History of the Jews

The 7th century BC is the twilight of the kingdom of Judah. After Hezekiah's failed revolt in 701 BC, Judah has been reduced to an Assyrian vassal state. How much does that change Judean lives? In this episode, we explore how Judah adapted post-701 and how Assyria shaped the Judean relationship with their Philistine and Edomite neighbors. Meanwhile, Judean culture survives this new world and we fi...

Judah navigates its destiny in the trying times of the late 8th century BC. The kingdom of Israel has been destroyed and divided. Tens of thousands of refugees flood into Judah. And Judeans ask themselves the hard question, what do they do about Assyria? Do they rebel and suffer the consequences? Or do they pay the price of quiet and submission? In this episode, we discuss Judah's choice, the fall...

In the late 8th century, a new king takes the throne in Assyria and tensions rise across the Near East. They must choose total submission and pay tribute to Assyria. Or, they can try their luck against the might of the Assyrian empire. Twice, the kingdom of Israel rebels and loses it all. The repercussions change life in Israel and Judah forever. This episode continues our narrative history, explo...

What was life like for an Israelite nearly three thousand years ago? Did it make a difference if they lived in the kingdom of Israel or Judah? And who did they worship? In this episode, we immerse ourselves in Israelite culture and try to answer these questions. We follow the archeology as Israel and Judah develop their own unique cultural nuances. We visit Israelite capitals and walk around the c...

What do we know about the kingdom of Israel? When does it first appear in the historical record? And what is its place among the nations of the Eastern Mediterranean? In this episode, we explore the world of the Israelites in the 9th century and anxiously follow the resurgence of its greatest adversaries - Egypt and Assyria. The kingdom of Israel plays a leading part in the Anti-Assyrian coalition...

After the Bronze Age Collapse, Canaan lay in ruins. The invading Sea Peoples emerge as a dominant power, asserting control over the coast of Canaan. But tucked away in the highlands, the Israelites slowly recover and adapt to a dangerous new world. During the late 11th and 10th centuries, this new reality forces them out of their defenseless villages and back into fortified cities. They reinforce...

How did the Israelites remember their past? And how does that memory compare to the history uncovered by archaeology? The previous episode (The Israelite Origin Story: The History), told the Israelites origin story from the perspective of archeology. In this episode, we explore the Bible not as history, but as Israelite memory. From Abraham and the Patriarchs to Egypt, the Exodus and the conquest...

Who were the Israelites? Where did they come from? This episode tells the origin story of the Israelites based on archeology - condensing centuries of history into a coherent prequel and first chapter of Jewish history. Competition between Canaan and Egypt creates the conditions for a resurgent New Kingdom Egypt that will dominate the Canaanites for centuries. The Bronze Age Collapse changes the w...

Who were the early Israelites—and where did they come from? In this episode, the Bronze Age Collapse tears apart the eastern Mediterranean, and the Egyptian Empire loses its hold on Canaan. We trace what that collapse looked like on the ground—and the opportunities it created for the people living through it. Overlooking the ashes of the Canaanite cities, new communities take shape in the highland...

The Israelites enter recorded history around 1208 BC—right as the world of the Eastern Mediterranean unravels in what we call the Bronze Age Collapse . In this episode, we explore that collapse—the final piece of the puzzle before we can begin telling the story of the ancient Israelites. We trace its impact across the region, from the great powers of Greece and Anatolia to the empire of Egypt. Alo...

Did you know that Egypt ruled Canaan before the Israelites? After the Egyptians ravage the Hyksos, they integrate Canaan into their empire and rule there. This episode follows the story of Lab'ayu, a corrupt Canaanite king, to show the chaos and corruption that pervaded Canaan under the Egyptians. We also examine the Habiru, a mysterious group of outsiders often linked to the Hebrews, and their ro...

Who were the Hyksos—the “foreign kings” who once ruled Egypt—and why did they leave such a deep scar on Egyptian memory? And could they be connected to the origins of the Israelites? In this episode, we trace the long and bitter relationship between Egypt and its northern neighbors. As migrants from Canaan move into Egypt, they rise from traders and migrants to rulers of the Nile Delta, establishi...

We begin our journey through Jewish history with the first explicit mention of Israel in the historical record: the Merneptah Stele. But on its own, it raises more questions than it answers—why are the Egyptians attacking Israel, and who are these Israelites in the first place? We turn to ancient accounts—from the Bible and Greek writers—but they don’t fully explain what we see. So instead, we ste...

This episode introduces History of the Jews . Through the story of Dmitrii Bogrov, a revolutionary assassin, we explore how Jewish history is often misunderstood—reduced to familiar themes like religion or antisemitism. This podcast takes a different approach: telling a full history, grounded in archaeology and contemporary sources, and focused on context rather than clichés. Check out Substack to...