The “Lost Years”…Some Thoughts from Josephus

Warning…this may seem a bit “out there but I have always wondered what Josephus personally thought of Mariamne III…he could have personally known her if she stayed in Judea after Jesus died. Josephus was born in 37 A.D. Certainly his mother, a daughter of the same House of Hasmoneans blood. But while Josephus proudly named his father and his brother and claimed his mother’s bloodline, he would not even name her. 

Mariamne III was in the Jewish court records as an “orphan virgin” with a trial at court over her abuse and betrothed to Antipater son of Herod…first heir to the kingdom… But then she disappeared from the court records Josephus was using, and, as far as we know, never mentioned her by name again. He defended Queen Mariamne I against the charge of un-chastity…adultery…for which Herod had her strangled to death. Mariamne III would not have been in court records because there wasn’t a king and his court in Jerusalem anymore–Hold that thought.

Because there is another thread to pull: while first researching Josephus’ work and coming up with my theory, I had run across a section of stories that still nagged at me…I didn’t put them in sequence in my blog because they seemed almost a side issue. (There are always side issues.) But I now had time to look at them more closely…this is what I came up with and, of course, it has to do with Mary/Mariamne III…see what you think…

The Lost Years–4 BC-26 AD

When I first began reading on the historical Jesus, there was a small genre of books being published about “The Lost Years.” The lost years are the years of Jesus’ life not covered in the New Testament…basically from birth (ca 4 B.C), until Jesus appeared as a grown man on a mission when he was “about 30 years of age”…in ca 26 A.D.

What nagged at me about that section of Josephus’ work, I now realized, was that it also spanned virtually the same lost years…beginning with what he called “The Banishment of Archelaus.” (4 B.C.-6 A.D.) His exile left Judea in a royal vacuum, but he did have a few records from that time. In 6 A.D. a Roman procurator was sent in leading to the first all Roman census and direct taxation by Rome. There was no longer even nominally Jewish king to soften the blow. (1)

So…Josephus threw together a lot of seemingly random stories; some about King/Tetrarch Herod Antipas in Galilee and how he built his own capitol city Tiberias, among others…and then he said, “About this time…” and launches into a series of stories about the coming of Pilate as procurator, which is generally agreed to be 26 A.D. (Coincidence?) and then he “posted” his contested paragraph on Jesus; the “Testimonium Flavianum.”

I went into the paragraphs on Pilate in the main blog posts…so will just give the first line and the last line here to give context…because after those two stories…rather out of the blue, Josephus next tells two stories about women. While researching them, I discovered I was not alone in finding them odd…or in connecting them to Mary. ADD from PDF First, here are the passages in the order that Josephus wrote them in:

First Paragraph

Antiquities of the Jews Book XVIII.Chapter III. Paragraph 1

But now Pilate, the procurator of Judea, removed the army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter-quarters there, in order to abolish the Jewish laws… But they (the Jewish protestors) threw themselves upon the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said they would take their deaths very willingly, rather than the wisdom of their laws should be transgressed; upon which Pilate was deeply affected with their firm resolution to keep their laws inviolable, and presently commanded the images to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cesarea.

Second Paragraph on Pilate

But Pilate undertook to bring a current of water to Jerusalem, and did it with the sacred money, and derived the origin of the stream from the distance of two hundred furlongs. However, the Jews were not pleased with what had been done about this water; and many ten thousands of the people got together, and made a clamour against him, and insisted that he should leave off that design…and since the people were unarmed, and were caught by men prepared for what they were about, there were a great number of them slain by this means, and others of them ran away wounded; and thus an end was put to this sedition.(2)

Then on to the very famous third paragraph…

Antiquities of the Jews XVIII.III.3

Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise ma, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, –a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles, He was [the]Christ: and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and then thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named after him, are not extinct at this day.

Scholars notice that this entry on Jesus is totally out of character for Josephus…meaning that the story was inserted whole or the original modified because it is not consistent with his character and work. While it mentions Jesus’ crucifixion it is told in an upbeat way, not the “sad calamity” expected from the first sentence of the next story…

But now, right after that passage on Jesus which has been altered somehow…comes the first story of a woman. I’ll copy it in full, so you get the flavor.

