Jewish Antiquities is Josephus' history of the Jews from the creation of the world to the eve of the war with Rome, written in Greek in twenty books. In the last book Josephus dates its completion to the thirteenth year of Domitian, 93 or 94 CE.
Books I to XI retell the Hebrew scriptures: Genesis and the Exodus, Moses' laws and constitution, Joshua and the judges, Saul and David, the two kingdoms, the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and the return from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah, with the story of Esther. Books XII and XIII follow the Jews under the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, the revolt of Mattathias and Judas, and the Hasmonaean rulers to Queen Alexandra. Books XIV to XVII are given largely to Herod, from the rise of his father Antipater in Pompey's time to the division of his kingdom by Augustus. Books XVIII to XX run from Quirinius' census through the reigns of Gaius and Claudius and of King Agrippa to the Roman procurators, ending with Florus. Josephus quotes Roman decrees guaranteeing Jewish rights in Books XIV and XVI, and in Book XVIII describes the Jewish schools of thought: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and the fourth philosophy.
The work survives complete in Greek. Book XVIII contains a passage on Jesus whose transmitted wording is disputed.
Josephus the Historian Jewish Antiquities: summary and contents (PDF)
Josephus the Historian Jewish Antiquities: summary and contents (Markdown)
Contents
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Αʹ Book I
Josephus begins with a preface on the whole undertaking and on why Moses opened his laws with an account of creation, then retells Genesis from the making of the world to the death of Isaac. The book takes in Adam's line, the flood and Noah's ark, the tower of Babel, the spread of the nations, and Abraham's wanderings, including his night attack on the Assyrians to rescue Lot and his meeting with Melchizedek.
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Βʹ Book II
Esau and Jacob divide their inheritance, Esau taking Idumaea, and the story turns to Joseph: sold by his brothers, raised to power in Egypt, and reunited with them, with a full roll of Jacob's descendants who went down into Egypt. The oppression of the Hebrews and Moses' birth follow, then the Exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea, which Josephus sets beside the Pamphylian sea's retreat before Alexander.
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Γʹ Book III
From Egypt the Hebrews march to Mount Sinai, defeat the Amalekites, and take Jethro's advice to organise the people under officers of thousands and hundreds. Moses receives the laws, and Josephus describes at length the tabernacle, the vestments of the priests and the high priest, purifications and the festivals. Spies return from Canaan with a report that sets the people against Moses, and they are condemned to forty years in the wilderness.
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Δʹ Book IV
Against Moses' advice the Hebrews attack the Canaanites and are beaten, and Korah leads a revolt over the priesthood. Thirty-eight years in the wilderness bring victories over Sihon and Og and the war on the Midianites under Phinehas, in which their five kings fall. Josephus then sets out Moses' constitution, the code of laws the lawgiver left the people, and ends with his last days, his disappearance and the thirty days of mourning.
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Εʹ Book V
Joshua conquers Canaan and divides it among the tribes, and after his death the Israelites fall away from their laws and a civil war leaves only six hundred men of Benjamin. The age of the judges follows, from Barak and Deborah to Gideon and Samson's exploits against the Philistines. The book closes on Eli: his sons killed in battle, the ark taken, and the line of priests from which he came.
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Ϛʹ Book VI
The Philistines, struck by plague, send back the captured ark, and Samuel leads Israel to victory until the people, weary of his sons, demand a king. Saul is chosen and wins against the Ammonites and Amalekites, but his disobedience leads Samuel to anoint David in secret. David kills Goliath with a stone from his sling, flees Saul's jealousy and twice spares him, and the book ends with Saul's death and burial at Jabesh.
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Ζʹ Book VII
David's forty-year reign, from his kingship over Judah at Hebron while Saul's son held the other tribes, to his death. He takes Jerusalem from the Canaanites, makes friends with Hiram of Tyre, and wars on Philistines, Damascenes and Mesopotamians. Absalom's revolt drives him beyond the Jordan before he returns and names Solomon king, and the book ends with the wealth buried in David's tomb, later opened by Hyrcanus and by Herod.
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Ηʹ Book VIII
Solomon's reign comes first: his removal of his enemies, his wisdom and wealth, and the building of the temple in Jerusalem. After his death ten tribes break from Rehoboam and make Jeroboam king, and the history follows both kingdoms through the Egyptian king's sack of Jerusalem, the dynasties of Baasha and Omri, and Asa's war with the Ethiopians. Ahab, deceived by prophets who pleased him and deaf to Micaiah, dies at Ramoth.
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Θʹ Book IX
The kings of Israel and Judah after Ahab: Joram's campaign against Moab, Samaria's escape from the Syrian siege, and Jehu's coup, in which he kills Joram and Ahaziah and slaughters the prophets of Baal. Athaliah seizes Jerusalem until the high priest Jehoiada makes Joash king, and Hazael of Damascus ravages Israel. The book ends with the fall of Samaria and the settlers the Assyrians brought in, the Cuthaeans, whom the Greeks call Samaritans.
