# Novels set in New Testament Palestine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844 "2006-04-16T02:55:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Capt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Capt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/1 "2006-04-16T02:55:03Z")
Any one knows any novels set in Palestine around the time of Jesus? Especially the ones that depict the culture accurately? Where the writer had done the research on how people lived and talking at the time? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/2 "2006-04-16T03:21:38Z")
I think you’ll get fuller responses over in **Cafe Society** where you will next find this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_O_Malley_s_Cow)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/3 "2006-04-16T04:30:46Z")
There is an Ann Rice novel about Jesus but it is not historically accurate. Paul Maier wrote The Flames of Rome and it is historically accurate but may be a little later than you want…it is set in the time of Nero. He is an ancient history prof at Western Michigan University and has written other things. That’s all I can think of at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/4 "2006-04-16T04:51:22Z")
judas, my brother by frank yerby ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/5 "2006-04-16T05:04:36Z")
Alexandra Ripley’s _A Love Divine_, being a highly fictional account of the life of Joseph of Arimathea. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/6 "2006-04-16T05:08:04Z")
Not sure how accurate it is to the culture, but the first novel I thought of was _The Last Temptation of Christ_ by Nikos Kazantzakis. Interesting read in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Stocking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Blue\_Stocking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Stocking)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/7 "2006-04-16T18:52:11Z")
_Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ_ by Lew Wallace. Probably not very historically accurate, but it has never been out of print since it was published circa 1880. _The Silver Chalice_ by Thomas B. Costain, published in 1952. It’s a fictional account of Luke the apostle. I can’t vouch the accuracy of it, either. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/8 "2006-04-16T20:43:16Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > Alexandra Ripley’s _A Love Divine_, being a highly fictional account of the life of Joseph of Arimathea. When Alexandra Ripley decided she wanted to be Taylor Caldwell rather than Margaret Mitchell. 😃 And speaking of- I am a fan of Taylor Caldwell’s _Dear & Glorious Physician_ (Luke) and _Great Lion of God_ (Paul) when she was a Catholic Bircher, but not her _I, Judas_ when she flirted with New Age. Anthony Burgess wrote _Man of Nazareth_ and _Kingdom of the Wicked_, being novels inspired by his screenplay work for _Jesus of Nazareth_ and _A.D._ . ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/9 "2006-04-16T20:45:00Z")
> [@Mrs O'Malley's Cow](#): > > There is an Ann Rice novel about Jesus but it is not historically accurate. > > Paul Maier wrote The Flames of Rome and it is historically accurate but may be a little later than you want…it is set in the time of Nero. He is an ancient history prof at Western Michigan University and has written other things. > > That’s all I can think of at the moment. Maier also wrote _Pontius Pilate_, which was interesting- having the Samaritan Messianic pretender whose disciples Pilate had killed being Simon Magus. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/10 "2006-04-17T01:04:14Z")
Well, part of the book The Seven Hills, by Leonard Wibberley, is set in Palestine, at the time of the crucifixion. Told in the first person by a wealthy Roman freedman turned merchant. Not sentimental at all, the main character is often a jerk, a sharp trader whose main concern is looking out for number one. At one time or another he interacts with many “name” characters of the Gospel stories. Long out of print, but you could probably find it online easily enough. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_O_Malley_s_Cow)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/11 "2006-04-17T02:44:49Z")
It is not a novel but have you looked at Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. It gives a pretty good view of what people thought way back when and was written around Jesus’s time. According to the back of the copy I have it is 'an encyclopedic accoutn of the state of science, art, and technology in the first centry, AD" ---
**Author:** ![Capt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Capt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/12 "2006-04-17T14:01:52Z")
Thanks a lot for all your help! Sorry, I thought this would be closer to a general question. Didn’t mean to put it in the wrong forum. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-new-testament-palestine/352844/13 "2006-04-17T15:15:25Z")
_King Jesus_ by Robert Graves (1946). It’s based on the premise that Jesus really was of royal blood – son of a secret marriage between Herod Antipater (on of the sons of Herod the Great) and Mary (an heiress of the line of David). I don’t know how accurate it is, but it does include a lot of elaborate details about the religious history of Palestine, including Yahweh’s two consorts, Anatha and Ashima (from the days before he reigned alone); and the necessity for a king to wed the youngest daughter of a royal house before he can legitimately reign. See this post: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4587965&postcount=86](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4587965&postcount=86) And this one: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4594900&postcount=90](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4594900&postcount=90)