Hanan ben Hanan

Who was Hanan ben Hanan?

Ananus ben Ananus, d. 68 CE, was a Herodian-era High Priest of Israel in Jerusalem, Iudaea Province. He is most well known as the high priest who allegedly ordered the execution by stoning of James the Just, according to the surviving fragments of The Antiquities of the Jews. However, popular opinion against Hanan due to this act led the recently-appointed Roman governor Lucceius Albinus to depose the high priest, after only three months. Ananus was succeeded by Jesus ben Damneus, who was himself deposed before the end of the year.

Josephus in The Jewish War considered Ananus "unique in his love for liberty and an enthusiast for democracy" and as an "effective speaker, whose words carried weight with the people".