very convincing arguments for where the remains of ancient structures are in Jerusalem today, particularly regarding the Temple and Temple Mount. You can know with confidence as you walk on a given path on which Jesus may have tread. You will learn which blocks of the Temple Mount wall were laid during which periods of history. The book also clearly shows where the bends are in the walls that delineate the Temple Mount of Solomon’s time, the extension of the mount by the Hasmoneans, and the greatly-expanded Temple Mount of Herod the Great.
No book is better suited to the study, understanding and development of the manmade plateau that is the focus of the world s interest the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Ritmeyer's experience as architect of the Temple Mount Excavations following the Six-Day War, coupled with his exploration of parts of the mount now hardly accessible and his doctoral research into the problems of the Temple Mount make him singularly qualified for the task.
As Leen Ritmeyer has done for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Yigael Yadin has done for the fortress of Masada in the Judean wilderness. Through the findings of his excavations of Masada from October 1963 to May 1964, he transports you back in time to when the defenders of Masada, the last holdout of the Jewish rebellion, held off the Roman military for a time in AD 73. When the Romans finally breached the fortress, all they found were dead bodies. The Jewish defenders chose to end their own lives and those of their families to escape being killed, tortured, or sold into slavery. Yadin also presents the history of the fortress back to its founding by the Hasmonean, Alexander Jannaeus.
This is the account of Yadin's excavation of the hill fort of Masada. What he found there confirmed Josephus's account of the siege. The spectacular discoveries included Herod's three-tiered palace, the earliest-known manuscript of "Ecclesiasticus" and potsherds that may have been suicide lots.
Our knowledge of Jewish history would be sorely lacking if not for Titus Flavius Josephus. Josephus was a Hellenistic Jew who lived from AD 37-100, just a few decades after the end of the inter-testament period. He was a leader of the Galilean rebels during the Jewish revolt against the Romans. When the Jews led by him were soundly defeated in AD 67 in the town of Jotapata, he appealed to Vespasian, the Roman commander at the time, to spare his life and not send him to the emperor, Nero, for enslavement. Josephus predicted that Vespasian and his son, Titus, would both become emperors. In time, Josephus became a patron of Vespasian and a prolific historian of the time.
No source, other than the Bible itself, provides more relevant information on the first century than the work of Flavius Josephus. This newly edited version updates the original 18th century language; includes commentary by the award winning author and historian, Dr. Paul L. Maier; features over forty photos of ancient sites and artifacts mentioned by Josephus; cross references numbers throughout to the Greek text of Josephus in the Loeb Classical Library; and offers revised indexes of subjects and Old Testament texts.
Although not a history of Rome, per se, in this topically-arranged book, it covers a vast amount of Roman history. This is an outstanding book into the details of Rome’s religion, geography, administration, travel, and economy. It gives deep insight into what it was like to be a Roman citizen, whether one was a pleb or a member of the aristocracy. It presents the government of Rome, from the consuls and emperors down to the level of magistrates and civil servants. Many aspects of the history and structure of Rome’s military are covered in detail, and the book shows how it transformed and adapted over the years of the republic and empire. For any questions on Roman society, this book likely covers it.
This handy reference provides full access to the 1,200 years of Roman rule from the 8th century BC to the 5th century AD, including information that is hard to find and even harder to decipher. Clear, authoritative, and highly organized, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome provides a unique look at a civilization whose art, literature, law, and engineering influenced the whole of Western Europe throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and beyond. The myriad topics covered include rulers; the legal and governmental system; architectural feats such as the famous Roman roads and aqueducts; the many Roman religions and festivals;…
What transpired “between the testaments,” before the birth of Jesus? What is the back story of his world? Approximately 420 years elapsed between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New. It was this fascinating period that produced many of the institutions, values, and perceptions that are critical to our deeper understanding of the New Testament.
Through figures, tables, photos, and maps, we tell the story of the inter-testament, woven in amongst the tales of kings, tyrants, and peasants. The complex series of events that led to the New Testament were simply orchestrated one-by-one by the people of the inter-testament who, by their actions—good or bad—contributed their part to the history.
I come by my interest in history and the years before, during, and after the Second World War honestly. For one thing, both my father and my father-in-law served as pilots in the war, my father a P-38 pilot in North Africa and my father-in-law a B-17 bomber pilot in England. Their histories connect me with a period I think we can still almost reach with our fingertips and one that has had a momentous impact on our lives today. I have taken that interest and passion to discover and write true life stories of the war—focusing on the untold and unheard stories often of the “Average Joe.”
October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on any other single day of the war.
The narrative of No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident while focusing its attention on ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. All were men who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place.
No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in…
October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller's pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death…
