Written by archaeologist Yana Tchekhanovets of Ben-Gurion University and narrated in English by award-winning author and journalist Matti Friedman, “Twelve Stones of Jerusalem” tells the story of the city’s past through twelve remarkable artifacts—from the Neolithic to the 20th century.
What happens when a people fighting to preserve their faith begin to absorb the culture they once resisted? This episode explores Jerusalem during the Hasmonean dynasty, when Jewish rulers who rose in revolt against Hellenistic domination gradually adopted the very Greek styles they opposed. Through the city’s remarkable rock-cut tombs on the Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley, we trace how foreign artistic traditions began to shape Jewish architecture—even in death. With their Ionic columns, Doric friezes, and lotus crowns, these monuments tell a story of identity, influence, and contradiction. As few Hasmonean palaces or public buildings survived the great earthquake of 31 CE, these funerary sites remain our key window into a pivotal moment when Jerusalem stood between isolation and assimilation.
