Haggai Olshanetsky, a historian and archaeologist focusing on the Hellenistic and Roman periods at the University of Warsaw, came back on the show to discuss a paper he authored in 2024 that re-examines Queen Zenobia’s relationship with Judaism and how she may have converted in order to support her political and military objectives. Zenobia ruled in Palmyra which is in modern day Syria during the 3rd century and she’s one of the most famous female leaders in history.

You can read Haggai's paper here.

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Haggai Olshanetsky, a historian and archaeologist focusing on the Hellenistic and Roman periods at the University of Warsaw. He came on the show to discuss his research arguing that the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome, otherwise known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt, may have had more than one leader, specifically Jewish veterans of the Roman army, and it was only later that Bar Kokhba assumed leadership of the revolt.

Here is a link to Haggai's article as well as links to previous episodes on the Bar Kokhba Revolt and the Diaspora Revolt.

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Baruch Halpern discusses his book David’s Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King. The book examines the textual and archaeological evidence of David to help paint a better picture of his life, reign, and impact. This second episode covers the Absalom Revolt and Solomon’s rise to power. The first episode covers David's origins and his role in overthrowing the House of Saul. There’s a link above to purchase the book.

Baruch Halpern is the Covenant Foundation Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies and a Professor of Religion and Linguistics at the Center for Archaeological Science at the University of Georgia. He's also a Emeritus Chaiken Family Chair in Jewish Studies, Ancient History, Classics & Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies Fellow at the Institute for the Arts and the Humanities at Penn State.

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