Editing Josephus (section)

=== Impact on history and archaeology ===
The works of Josephus include useful material for historians about individuals, groups, customs, and geographical places. However, modern historians have been cautious of taking his writings at face value. For example, [[Carl Ritter]], in his highly influential ''Erdkunde'' in the 1840s, wrote in a review of authorities on the ancient geography of the region:
<blockquote>Outside of the Scriptures, Josephus holds the first and the only place among the native authors of Judaea; for Philo of Alexandria, the later Talmud, and other authorities, are of little service in understanding the geography of the country. Josephus is, however, to be used with great care. As a Jewish scholar, as an officer of Galilee, as a military man, and a person of great experience in everything belonging to his own nation, he attained to that remarkable familiarity with his country in every part, which his antiquarian researches so abundantly evince. But he was controlled by political motives: his great purpose was to bring his people, the despised Jewish race, into honour with the Greeks and Romans; and this purpose underlay every sentence, and filled his history with distortions and exaggerations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ritter |first=C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X70PrAtAuGUC |title=The Comparative Geographie of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula |publisher=T. & T. Clark |year=1866}}</ref></blockquote>

Josephus mentions that in his day there were 240 towns and villages scattered across [[Upper Galilee|Upper]] and [[Lower Galilee]],<ref>Josephus, ''[[Life of Flavius Josephus|Vita]]'' § [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0150%3Awhiston+section%3D45 45]</ref> some of which he names. Josephus's works are the primary source for the chain of [[Traditional Jewish chronology#Josephus's enumeration of High Priests during the Second Temple period|Jewish high priests]] during the [[Second Temple]] period. A few of the Jewish customs named by him include the practice of hanging a [[linen]] curtain at the entrance to one's house,<ref>{{harvnb|Josephus|1737|loc=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Book_III 3.6.4]}}:  After describing the curtain that hung in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Josephus adds: "Whence that custom of ours is derived, of having a fine linen veil, after the temple has been built, to be drawn over the entrances."</ref> and the Jewish custom to partake of a [[Shabbat|Sabbath-day]]'s meal around the [[Relative hour|sixth-hour]] of the day (at noon).<ref>Josephus, ''[[Life of Flavius Josephus|Vita]]'' § [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0150%3Awhiston+section%3D54 54]</ref> He notes also that it was permissible for Jewish men to marry many wives ([[Polygamy in Judaism|polygamy]]).<ref>Flavius Josephus, ''The Works of Flavius Josephus''. Translated by [[William Whiston]], A. M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley: 1895, s.v. ''[[The Jewish War]]'' 1.24.2 (end) ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D1%3Awhiston+chapter%3D24%3Awhiston+section%3D2 1.473]).</ref> His writings provide a significant, extra-Biblical account of the post-Exilic period of the [[Maccabees]], the [[Hasmonean]] dynasty, and the rise of [[Herod the Great]]. He also describes the [[Sadducee]]s, the [[Pharisees]] and [[Essenes]], the Herodian Temple, [[Quirinius]]'s census and the [[Zealots]], and such figures as [[Pontius Pilate]], [[Herod the Great]], [[Agrippa&nbsp;I]] and [[Agrippa&nbsp;II]], [[John the Baptist]], [[Josephus on Jesus#Reference to Jesus as brother of James (xx 9.1)|James the brother of Jesus]]{{Broken anchor|date=2025-05-10|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Josephus on Jesus#Reference to Jesus as brother of James (xx 9.1)|reason= The anchor (Reference to Jesus as brother of James (xx 9.1)) [[Special:Diff/44919201|has been deleted]].|diff_id=44919201}}, and [[Josephus on Jesus|Jesus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Whealey |first=Alice |title=Josephus on Jesus: The Testimonium Flavianum Controversy from Late Antiquity to Modern Times |date=2003 |publisher=[[Peter Lang Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-8204-5241-8 |quote=In the sixteenth century the authenticity of the text [Testimonium Flavianum] was publicly challenged, launching a controversy that has still not been resolved today |author-link=Alice Whealey}}</ref> Josephus represents an important source for studies of immediate post-Temple [[Judaism]] and the context of [[early Christianity]].

A careful reading of Josephus's writings and years of excavation allowed [[Ehud Netzer]], an [[archaeologist]] from [[Hebrew University]], to discover what he considered to be the location of [[Herod the Great#Herod's tomb|Herod's Tomb]], after searching for 35 years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kraft |first=Dina |date=May 9, 2007 |title=Archaeologist Says Remnants of King Herod's Tomb Are Found |work=[[NY Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/middleeast/09herod.html?_r=0 |access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>  It was above [[aqueduct (bridge)|aqueducts]] and pools, at a flattened desert site, halfway up the hill to the [[Herodium]], 12&nbsp;km south of Jerusalem—as described in Josephus's writings.{{sfn|Murphy|2008|p=99}} In October 2013, archaeologists Joseph Patrich and Benjamin Arubas challenged the identification of the tomb as that of Herod.<ref name="Hasson-2013">{{Cite news |last=Hasson |first=Nir |date=October 11, 2013 |title=Archaeological stunner: Not Herod's Tomb after all? |work=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/life/archaeology/.premium-1.551881 |url-status=dead |access-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927144851/http://www.haaretz.com/life/archaeology/.premium-1.551881 |archive-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> According to Patrich and Arubas, the tomb is too modest to be Herod's and has several unlikely features.<ref name="Hasson-2013" /> Roi Porat, who replaced Netzer as excavation leader after the latter's death, stood by the identification.<ref name="Hasson-2013" />

Josephus's writings provide the first-known source for many stories considered as Biblical history, despite not being found in the Bible or related material. These include [[Ishmael in Islam|Ishmael as the founder of the Arabs]],<ref>{{harvnb|Millar|2011|loc=Chapter 14: "Hagar, Ishmael, Josephus, and the origins of Islam"}}: "Josephus is thus alluding to a proposition, not yet established in his narrative, that Ishmael was the founder (''ktistēs'') of the race (''ethnos'') of the 'Arabes' and offers this as his explanation of a custom currently observed by them."</ref> the connection of [[Biblical terminology for race|"Semites", "Hamites" and "Japhetites" to the classical nations of the world]], and the story of the [[siege of Masada]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gilad |first=Elon |date=17 June 2019 |title=The Myth of Masada: How Reliable Was Josephus, Anyway? |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2019-06-17/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-myth-of-masada-how-reliable-was-josephus-anyway/0000017f-f6ce-d47e-a37f-fffeee360000 |url-access=registration |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Haaretz |language=en |quote=The only source we have for the story of Masada, and numerous other reported events from the time, is the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, author of the book 'The Jewish War'.}}</ref>