Ananus ben Ananus (Hebrew: ''Hanan ben Hanan''; Greek: ''Ananos son of Ananos''; or ; d. 68 CE) was a Herodian-era

High Priest of Israel In Judaism, the High Priest of Israel (, lit. ‘great priest’; Aramaic: ''Kahana Rabba'') was the head of the Israelite priesthood. He played a unique role in the worship conducted in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem, ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Judea Province. He was the High Priest who ordered the execution by

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...

of James, the brother of Jesus (James the Just), according to the ''

Antiquities of the Jews ''Antiquities of the Jews'' (; , ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which was 94 CE. It cont ...

'' of

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

. A delegation sent by citizens upset over the perceived breach of justice met Lucceius Albinus before he reached Judea, and Albinus responded with a letter informing Ananus that it was illegal to convene the Sanhedrin without Albinus' permission and threatening to punish the priest. Ananus was therefore deposed by King

Herod Agrippa II Herod Agrippa II ( Roman name: Marcus Julius Agrippa, ; AD 27/28 – or 100), sometimes shortened to Agrippa II or Agrippa, was the last ruler from the Herodian dynasty, reigning over territories outside of Judea as a Roman client. Agrippa ...

before Albinus's arrival and replaced with Jesus ben Damneus.

, ''

'', Book 20, Chapter 9, Section 1 Ananus was one of the main leaders of the Great Revolt of Judea, which erupted in 66 CE. He was appointed as one of the heads of the Judean provisional government together with Joseph ben Gurion in late 66. In 68, Ananus was killed during the inter-rebel civil war in Jerusalem. Josephus in ''

The Jewish War ''The Jewish War'' is a work of Jewish history written by Josephus, a first-century Roman-Jewish historian. It has been described by the biblical historian Steve Mason as "perhaps the most influential non-biblical text of Western history". ...

'' considered Ananus "unique in his love for liberty and an enthusiast for democracy" and as an "effective speaker, whose words carried weight with the people", though in the ''Antiquities of the Jews'' he was more critical of his behaviour, calling him "a bold man in his temper, and very insolent".

Great Priest

Josephus's account of the death of James as follows: The current scholarly consensus is that this text is authentic. Richard Bauckham states that although a few scholars have questioned this passage, "the vast majority have considered it to be authentic" . Moreover, in comparison with Hegesippus's account of James's death in his ''Hypomnemata'', scholars consider Josephus's to be the more historically reliable.

Head of Judean provisional government

After Ananus was deposed as high priest, he continued to exercise leadership. "Under the guidance of former high priest Ananus ben Ananus, they (the

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

) exhorted the populace for support against the radical priestly Zealots, as these 'persuaded those who officiated in the Temple sacrifices to accept no gift or services from a foreigner' ( BJ II, 409-414)." Later, he marshaled recruits to fight the

Zealot The Zealots were members of a Jewish political movement during the Second Temple period who sought to incite the people of Judaea to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Land of Israel by force of arms, most notably during the ...

s, resulting in the Zealot Temple Siege. While commanding the Jews during the siege, Ananus was killed by the

Idumeans Edom (; Edomite: ; , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomites appear in several written sources relating to the ...

or Edomites.Josephus,

The Wars of the Jews ''The Jewish War'' is a work of Jewish history written by Josephus, a first-century Roman people, Roman-Jews, Jewish historian. It has been described by the biblical historian Steve Mason (biblical scholar), Steve Mason as "perhaps the most in ...

. Book 4, Chapter 5

References

Sources

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External links

* Has a brief mention of Ananus ben Ananus at the end. {{First Jewish–Roman War, state=expanded 1st-century high priests of Israel 68 deaths Year of birth unknown Leaders ousted by a coup People from Roman Judea