Editing Josephus (section)

=== ''Antiquities of the Jews'' ===
{{Main|Antiquities of the Jews}}
The next work by Josephus is his 21-volume ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'', completed during the last year of the reign of the Emperor Flavius [[Domitian]], around 93 or 94 AD. In expounding Jewish history, law and custom, he is entering into many philosophical debates current in Rome at that time. Again he offers an ''apologia'' for the antiquity and universal significance of the Jewish people. Josephus claims to be writing this history because he "saw that others perverted the truth of those actions in their writings",{{sfn|Josephus|1737|loc=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Preface preface §1]}} those writings being the history of the Jews. In terms of some of his sources for the project, Josephus says that he drew from and "interpreted out of the Hebrew Scriptures"{{sfn|Josephus|1737|loc=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Preface preface §2]}} and that he was an eyewitness to the wars between the Jews and the Romans,{{sfn|Josephus|1737|loc=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Preface preface §1]}} which were earlier recounted in ''Jewish Wars''.

He outlines Jewish history beginning with the creation, as passed down through Jewish historical tradition. [[Abraham]] taught [[science]] to the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]], who, in turn, taught the [[Greeks]].{{sfn|Feldman|1998|p=232}} [[Moses]] set up a senatorial priestly aristocracy, which, like that of Rome, resisted [[monarchy]]. The great figures of the [[Tanakh]] are presented as ideal philosopher-leaders. He includes an autobiographical appendix defending his conduct at the end of the war when he cooperated with the Roman forces.

Louis H. Feldman outlines the difference between calling this work ''Antiquities of the Jews'' instead of ''History of the Jews''. Although Josephus says that he describes the events contained in ''Antiquities'' "in the order of time that belongs to them,"{{sfn|Josephus|1737|loc=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Preface preface §3]}} Feldman argues that Josephus "aimed to organize [his] material systematically rather than chronologically" and had a scope that "ranged far beyond mere political history to political institutions, religious and private life."{{sfn|Feldman|1998|p=13}}