Alexander the Great Encounters the High Priest in Jerusalem: History or Myth? (feat. Dr. Ory Amitay)

Welcome to KEDEM Channel! In this episode we sit down with Dr. Ory Amitay to ask a bold question that has echoed through Jewish and Christian traditions for centuries: did Alexander the Great really bow to the High Priest in Jerusalem and honor YAHWEH, the God of Israel?

The Bible itself is silent on any dramatic encounter between Alexander and Jerusalem. Yet later Jewish, Christian, and even Muslim traditions tell powerful stories in which the greatest conqueror of the ancient world visits the Temple, prostrates himself before the High Priest, and even embraces the God of Israel. Drawing on his new book, Alexander the Great in Jerusalem: Myth and History (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. Amitay walks us through four different ancient versions of this legend and shows how each one emerged from a specific historical crisis in Judea.

Together we explore how Judean authors used Alexander as a symbolic figure to think about foreign rule. Under Antiochus III, he can even appear as a near convert to monotheism, praising the God who sits among the seraphim of Isaiah 6 and building gates against Gog and Magog. Later rabbinic stories recast Alexander in light of Pompey’s conquest, the loss of Hasmonean independence, and the trauma of a foreign general entering the Holy of Holies. Other traditions put the Samaritans center stage, after they defile the Temple on Passover, and imagine Alexander siding decisively with Jerusalem. Finally, Josephus offers the most famous version of all, weaving these elements into a new narrative that speaks directly to Rome after the destruction of the Second Temple, and subtly calls for a rebuilt sanctuary.

This conversation is about much more than a single legendary meeting. We ask what happens when a small people under foreign domination imagines the world’s superpower bowing to its God. How do myths about Alexander and YAHWEH help Judeans negotiate identity, defeat, and hope. And how did these stories travel into later Christian and Islamic traditions, where Alexander becomes the builder of the wall against Gog and Magog and a model for kings who rule under one God.

About Dr. Ory Amitay:
Ory Amitay is a Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Haifa, where he has been teaching since 2003. He studied Ancient History and Classics at Tel Aviv University and completed his graduate studies in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the meeting points of myth and history, especially in moments of intercultural contact, and he has published widely on the figure of Alexander the Great. He is the author of From Alexander to Jesus (University of California Press, 2010) and Alexander the Great in Jerusalem: Myth and History (OUP, 2025).

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro and the core question: did Alexander bow to YAHWEH
03:05 What is actually “great” about Alexander the Great
10:10 Counter history and how one life changed the ancient Mediterranean
16:40 Alexander’s route through the Levant and the question of Jerusalem
23:45 Balsam in Jericho and how close we get to a historical visit
28:30 First story: Alexander as would-be convert under Antiochus III
38:10 Gog, Magog and the moving mountains – Alexander as protector of humanity
47:20 Second story: Pompey, Hasmonean “imperialism” and the Holy of Holies
58:00 Humor, trauma and Jewish resistance to Roman power
1:04:30 Third story: Samaritans, defiled Passover and Simon the Just
1:14:40 Alexander bows to the High Priest – theology of Jewish superiority
1:23:10 Fourth story: Josephus, the shortened Persian period and a new Alexander
1:33:00 Alexander as model for Rome and the hope for a rebuilt Temple
1:40:30 Afterthoughts: myth, memory and the power of imagining a king who serves YAHWEH

Support our work:
https://patreon.com/Kedem?utm_medium=...

Subscribe for more scholarly discussions on Ancient Near Eastern history!
#AlexanderTheGreat #Yahweh #Jerusalem #JewishHistory #SecondTemple #AncientHistory #OryAmitay #Josephus