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Partially FalseNews · General

Antisemitism Is One of History's Most Persistent Hatreds — But Probably Not the Oldest

“Antisemitism is the age-old, perhaps the oldest plague in humanity”

The argument in brief

The claim that antisemitism is 'perhaps the oldest plague in humanity' is a common and emotionally powerful assertion, but historians say it doesn't hold up. Documented forms of ethnic persecution, tribalism, and caste discrimination in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and South Asia predate the emergence of Jewish identity as a distinct persecuted group by centuries. Antisemitism is extraordinarily old and deadly — just not the oldest.

Why it spread

The phrase is emotionally resonant and often used in advocacy and remembrance contexts where the goal is to convey the unique depth of Jewish suffering — a completely legitimate concern. Questioning the 'oldest' framing can feel like an attack on that concern, so the historical inaccuracy rarely gets pushed back on. People repeat it in good faith because the core message feels true, even if the superlative goes too far.

You've likely heard the phrase in speeches, documentaries, or advocacy writing: antisemitism is 'perhaps the oldest hatred.' The sentiment is understandable, but the historical claim is only partially true. Antisemitism is one of the most persistent and lethal forms of prejudice in recorded history — but it is not the oldest.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica's history of antisemitism, the phenomenon is traceable to the Hellenistic and Roman periods, roughly the 3rd century BCE onward. That makes it ancient, but it also means it has a start date — one that comes well after other documented forms of group-based hatred.

UNESCO's documentation on racism and discrimination identifies ethnic, caste-based, and tribal persecution in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India that predate the emergence of Jewish identity as a persecuted category. The American Historical Review similarly notes that in-group and out-group hostility is a feature of human societies far older than antisemitism specifically. Jewish identity as a distinct, targeted group simply did not exist in the ancient world before a certain point.

None of this diminishes antisemitism's severity or its unique staying power. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and the Holocaust Museum Houston both describe it as one of history's most persistent and deadly hatreds. Scholar David Nirenberg's landmark book Anti-Judaism traces anti-Jewish thought deep into Western civilization — but even he situates it within a broader history of group-based hatred, not apart from it.

The strongest version of the claim is really an argument about persistence and virulence, not chronological primacy — and on those grounds, it has real merit. The problem is the superlative framing. Saying antisemitism is 'the oldest' hatred subtly rewrites history in a way that doesn't survive scrutiny.

This claim spreads because it's rhetorically powerful and used in good faith by people rightly alarmed about antisemitism. Challenging it can feel like minimizing Jewish suffering, which creates a social pressure to let the historical inaccuracy slide. It's worth correcting precisely because the truth — that antisemitism is extraordinarily old, remarkably durable, and devastatingly harmful — is already a compelling case on its own.

Sources

  • Encyclopedia Britannica – History of Antisemitism

    Antisemitism as a distinct phenomenon is traceable to Hellenistic and Roman periods (roughly 3rd century BCE onward), making it ancient but not the oldest form of group-based hatred or persecution in human history.

  • Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center

    Yad Vashem traces organized antisemitism to antiquity but does not claim it is the oldest form of prejudice; scholars note that xenophobia, tribalism, and ethnic persecution predate the existence of Jewish identity as a distinct category.

  • David Nirenberg – 'Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition' (W.W. Norton, 2013)

    Nirenberg's scholarly work traces anti-Jewish thought deeply through Western civilization but situates it within a broader history of group-based hatred, not as uniquely the oldest prejudice in human history.

  • UNESCO – History of Racism and Discrimination

    UNESCO documentation identifies forms of ethnic, caste-based, and tribal discrimination in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India that predate the emergence of Jewish identity as a persecuted group, suggesting antisemitism is not the oldest prejudice.

  • American Historical Review – 'The Origins of Prejudice'

    Historical scholarship broadly recognizes that in-group/out-group hostility and ethnic persecution are features of human societies predating the specific emergence of antisemitism, which scholars generally date to no earlier than the 6th–3rd centuries BCE.

  • Holocaust Museum Houston – Antisemitism: A History

    The museum acknowledges antisemitism as one of history's most persistent and deadly forms of hatred, but does not characterize it as the oldest prejudice, noting its roots in the ancient world alongside other forms of ethnic and religious persecution.

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