What Destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem? | Prof. Daniel R. Schwartz

The “great” Judean rebellion against Rome (66–70 CE) was fueled by intense messianic prophecies, yet many Judeans strongly opposed it. What sparked this explosive religious fervor, and why were others so against it? In this session, we will explore how the rebels gained control – ultimately leading to the tragic destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. We will also examine how historians can piece together the truth using our only major, and often biased, source: the writings of Josephus. The last two centuries of the Second Temple period saw several violent conflicts in ancient Judea. In this series we will focus on two of these: the civil war in the days of one of the last Hasmonean monarchs, Alexander Yannai, in the early first century BCE, and the Judean rebellion against Rome that began in 66 CE and culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE. Both occasioned severe internecine conflict and bloodshed. The lectures focus on the way these conflicts arose out of fundamental differences concerning the relations between religion and state, and on how they functioned in post-70 memories of the Second Temple period. -- For more: https://www.bac.org.il/en/videos