RodISHI
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Certain era's of history have been well documented through archaeology finds & coins for anyone skeptics out there. This one is a nice site for articles and info on biblical finds.Brought to you by Herod the Great s Coins Jewish Virtual Library An American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
During the rule of John Hyrcanus II (63-40 BCE), an Idumaean convert to Judaism - Antipater - was appointed by Julius Caesar as the de facto administrator of Judaea. Idumaeans were descendants of Esau, living in Edom, a country bordering Judaea in what is now southwest Jordan, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. Antipater chose his younger son, Herod, who was still only a boy, as governor of Galilee. When the last Hasmonean king, Antigonus Mattathias, was defeated and executed by order of Mark Anthony, Herod became the undisputed ruler of Judaea. When he was told that another “King of the Jews” was born, “Herod ... was exceedingly wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years and under” (Matthew 2:16).
Herod’s coins feature innovative designs which, while not truly Jewish in character, at least do not feature any human likeness. However, it is on one of Herod the Great’s small bronze coins that a living thing is depicted for the first time since the Persian period. The eagle probably refers to the insulting golden bird that Herod placed above the Temple entrance.
Herod sought favor among the Religious folks in his era as did many other rulers of the ancients. It is still common practice today for leaders to manipulate the crowds through religious rhetoric. Even so it olny happens if the crowds are asleep in the dust of the earth and willing to believe lies.
Another coin reference site that has some of the varied leaders of history.
The Coins of Jesus
The Coins of Herod A Modern Analysis and Die Classification Biblical Archaeology Society Article excerpt- Herod had many of his immediate family members murdered, including his wife the Hasmonean princess Mariamne (in 30/29 B.C.E.) and his two sons by Mariamne. When Augustus heard about these latter executions, he reportedly said, “It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.” .......................
Among Herod’s “greats” were his amazing building projects—the enlargement of the Temple Mount and rebuilding the Second Temple, his palace complex at Herodium and the magnificent port of Caesarea Maritima.
At times the contemporaneous historian Flavius Josephus praises Herod for his help to the local Jewish population, but Josephus also complains that Herod was sucking the blood of the Jewish people in order to curry favor among non-Jews.
In The Coins of Herod, Ariel and Fontanille provide the most thorough analysis of Herod’s coinage to date. It also includes a die study based on examination of 2,504 specimens
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