Fourth Paragraph

Antiquities XVIII.III.4

About the same time also another sad calamity put the Jews into disorder; and certain shameful practices happened about the temple of Isis that was at Rome. I will now first take notice of the wicked attempt about the temple of Isis and will then give an account of the Jewish affairs. There was at Rome a woman whose name was Paulina; one who, on account of the dignity of her ancestors, and by the regular conduct of a virtuous life, had a great reputation: she was also very rich; and although she was of a beautiful countenance, and in that flower of her age wherein women are the most gay, yet did she lead a life of great modesty. She was married to Saturninus, one that was every way answerable to her in an excellent character. Decius Mundus fell in love with this woman, who was a man very high in the equestrian order; and as she was of too great dignity to be caught by presents, and had already rejected them, though they had been sent in great abundance, he was still more inflamed with love to her, insomuch that he promised to give her two hundred thousand Attic drachmae for one night’s lodging; and when this would not prevail upon her, and he was not able to bear this misfortune in his amours, he thought it the best way to famish himself to death for want of food, on account of Paulina’s sad refusal; and he determined with himself to die after such a manner, and he went on with his purpose accordingly. Now, Mundus had a freed woman (perhaps a Jew) who had been made free by his father, whose name was Ide, one skillful in all sorts of mischief. This woman was very much grieved at the young man’s resolution to kill himself (for he did not conceal his intentions to destroy himself from others) and came to him, and encouraged him by her discourse, and made him hope, by some promises she gave him, that he might obtain a night’s lodging with Paulina; and when he joyfully hearkened to her entreaty, she said she wanted no more than fifty thousand drachmae for the entrapping of the woman. So when she had encouraged the young man, and gotten as much money as she required, she did not take the same methods as had been taken before, because she perceived that the woman was by no means to be tempted by money; but, as she knew that she was very much given to the worship of the goddess Isis, she devised the following stratagem:–She went to some of Isis’s priests, and upon the strongest assurances [of concealment,] she persuaded them by words, but chiefly by the offer of money, of twenty-five thousand drachmae in hand, and as much more when the thing had taken effect; and told them the passion of the young man, and persuaded them to use all means possible to beguile the woman. So, they were drawn in to promise so to do, by that large sum of gold they were to have. Accordingly, the oldest of them went immediately to Paulina; and upon his admittance, he desired to speak with her by herself. When that was granted him, he told her that he was sent by the god Anubis, who was fallen in love with her, and enjoined her to come to him. Upon this she took the message very kindly, and valued herself greatly upon this condescension of Anubis; and told her husband that she had a message sent her, and was to sup and lie with Anubis; so he agreed to her acceptance of the offer, as fully satisfied with the chastity of his wife. Accordingly, she went to the temple; and after she had supped there, and it was the hour to go to sleep, the priest shut the doors of the temple; when, in the holy part of it, the lights were also put out. Then did Mundus leap out (for he was hidden therein) and did not fail of enjoying her, who was at his service all the night long, as supposing he was the god; and when he was gone away, which was before those priests who knew nothing of this stratagem were stirring, Paulina came early to her husband, and told him how the god Anubis had appeared to her. Among her friends also she declared how great a value she put upon this favour, who partly disbelieved the thing, when they reflected on its nature, and partly were amazed at it, as having no pretense for not believing it, when they considered the modesty and the dignity of the person…(B)ut now, on the third day after what had been done, Mundus met Paulina, and said,–“Nay, Paulina, thou hast saved me two hundred thousand drachmas, which sum though mightiest have added to thy family; yet hast thou not failed to be at my service in the manner I invited thee. As for the reproaches thou has laid upon Mundus, I value not the business of names; but I rejoice in the pleasure I reaped by what I did, while I took to myself the name of Anubis.” When he had said this, he went his way; but now she began to come to the sense of the grossness of what she had done, and rent her garments, and told her husband of the horrid nature of this wicked contrivance and prayed him not to neglect to assist her in this case. So, he discovered the fact to the emperor; whereupon Tiberius inquired into the matter thoroughly, by examining the priests about it, and ordered them to be crucified, as well as Ide, who was the occasion of their perdition, and who had contrived the whole matter, which was so injurious to the woman. He also demolished the temple of Isis and gave order that her statue should be thrown into the river Tiber; while he only banished Mundus, but did no more to him, because he supposed that what crime he had committed, was done out of the passion of love; and these were the circumstances which concerned the temple of Isis, and the injuries occasioned by her priests.

