Empires

3 texts

Myths, legends, and mystical writings about Empires from across Jewish tradition.

Why Empires Fall Through Arrogance and Violence

Apocrypha Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

Kingdoms rise and fall, fortunes change in the blink of an eye... It's enough to make you wonder what, if anything, lasts. Ben Sira, that wise sage whose words dance between poetry...

The Eagle with Twelve Wings Rises from the Sea

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

On the second night, Ezra saw something rise from the sea. An eagle. Vast. Monstrous. It had twelve feathered wings and three heads, and when it spread those wings, they covered th...

The King of Assyria Boasted That No Nation Could Resist Him

Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael

The Mekhilta cites one of the most arrogant speeches in all of Scripture to illustrate the hubris of empire. The king of Assyria declared: "My hand found, as a nest, the wealth of ...