Roman Judaea
This "great" Roman general led the siege on Jerusalem in 63 BCE.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters."
What is Genesis?
Although supposedly born in Bethlehem, most modern scholars believe that Jesus was born in this Galilean town?
What is Nazareth?
This term refers to the branch of theology concerned with "Last Things."
What is Eschatology?
This collection of rabbinic literature, divided into six sedarim, was compiled by around 220 CE.
What is the Mishnah?
This mountaintop fortress, created by Herod the Great in the 30s BCE, would be the site of the final major event of the First Roman-Jewish War around a century later.
What is Masada?
"When I was a child of about fourteen years of age, I was commended by all for the love I had of learning. For this reason the high priests and leading men of the city came frequently to me in order to know my opinion about the accurate understanding of points of the law."
What is the Life of Josephus (or Autobiography)?
The modern term "Synoptic Gospels" (or just "Synoptics") refers to these three of the four canonical gospels.
What are Mark, Matthew, and Luke?
In the book of this prophet four great kingdoms (or empires) will rise and fall before the End.
Who is Daniel?
Under the reign of the emperor Hadrian, Jerusalem was renamed this.
What is Aelia Capitolina?
This notoriously onerous tax was imposed on all Jewish Roman subjects after 70 CE.
What is the fiscus Judaicus?
"And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof."
What is 1 Maccabees?
Reflecting Christianity's increasing divergence from its Jewish roots, this purported heretic created a minimal Christian scriptural canon consisting only of a version of Luke's gospel and a selection of the Pauline Epistles.
Who is Marcion?
In an otherworldly vision in this book, the titular prophet is guided "by the hand of the Lord" through a valley of bones.
What is Ezekiel?
This "Son of the Star" led a revolt against Rome in the 130s CE.
Who is Simon bar Kokhba?
This coastal city became the centre of Roman administration and culture in Judaea, from which the procurator governed the province (from 6 CE).
What is Caesarea (or Caesarea Maritima)?
"Be careful [in your dealings] with the ruling authorities for they do not befriend a person except for their own needs; they seem like friends when it is to their own interest, but they do not stand by a man in the hour of his distress."
What is the Pirkei Avot? (will accept: the Mishnah)
At this ancient city, today in southern Turkey, Paul famously rebuked Peter, as related in the former's Letter to the Galatians.
What is Antioch?
This term refers to the belief that the Messiah will return to earth and establish his reign *before* a long period – perhaps a thousand years – of peace.
What is premillennialism?
Around 219 CE, this rabbi moved his academy from Sepphoris to Sura, inaugurating the rabbinic tradition in Babylonia.
Who is Abba Arikha (or Rav)?
This last Herodian king sought to calm the unrest in Judaea in the 60s CE – but did not manage to avert war with Rome.
Who is Agrippa II?
"I thank you, O Lord, for your eye is awake and watches over my soul. You rescue me from the jealousy of liars, from the congregation of those who seek the smooth way. But you save the soul of the poor whom they planned to destroy by spilling the blood of your servant."
What is Thanksgiving Psalm 4? (will accept: Dead Sea Scrolls)
The Latin term for the passage at John 7:53–8:11, which includes the only canonical mention of Jesus writing – according to later Christian exegetes, writing "the sins of the Jews."
What is the Pericope adulterae?
Food for apocalyptic thought? This first century CE Jewish preacher was said to roam the Galilean wilderness while subsisting on a diet of locusts and wild honey.
Who is John the Baptist (or Baptizer)?
The "Diaspora Revolt" broke out under the reign of this Roman ruler, the second of the so-called "Five Good Emperors."
Who is Trajan?