Kind of a shock, right? So…A good devout “pure” woman is tricked into thinking she was sleeping with a god…. or visited by a god…or a supernatural being speaking for God. If she had not found out that the god was a man and she had gotten pregnant, she would have thought that the god was the father. Josephus said that this story “put the Jews in disorder” leading many to think that Ide was a Jewish woman who was crucified (!)…or even that Paulina was a Jewess married to a Roman.

The Fifth Paragraph is definitely about Jews…but not in a good way…

There was a man who was a Jew but had been driven away from his own country by an accusation laid against him for transgressing their laws, and by the fear he was under of punishment for the same; but in all respects a wicked man: –he then living in Rome, professed to instruct men in the wisdom of the laws of Moses. He procured also three other men, entirely of the same character with himself, to be his partners. These men persuaded Fulvia, a woman of great dignity, and one that had embraced the Jewish religion, to send purple and gold to the temple at Jerusalem; and, when they had gotten them, they employed them for their own uses, and spent the money themselves; on which account it was that they at first required it of her. Whereupon Tiberius, who had been informed of the thing by Saturninus, the husband of Fulvia, who desired inquiry might be made about it, ordered all the Jews to be banished out of Rome; at which time the consuls enlisted four thousand men out of them and sent them to the island Sardinia; but punished a greater number of them, who were unwilling to become soldiers on account of keeping the laws of their forefathers. Thus were these Jews banished out of the city by the wickedness of four men.

What do we do with the women?

There are sites out there quoting books and airing scholarship indicating that both stories on the women, Paulina and Fulvia, have too much in common: both women have husbands named Saturninus and both husbands appeal to Tiberius to right the wrongs. Both women are gullible, taken advantage of by unscrupulous persons and contrary to popular culture, both women were believed by their husbands that they were not adulteress, as the first thought about a woman in trouble is always that she was unfaithful. Even Paulina’s obvious “unfaithfulness” was not considered as such. (3)

However, from my limited research and admittedly only looking at the surface of things but through the lens of my theory that Princess Mariamne III was Jesus’ mother…I am not the only one to think Josephus was giving us a message about Mary/Mariamne III with the stories. Take this excerpt from a paper posted on Academia.org.

Josephus, Paulina and Fulvia:

Hidden Agenda in Josephus, Antiquities 18.65-84

(The definitive text is: Amity, Ory 2014…Antiquities 18.65-84, Ancient World 45: 101-121)

An ingenious solution to this questions has been suggested as early as 1927 by Pharr, in a study of “The Testimony of Josephus to Christianity”.21 On the basis of Josephus’ peculiar chronology Pharr concluded that Josephus extracted the twin episodes from their proper place in order to link them, and in particular the chronique scandaleuse of Paulina, with “the passage about Christ, immediately preceding”, that is 18.63-64, the famous Testimonium Flavianum (TF).22 According to Pharr’s reconstruction book 18 did in fact contain a section about Jesus, but the original had been replaced by a Christian hand in the late 3rd or early 4th century (between Origen and Eusebius). The reason for this replacement, argued Pharr, was that in his original text Josephus displayed a highly hostile attitude towards Jesus’ Ministry in Judea, and in addition mocked the Conception story and Jesus’ status as the Son of God. On this reading Mary, who found herself inexplicably impregnated by God, is juxtaposed with Paulina, who was ridiculously deluded into thinking that she was having sexual relations with Anubis. Together with Fulvia they form “The Three Gullible Women”. (Clyde Pharr, “The Testimony of Josephus to Christianity,” AJP (1927) 144-45) (4)

It has long been common wisdom that the whole virgin birth/queen of heaven/mother of God stories were late additions…and yes, they may not have been accepted by the Catholic church as doctrine until later…but…in order for Josephus to feel the need to include these gullible women stories in ca 90 A.D., directly after his story of Jesus, one can’t help but feel that the claim of a virgin birth (fathered by God), had to have still been causing trouble even after the war with Rome in 65-70 A.D. “to this very day.” It might also suggest how Josephus’ story of Jesus might have been altered by Christian apologists later.

