One at least of the figures that contributed to the composite hero of the Jesus Myth was an Essene, who denounced the Pharisees—Jesus ben Pandera, a thaumaturge and agitator. The actual biblical Jesus might conceivably have been this man misplaced by a century, though it seems unlikely. He, at first imposed on Alexander Jannnaeus’s widow, Shelamzion (Salome, Alexandra Helene). Her husband, Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai), had so disliked Pharisees that he crucified 800 of them, but this Jesus then fell out of favor when she switched her allegiance and began to support the Pharisees. In 70 BC, Jesus ben Pandera was hanged.
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