* The oldest viable carbon-14-dated seed that has grown into a plant was a Judean date palm seed about 2, 000 years old, recovered from excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada in Israel.

Aristobulus III ( 53 BC – 36 BC ) was the last scion of the Hasmonean royal house, brother of Herod the Great's wife Mariamne, and paternal grandson of Aristobulus II.

The oldest carbon-14-dated seed that has grown into a viable plant was a Judean date palm seed about 2, 000 years old, recovered from excavations at Herod the Great's palace in Israel.

This marriage led to opposition from Antipater III, Herod the Great's eldest son, and so Herod demoted Herod II to second in line to the succession.

* Salome I, Herod the Great's sister

* 1 – 99 BC – Expansion of Herod the Great's temple begins.

This ascetic group owed its origins to the political manoeuvrings of Herod the Great and consequent friendliness of the Herodian house to the Essenes from the height of Herod the Great's reign to the demise of his son Archelaus in AD 10.

The camp of the Tenth was built using the surviving portions of the walls of Herod the Great's palace, demolished by order of Titus.

During 1963-1965, excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada, Israel, revealed a cache of date palm seeds preserved in an ancient jar.

It is believed to be built on the site of Herod the Great's tower Phasael, but the present fortress was built during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Herod the Great's kingdom was divided by the Romans into a tetrarchy, of which Herod Antipas received both Perea and Galilee.

The context of this reference is the 36 AD defeat of Herod Antipas in his conflict with Aretas IV of Nabatea, which the Jews of the time attributed to misfortune brought about by Herod's unjust execution of John.

Josephus stated ( Antiquities 18. 5. 2 ) that the AD 36 defeat of Herod Antipas in the conflicts with Aretas IV of Nabatea was widely considered by the Jews of the time as misfortune brought about by Herod's unjust execution of John the Baptist.

According to this passage, the execution of John was blamed for a defeat Herod suffered c. 36 CE.

According to the Gospel of Matthew Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.

Herod Antipas, uncle and predecessor of Agrippa I as ruler of Galilee and Peræa, is the Herod mentioned in the Gospels who authorized the execution of John the Baptist and played a role in the trial of Jesus.

The play itself is a loose retelling of the biblical story of King Herod and his execution of John the Baptist ( here, as in Wilde's play, called Jokaanan ) at the request of his stepdaughter, Salomé, whom he lusts after.

Luke, however, made further reference to this involvement of Herod along with Pilate in Jesus ' execution and linked it with the prophecy about the Messianic King found in Psalm 2, as we can read in Luke's other book, Acts 4: 24 – 28.

The Gospel of Peter is more detailed in its account of the events after the Crucifixion than any of the canonical gospels, and it varies from the canonical accounts in numerous details: Herod gives the order for the execution, not Pilate, who is exonerated ; Joseph ( of Arimathea, which place is not mentioned ) has been acquainted with Pilate ; in the darkness that accompanied the crucifixion, " many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down ".

In the novel, Varus takes a bribe from Herod to recommend the execution of Antipater to Augustus Caesar.

* Full sister to Herod V ( king of Chalkis ), Herod Agrippa ( king of Judea ), Aristobulus V, and Mariamne III ( wife of Crown Prince Antipater and, after his execution by Herod the Great, she was possibly the first wife Herod Archelaus, principal heir of Herod the Great and ethnarch of Judea )

Antipater's execution in 4 BC for plotting to poison his father seemed to leave Herod II, now Herod I's eldest surviving son, as first in line, but his mother's knowledge of the poison plot, and failure to stop it, led to his being dropped from this position in Herod I's will just days before he died.

Unaware that the star led the Magi to Nazareth, Herod ordered the execution of the male infants in Bethlehem ( Matthew 2: 16 ).

") and third by the reference of Flavius Josephus to the imprisonment and execution ( Ant 18. 5. 2 ) of John the baptist by Herod Antipas.

The existence of John the Baptist within the same time frame as Jesus, and his eventual execution by Herod Antipas is attested to by first century historian Josephus and the overwhelming majority of modern scholars view Josephus ' accounts of the activities of John the Baptist as authentic.

Most modern scholars also view Josephus ' account ( in Antiquities 18. 5. 2 ) of the execution of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas, and the marriage of Herod and Herodias to be authentic.

Given that John the Baptist was executed before the defeat of Herod by Aretas IV of Nabatea in the AD 36, and based on the scholarly estimates for the approximate date of the marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias AD 28-35, Josephus establishes a key connection between the time frame of the ministry of Jesus and his execution.

His writings provide a significant, extra-Biblical account of the post-Exilic period of the Maccabees, the Hasmonean dynasty, and the rise of Herod the Great.

In Rome, Herod sought the support of Mark Antony and Octavian, and secured recognition by the Roman Senate as king, confirming the termination of the Hasmonean dynasty.

* In Robert Graves's novel King Jesus, Pilate is an unscrupulous opportunist who tries to prevent Jesus ' death by convincing Jesus to become the King of the Jews ( in reality a puppet monarch of Rome ) because, in the novel, Jesus is the son of Mary, who is of a royal Jewish line and the daughter of the last Hasmonean and Antipater, the son of Herod the Great.

Hasmonean rule lasted until 63 BCE, when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem and subjected Israel to Roman rule, while the Hasmonean dynasty itself ended in 37 BCE when the Idumean Herod the Great became king of Israel and king of the Jews.

Even then, Herod the Great tried to bolster the legitimacy of his reign by marrying a Hasmonean princess, Mariamne, and planning to drown the last male Hasmonean heir at his Jericho palace.

The installation of Herod the Great ( an Idumean ) as king in 37 BCE made Israel a Roman client state and marked the end of the Hasmonean dynasty.

As the last remaining Hasmonean, Hyrcanus was too dangerous a rival for Herod.

The later Herodian rulers Agrippa I and Agrippa II both had Hasmonean blood, as Agrippa I's father was Aristobulus IV, son of Herod by Mariamne I, but they were not direct male descendants, unless Herod was understood as a Hasmonean as per the following synthesis:

* Daughter of Aristobulus IV ( one of the two sons of Herod the Great and the Hasmonean princess Mariamne I )

Herod engaged her to Herod II, her half-uncle, and her connection to the Hasmonean bloodline supported her new husband's right to succeed his father.

* 37 – 35 BCE: Herod the Great builds the Antonia Fortress, named after Mark Anthony, on the site of the earlier Hasmonean Baris

In 37 BCE, Herod the Great captured Jerusalem, ending Hasmonean rule.

Judaea at first retained its independence, but an internal struggle between pro-Roman and pro-Persian heirs of the Hasmonean dynasty, eventually led Herod the Great to assume power in 37 BCE, making Judaea a client Kingdom of Rome.

The diplomacy and artful politics of Antipater, as well as his insinuation into the Hasmonean court, paved the way for the rise of his son Herod the Great, who used this position to marry the Hasmonean princess Mariamne, endear himself to Rome and become king of Judea under Roman influence.

The diplomacy and artful politics of Antipater produced the Herodian dynasty ; he paved the way for the rise of his son Herod the Great, who married the Hasmonean princess Mariamne, endeared himself to Rome, and usurped the Judean throne to become king of Judea under Roman influence.

* Siege of Jerusalem ( 37 BC ) by Herod the Great, ending Hasmonean rule over Judea.