Illustration created for this project.
Archelaus
A son of Herod the Great who ruled Judea so harshly that Joseph avoided settling there on returning from Egypt.
What we know β and how we know it
Bible β stated in scripture (with verse) Β· 1
Archaeology β physical evidence Β· 1
Ancient writers β non-biblical testimony Β· 1
Family & lineage
Life, role & deeds
Scan by NYPL β Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersMatthew says Joseph avoided Judea because Archelaus reigned there. Josephus tells the rest: his harsh rule brought complaints to Rome, and in AD 6 Augustus deposed and banished him to Gaul β after which Judea was governed directly by Roman prefects such as Pontius Pilate.
Josephus, Antiquities 17.13.2 (Β§342β344) and War 2.7.3 (Β§111) β complaints to Rome and Augustus's deposition and banishment of Archelaus to Vienna in Gaul (AD 6); corroborated by Cassius Dio, Roman History 55.27.6; cf. Matthew 2:22
β³
Pontius Pilate
CNG β CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
ArchaeologyArchelaus struck coins titled simply 'Herod the Ethnarch' β the only member of the dynasty to bear that rank β small bronzes that survive in numbers today.
Bronze prutot of Herod Archelaus inscribed ΞΑΩΠ/ ΞΞΞ ('Herod, Ethnarch'), 4 BC β AD 6; cf. Y. Meshorer, A Treasury of Jewish Coins from the Persian Period to Bar Kokhba (Jerusalem/Nyack: Amphora, 2001), and D. Hendin, Guide to Biblical Coins (5th ed., 2010).