Ancient Israel

24 years, three empires, and one new faith in Palestine

Herod's rule accomplished a political and social revolution.

Rebuilding the Temple and the reign of Cyrus

Jewish law guided marriage, divorce, and child-rearing in the ancient world.

The Purim story is a guideline for living in the Diaspora.

Take a look inside the places that Abraham, King David, Queen Esther and other biblical characters are said to have been buried.

Jews and Christians read their own ideas about authority into this ancient legislative institution.

Since the destruction of the Temples, Jews have struggled with the enduring meaning and legacy of the sacrificial rites.

The leader of all priests in the ancient Temple had special rights and privileges.

As far back as the biblical period, art has been created and valued in Jewish communities.

Jewish History from the beginning through the Babylonian exile.

The accumulation of disasters in the Middle Ages--expulsions, crusades, and the Black Death, to name a few--inspired a steady stream of Jewish immigration to the Holy Land.