Hasmonean dynasty
dynasty of the Judean region (140–37 BCE)
Episodes
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#5824: Herod's Four Walls: Why Only One Became the KotelHerod built four retaining walls around the Temple Mount. Three survive today — but only one became Judaism's holiest prayer site. Here's why. -
#5809: What If Israel Had Never Fallen? A 2,000-Year Thought ExperimentHannah's question: what would Israel look like if it had stayed under Jewish rule for 2,000 years — and was antisemitism structural or circumstantial? -
#5501: Pharisees vs Sadducees: What We Actually KnowTwo groups everyone has heard of, documented almost entirely by outsiders. What the sources really say about the Pharisees and Sadducees. -
#5494: How Ancient Jerusalem Outgrew Its Own WallsJerusalem's Old City walls are Ottoman, not ancient — and the original city sits outside them. Tracing 4,000 years of expansion and contraction. -
#5803: Who Built Jerusalem's Old City Walls?The stone ring around Jerusalem's Old City is younger than you think — and the legend about its architects is wrong. -
#5630: Josephus: The Priest Who Wrote From Rome's SidePriest, general, defector, Roman pensioner — how one first-century author became the lens through which we see ancient Judaism.