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Ιʹ Book X
Sennacherib besieges Hezekiah in Jerusalem until plague destroys the Assyrian army in a single night. Manasseh is taken captive to Babylon and restored, Josiah falls fighting Necho, and Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem and blinds Zedekiah, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel had foretold, ending the line of David's kings. The story of Daniel follows, and Josephus closes by arguing from Daniel's prophecies against those who deny that God cares for human affairs.
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ΙΑʹ Book XI
Return from Babylon and the Persian period: Cyrus frees the exiles and orders the temple rebuilt, Cambyses halts the work, and Darius sees it finished. Under Xerxes, Ezra brings back the law and Nehemiah rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem against the hostility of the neighbouring peoples, and under Artaxerxes the whole nation is endangered and saved through Esther. The book ends with Alexander's dealings with the Jews and with the Samaritans of Shechem and their temple on Gerizim.
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ΙΒʹ Book XII
Ptolemy son of Lagus takes Jerusalem by a ruse, and his son Philadelphus has the Jewish law translated into Greek. At the Egyptian court Joseph son of Tobias wins the tax-farming of Syria, and his son Hyrcanus outdoes the courtiers with a gift of a hundred boys and a hundred girls. The second half tells of Antiochus Epiphanes' sack of the temple, the revolt of Mattathias, and the campaigns of Judas, ending with his death in battle and burial at Modein.
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ΙΓʹ Book XIII
After Judas's death his brother Jonathan leads the Jews, playing the rival Syrian kings Alexander Balas, Demetrius and Tryphon against one another until Tryphon kills him, and in his time Onias builds a temple in Egypt. Simon builds the family's monument at Modein with its seven pyramids and frees the people from tribute. The rule of John Hyrcanus and the reigns of Aristobulus and Alexander Jannaeus follow, and the book ends with Queen Alexandra's reign and Josephus' verdict on it.
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ΙΔʹ Book XIV
The quarrel of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, sons of Alexandra, brings Antipater, the Nabataean king Aretas and finally Pompey into Judaean affairs, and Pompey takes Jerusalem. Josephus inserts a long series of Roman decrees and letters guaranteeing Jewish rights in Asia and elsewhere. Antipater's son Herod rises under Caesar and Antony, is named king in Rome, and takes Jerusalem, and the book ends with the execution of Antigonus and the end of the Hasmonaean house.
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ΙΕʹ Book XV
Herod's rule from the capture of Jerusalem to the rebuilding of the temple. He disposes of the young high priest Aristobulus and the aged Hyrcanus, survives Cleopatra's designs and Antony's defeat at Actium, and is confirmed by Octavian, who enlarges his kingdom. Slander drives him to put his wife Mariamme to death; he relieves a famine, founds Greek cities, and pulls down the old temple to raise a new one twice its size.
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ΙϚʹ Book XVI
Mariamme's sons Alexander and Aristobulus return from Rome to a court poisoned by the slanders of Herod's sister Salome and brother Pheroras. Herod travels with Agrippa, before whom the Jews of Ionia plead for their customs, and decrees of Augustus and Agrippa protecting Jewish communities are quoted. Archelaus of Cappadocia reconciles father and son for a time, but the book ends with Herod's execution of both young men and Josephus' judgement on his cruelty.
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ΙΖʹ Book XVII
Antipater, Herod's eldest son, plots to poison his father with the help of Pheroras until the plot is exposed and he is put to death. Herod's last illness at Jericho, his order to shut the leading men of the nation in the hippodrome to be killed at his death, and his funeral follow. Disorders break out under Archelaus, Augustus divides the kingdom, and Archelaus is finally deposed and Quirinius sent to assess Syria.
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ΙΗʹ Book XVIII
Quirinius' census provokes Judas the Galilaean, and Josephus pauses to describe the Jewish schools of thought: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and the fourth philosophy. Pilate's governorship, Herod Antipas' war with Aretas, and Agrippa's fortunes in Rome, where Tiberius has him chained and Gaius makes him king, fill the middle. The book ends with the Jews of Babylonia and their flight to Neerda and Nisibis.
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ΙΘʹ Book XIX
The murder of the emperor Gaius by Cassius Chaerea is told at length, with the senate's debate on restoring liberty and the soldiers' proclamation of Claudius, helped by King Agrippa's mediation. Claudius gives Agrippa his grandfather's whole kingdom and issues edicts for the Jews of Alexandria and the empire. Agrippa begins new walls for Jerusalem, dies suddenly at Caesarea, and Cuspius Fadus is sent to govern Judaea.
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Κʹ Book XX
Roman procurators govern Judaea from Fadus to Florus, amid disputes over the high priest's robes, clashes between Jews and Samaritans, and the conversion of Queen Helena of Adiabene and her son Izates. The younger Agrippa receives Chalcis and later more territory, and the high priests change hands repeatedly. Josephus closes the twenty books by dating their completion to the thirteenth year of Domitian and announcing his autobiography.