Hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers had been killed in the explosive Bar Kokhva war. Emperor Hadrian had prohibited the practice of Judaism, and in doing so, paid dearly. Yet it was the Jews of Jerusalem who paid the final price—Hadrian expelled them all from what remained of the Holy City. Jewish Christians were not spared, but exiled with the rest. And upon desolate ruins, the Roman emperor built a city which was to become the new Jerusalem—a Christian Jerusalem. But initially it was born a pagan city, with the name of Aelia Capitolina.

Destroyed by Emperor Titus of Rome, Jerusalem had become a wasteland, the Second Temple no more than a heap of stones. Out of this post-apocalyptic landscape rose the charismatic war leader Bar Kokhva, a towering figure that many regarded as the messiah. Enraged by the destruction of the Second Temple and the religious oppression of Emperor Hadrian, Bar Kokhva pitted his guerilla armies against the might of Rome—with disastrous results. But before he fell, Bar Kokhva was to stage a final stand in Jerusalem, a city that had been shorn of its defensive walls. And by the end, he had forced grudging respect from the battle-hardened legions of Rome.

From the violent clash of two civilizations, Judaism and Greek Hellenism, emerged the holiday Chanukah, which Jews still celebrate worldwide. But the festive lights dawned only after the dark reign of Antiochus IV. The ruthless Seleucid ruler drowned Jerusalem in the blood of innocents and violated the Second Temple, in his determination to Hellenize the Holy City. If not for the dedication of one Judas Maccabee, the Jewish faith might have perished then forever.

Jerusalem’s heyday as a Near East metropolis came during the reign of Hezekiah. In the second half of the 8th century B.C., Jerusalem underwent a period of dramatic and unprecedented expansion. Growing from six to 60 hectares within decades, Jerusalem rapidly transformed into one of the largest cities in the country. Professor Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University, reveals the events that led to this sudden explosive growth: Events that set a course for the destiny of the region, but were also deeply rooted in its turbulent past.