From Josephus to Josippon: The Revision of Second Temple Period History in a Tenth-Century Jewish Chronicle

Sefer Josippon, an anonymous tenth-century historical account in Hebrew written for a Jewish audience based on the Latin version of Josephus` writings and other sources, marks the beginning of Jewish historiography in the Middle Ages. David Flusser dates the text to 953 CE and identifies its provenance to Italy. Similar to Byzantine chronicles, Josippon collects facts from various historical sources and unites them into one coherent historical account in order to present universal truths and ethical statements.

Josippon is extremely significant due to its overwhelming influence on Jewish society in general and on Jewish historians in particular. It embodies almost the only source for an organized Jewish chronological description of Jewish and non-Jewish history during the Second Temple period up until the nineteenth century. Moreover, it also represents the first attempt by a Jew to interpret, understand and use Josephus` writings.

I will use Josippon`s description of Queen Alexandra as a test case in order to examine how and why the author adds to and/or changes, Josephus’ description. Various factors which account for these revisions will be examined including the influence of Byzantine society, rabbinic literature as well as the author`s unique historical approach.