Writing in the 50s, Paul does not mention Jesus’ mother except to subtly dispute the virgin birth story by saying that Jesus “was made/born of a woman, made under the law;” (Galatians 4:4) in the natural way. Mark, the earliest written gospel perhaps written about the same time as Josephus or even earlier, does not give a birth story but says “Is not this…the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” (6:3) Mark is giving the primacy of Mary over Joseph…he is not mentioned as the father…but Mark is also rather aggressively sharing his opinion about a virgin birth…for those with eyes to see. The mother of Jesus had many other children…in the natural way/under the law…echoing Paul. Regardless, by the time that Matthew and Luke and Josephus are writing, it is a thing. Matthew and Luke defend the story and embellish it, each in their own way…and Josephus disparaged it with the inclusion of the Paulina and Fulvia stories. I can’t help but feel that Josephus wrote something about Mariamne III…maybe not on the virgin birth story but on her influence on her son…or blaming her for his death…as the gospels blame Herodias for the death of John the Baptist–Mariamne III’s sister.

I say this because there is one more story to look at.

One More Story…and another Controversial Queen Mother

So far, we have two very pure, but gullible Roman women duped by unscrupulous priests/women/Jews. But there is another story about a woman in the same book but the chapter before the one we have been looking at about Pilate, Jesus and gullible women. This story is about a mother and a son…and as subconscious, unconscious, or deliberate passive-aggressive judgment on Mariamne III, it is not nearly so flattering to the woman and her son…and perhaps really set the tone for Josephus’ original “Testimony.”

Antiquities of the Jews XVIII.II.4

About this time died Phraates, King of the Parthians, [2 BC] by the treachery of Phraataces his son: upon the occasion following. When Phraates had had legitimate sons of his own, he had also an Italian maid servant, whose name was Thermusa; who had been formerly sent to him by Julius Caesar, among other presents. He first made her his concubine: but he being a great admirer of her beauty, in process of time having a son by her, whose name was Phraataces, he made her his legitimate wife, and had a great respect for her. Now, she was able to persuade him to do anything that she said; and was earnest in procuring the government of Parthia for her son. But still she saw that her endeavours would not succeed, unless she could contrive how to remove Phraates’s legitimate sons [out of the Kingdom.] So, she persuaded him to send those his sons, as pledges of his fidelity to Rome. And they were sent to Rome accordingly: because it was not easy for him to contradict her commands. Now while Phraataces was alone brought up in order to succeed in the government, he thought it very tedious to expect that government by his father’s donation [as his successor.] He therefore formed a treacherous design against his father, by his mother’s assistance: with whom, as the report went, he had criminal conversation also. So, he was hated for both these vices: while his subjects esteemed this [wicked] love of his mother, to be no way inferior to his parricide: and he was by them in a sedition expelled out of the country, before he grew too great, and died. [About A.D. 4.]

As usual, I am not the only one to connect this story to the gospel story. Here is a portion of one attempt from the website Early Church History…

KING HEROD & KING PHRAATES

The King of Persia (Iran), the Parthian Phraates IV (reigned 37-2 BC), was the ruler who sent the Magi to pay homage to Jesus. The Parthians were deadly enemies of the Romans and the two empires vied for control of lands from 66 BC until 217 AD. Herod the Great was, of course, a friend of Rome, but a foe of the “newborn King of the Jews” Jesus from His birth until Herod’s death. With so many family enemies at home, Phraates was, like Herod in Jerusalem, paranoid with reason. Phraates must have been relieved when the Magi returned with the news that the new king came from humble origins. He need not have worried about the infant Jesus. Phraates was murdered in 2 BC by his son Phraataces, whose mother Thermusa crowned him Phraates V. https://earlychurchhistory.org/politics/king-herod-king-phraates/

I have put forward that Mariamne III crowned and anointed her son as king in Bethany before they went up to Jerusalem to present his claim as “King of the Jews,” in part because of a passage in the Song of Solomon. Here the author on Early Church History just says that Thermusa…even though she has no royal blood herself…but as the queen, crowned her son as king…as a Jewish queen mother also could do.

Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.  Song of Solomon 3:11

Criminal Conversation

Josephus also tells the story of Agrippa Jr. and his sister Bernice, the last king and queen of Palestine/Israel, and how they were accused of having “criminal conversation” as a brother and sister king and queen. (5)

By inserting this story into his Antiquities of the Jews, that happened about the same time frame that Jesus was born, Josephus may have been hinting that later Mariamne III and Jesus had an unusual, even “criminal” relationship. He dropped her by name from his records. It is pretty clear from the gospels’ authors that Mary upset the disciples to no end. They had Jesus nearly disown her…who is my mother?

The Gnostic Gospels, also, have much to say about Mary but call her Mary Magdalene (my theory). See my chapter on Mary being Mary Magdalene…of the tower/magdal of Mariamne I the great queen…Here are the passages from the Gospel of Philip that speak of Jesus and Mary Magdalene that seem to hint that they were married…read it in the context of the Themusa story that Josephus shared…

The Gnostic Gospel of Philip on Mary

All who are begotten in the world are begotten in a natural way, and the others are nourished from the place whence they have been born. It is from being promised to the heavenly place that man receives nourishment. […] him from the mouth. And had the word gone out from that place, it would be nourished from the mouth, and it would become perfect. For it is by a kiss that the perfect conceive and give birth. For this reason, we also kiss one another. We receive conception from the grace which is in one another.

There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary.

And the companion of the […] Mary Magdalene. [… loved] her more than [all] the disciples [and used to] kiss her [often] on her […]. The rest of [the disciples…] They said to him, “Why do you love her more than all of us?” The Savior answered and said to them, “Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in the darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness. (6)

Deliberately opaque…and written years later…under a mystical philosophy…but…either it was a thing at the time, or it was an easy thing to accuse royal families of…I’m going with the latter one…

(1) If we use Luke’s birthday of 6 A.D. at the time of the census, then he would have been 20 in 26 A.D. and he would not have been “about 30 years old” until 36 A.D. Most scholars have settled on Mark and Matthews version of the birth in ca 4 B.C. …though that makes Jesus “about 30 years of age” in 26 A.D. not the usual 30 A.D. Confusing…one has to pick and choose. (I liked The Lost Years of Jesus Revealed by Rev. Dr. Charles Frances Potter written in 1962. His premise was that Jesus had grown up at Qumran using the first round of recently published Dead Sea Scrolls. No one knows and some of the later books on the Lost Years are of Jesus living in India which did not appeal to me…or fit my theory…)

(2) Just a side note here…perhaps this is where the Sicarii got their signature method of revolt…from Pilate’s soldiers…who hid daggers under their clothes and would mingle with the crowds. William Whiston, translator and editor of The Complete Works of Josephus…the edition I used…footnotes here that this may be the “very Galilean Jews whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices,” Luke xiii.i,2)

(3) The Jesus Passages in Josephus – a Case Study, part 2e – “Testimonium Flavianum”: Content and context; The Testimonium does not fit in context… https://rogerviklund.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/the-jesus-passages-in-josephus-%E2%80%93-a-case-study-part-2e-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Dtestimonium-flavianum%E2%80%9D-content-and-context-the-testimonium-does-not-fit-in-context/

(4) This quote is from an article on Academia.org under Ancient Worlds 45:101-121 with the disclaimer…”This is a non-proofed, pre-published draft. The definitive text (author) is: Amity, Ory, 2014.

(5) Also see my story of Arabian Queen Helene and her “criminal conversation” …married to her brother as king and queen of Adiabene  and their “only begotten son.”

(6) Copied from…http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gop.html   Wikipedia: The Gospel of Philip was written between 150 AD and 350 AD, while Philip himself lived in the first century, making it extremely unlikely to be his writing. Most scholars hold a 3rd-century date of composition.^{[6]   Ehrman, Bart (2003). Lost Christianities. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. xi–xii.}