Haggai Olshanetsky, Author at סגולה

Judaizing Zenobia? – Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra

At her peak, Empress Zenobia ruled most of the eastern Roman Empire, from the Persian border to Egypt. Several Christian sources mention her conversion to Judaism. Yet did she actually convert? And if so, to...

Articles

Issue 77 | June 2026

Knightly armor was supposed to indicate high birth – but Brampton’s case was probably not the only exception. The Black Prince, Edward, prince of Wales, hero of England’s initial successes in the Hundred Years War, illustration from Charles Knight’s Old England – A Pictorial Museum, 1760

Breaking the Mold – Edward Brampton

Haggai Olshanetsky

A mariner, a knight, the governor of the Isle of Guernsey, and a nobleman with influence at the English and the Portuguese courts – Edward Brampton, the son of a Jewish blacksmith, defied the so-called...

Articles

Issue 54 | September 2020

Though faded and unavailable to the public in their hidden corner of Damascus’ National Syrian Museum, the murals of Dura-Europos are the most detailed surviving examples of ancient Jewish art. Aaron the high priest and the Tabernacle, from the synagogue walls

Imperial Synagogue – Dura-Europos Synagogue

Haggai Olshanetsky

Once upon a time in southeastern Syria, the Roman and Sassanid-Persian empires battled over a city nestled among the dunes. Its ruins revealed a synagogue with some of the most exquisite murals ever seen. Who...

Art

Articles

Issue 60 | February 2022

Judaism

Roman Empire

Syria

Victory at a Price – British Counter-Guerrilla Warfare

Haggai Olshanetsky

Is there any basis for the claim that guerrilla forces are invincible? The British Empire has bested them in a few vicious wars – but at what cost? And for how long? The answers often...