From the wilderness of ancient Judea to the pages of the New Testament, John the Baptist is one of the most compelling and mysterious figures in biblical history. But who really was he? What was his message? And why did he choose to live in isolation, wearing camel hair and eating wild locusts and honey?In this special episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes takes you to Bethany – the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism and the heart of John the Baptist’s ministry to uncover the life and legacy of this fiery preacher. Joining Tristan are two expert guests – Professors Joan Taylor and Helen Bond – to explore the archaeological and historical evidence surrounding John the Baptist. Together, they delve into his radical message, his clash with Herod Antipas, and his role in the broader world of Roman-occupied Judea. What emerges is a portrait of a man who defied authority, inspired movements, and helped shape one of the most influential stories in human history.For more from Helen and Joan on The Ancients:Jesus of Nazareth - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qFWoLLNQFgL0FmBhUoKe2Mary Magdalene - https://open.spotify.com/episode/43gF3oTWEwz0pi3PLRmtGcPontius Pilate - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vZxK1dFIwspOoBOkpVLmAPresented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here:https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK
What archaeological evidence supports John's story?
And the reason is that John has been criticizing John her marriage to Herod Antipas. And you just need a little bit of the background here, because Herodias used to be married to Herods half-brother, who's either called Herod or Philip, depending on the source.
They're like the same names, don't they?
Yeah, they're all called Herod. I mean, Herod is sort of a family name anyway. So Herod Antipas meets this woman, Herodias, who's married at the time to his half-brother, and they fall in love and they decide they're going to get married. Now the problem is that dass ihre Verheiratung gegen die jüdischen Regeln ist, weil es illegal war, deine Brüderin zu verheiraten, wenn dein Bruder noch lebt.
Wenn dein Bruder tot ist, dann solltest du eigentlich seine Frau verheiraten und Kinder erbringen. Aber sie entscheiden, dass sie verheiratet werden. Sie werden beide verheiratet und verheiratet. Und es scheint von Matthew und Mark, dass John dies kritisiert hat.
Now, Josephus says nothing at all about John criticizing the marriage, but it does seem to me that the two things actually fit in quite well. I mean, if John is all about living a moral life, be righteous, repent of your crimes, your sins, then I think it's quite likely that he criticized Herod Antipas.
This is very high profile, you know, this is the ruler and he's probably going to have criticized him. That may not be, you know, the whole story about the dancing girl and then Herod says to her, oh, you know, he's completely kind of This ridiculous middle-aged man. And he says, you know, you can have whatever you like, half of my kingdom. And the girl goes, I mean, she's a little girl.
She's not the sort of the dancing girl we sometimes imagine. But this little girl goes to her mom and says, what shall I ask for? And she says, the head of John the Baptist. And the little girl adds the detail on a platter. And so that's what happens. And poor old Herod has to kill John the Baptist. He can't go back on his promise. And then the disciples of John come and take the body away.
All pretty grim. Very grim.
A popular topic for Renaissance artists and so on, I can guess.
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