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93-666: In the Ptolemaic period, Alexandrian Jews played a central role in the development of Hellenistic Judaism and were instrumental in the translation of the Torah from Hebrew to Koine Greek , which produced the Septuagint . Many important Jewish writers and figures came from or studied in Alexandria, such as Philo , Ben Sira , Tiberius Julius Alexander and Josephus . The position of Alexandria's Jewry began deteriorating during

186-547: A "unique fusion of Greek and Jewish culture". The reasons for the decline of Hellenistic Judaism are obscure. It may be that it was marginalized by, absorbed into, or became early Christianity. The Pauline epistles and the Acts of the Apostles report that—after his initial focus on the conversion of Hellenized Jews across Anatolia , Macedonia , Thrace and northern Syria without criticizing their laws and traditions— Paul

279-519: A disunion that reverberated within the emerging Christian community: it speaks of "Hellenists" and "Hebrews." The existence of these two distinct groups characterizes the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem. The Hebrews were Jewish Christians who spoke almost exclusively Aramaic, and the Hellenists were also Jewish Christians whose mother tongue was Greek. They were Greek-speaking Jews of

372-516: A favorable light by the standards of Greek culture. The one major difference that even the most Hellenized Jews did not appear to compromise on was the prohibition on polytheism ; this still separated Hellenistic Jews from wider Greek culture in refusing to honor shrines, temples, gods etc. that did not pertain to the God of Israel . Under the suzerainty of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and later

465-684: A language spoken by Hellenized Jews across southeastern Europe (Macedonia, Thrace, northern Greece), North Africa, and the Middle East after the 3rd century BCE. Many synagogues were built by the Hellenistai or adherents of Hellenistic Judaism in the Greek Isles , Cilicia , Northwestern and Eastern Syria , and Northern Israel as early as the first century BCE—notably in Delos , Antioch , Alexandretta, Galilee and Dura-Europos . Because of

558-608: A separate section of the city was assigned to the Jews, so that they might not be hindered in the observance of their laws by continual contact with the pagan population. This Jewish Quarter was one of the five sections of the city, each named after a letter of the Greek alphabet , with the Jewish quarter being named Delta . During this time, the Jews in Alexandria enjoyed a greater degree of political independence and prominence, serving as

651-405: A series of Greek loanwords. When towards the end of the first century BCE, Hillel in practice repealed the regulation of the remission of debts in the sabbath year (Deut. 15.1-11) by the possibility of a special reservation on the part of the creditor, this reservation was given a Greek name introduced into Palestinian legal language- perōzebbōl = προσβολή, a sign that even at that time legal language

744-671: A sizable Jewish crowd, along with some non-Jewish visitors, would gather on the beach for a grand picnic. Following the Roman conquest of Egypt , intense antisemitism became widespread throughout Alexandria's non-Jewish populations. Many viewed Jews as privileged isolationists . This sentiment led to the Alexandrian Pogrom in 38 CE, led by the Roman governor Aulus Avilius Flaccus . Many Jews were murdered, their notables were publicly scourged, synagogues were defiled and closed, and all

837-756: A tributary kingdom, then a province, of the Roman Empire. The Romans had allied themselves to the Maccabees and interfered again in 63 BCE, at the end of the Third Mithridatic War , when the proconsul Pompey ("Pompey the Great") stayed behind to make the area secure for Rome, including his siege of Jerusalem in 63 BCE . Queen Salome Alexandra had recently died, and a civil war broke out between her sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II . Pompeius restored Hyrcanus but political rule passed to

930-638: A village in Judea. The King James Version of the Bible refers to the region as "Jewry". "Judea" was a name used by English speakers for the hilly internal part of Mandatory Palestine until the Jordanian rule of the area in 1948. For example, the borders of the two states to be established according to the UN's 1947 partition scheme were officially described using the terms "Judea" and "Samaria" and in its reports to

1023-549: Is a mountainous region of the Levant . Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem , it is now part of Palestine and Israel . The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the present day; it originates from Yehudah , a Hebrew name . Yehudah was a son of Jacob , who was later given the name " Israel " and whose sons collectively headed the Twelve Tribes of Israel . Yehudah's progeny among

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1116-667: Is considered a desert . It varies greatly in height, rising to an altitude of 1,020 metres (3,350 ft) in the south at the Hebron Hills , 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Jerusalem , and descending to as much as 400 metres (1,300 ft) below sea level in the east of the region. It also varies in rainfall, starting with about 400–500 millimetres (16–20 in) in the western hills, rising to 600 millimetres (24 in) around western Jerusalem (in central Judea), falling back to 400 millimetres (16 in) in eastern Jerusalem and dropping to around 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in

1209-488: Is the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koine Greek , specifically, Jewish Koine Greek . Mentionable are also the philosophic and ethical treatises of Philo and the historiographical works of the other Hellenistic Jewish authors. The decline of Hellenistic Judaism started in the 2nd century, and its causes are still not fully understood. It may be that it

1302-496: The Abrogation of Old Covenant laws . The attractiveness of Christianity may, however, have suffered a setback with its being explicitly outlawed in the 80s CE by Domitian as a "Jewish superstition", while Judaism retained its privileges as long as members paid the fiscus Judaicus . The opening verse of Acts 6 points to the problematic cultural divisions between Hellenized Jews and Aramaic-speaking Israelites in Jerusalem,

1395-656: The Alhambra Decree of 1492, a large number of Sephardic Jews immigrated to Alexandria. The historian Joseph Sambari mentions an active Jewish community in Alexandria during the 17th century. After the Chmielnicki massacres , some Ukrainian Jews settled in Alexandria. In the 1660s some members of the community began to follow the Jewish mystic Shabbetai Zvi , while the majority adamantly opposed him. In 1700, some Jewish fishermen from Rosetta moved to Alexandria in hopes of better economic opportunities. During

1488-644: The Bethel hills and the Judaean Desert east of Jerusalem, which descends in a series of steps to the Dead Sea . The hills are distinct for their anticline structure. In ancient times the hills were forested, and the Bible records agriculture and sheep farming being practiced in the area. Animals are still grazed today, with shepherds moving them between the low ground to the hilltops as summer approaches, while

1581-763: The Book of Wisdom , Sirach and pseudepigraphic apocalyptic literature such as the Assumption of Moses , the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs , the Book of Baruch and the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch . Some scholars consider Paul the Apostle to be a Hellenist Jew, even though he claimed to be a Pharisee ( Acts 23:6 ). Philo defended Judaism as a monotheistic philosophy that anticipated

1674-584: The Diaspora Revolt (115–117 CE), Jewish communities in the Roman provinces of Egypt, Cyrenaica , and Cyprus rose in rebellion while Emperor Trajan was in the east, engaged in his campaign against the Parthians . Papyrological evidence shows that the Roman garrison in Alexandria experienced setbacks in the summer of 116 CE. Jewish forces targeted the shrine of Nemesis , which housed Pompey 's head, possibly in retaliation for Pompey's desecration of

1767-551: The French conquest of Egypt , Napoleon imposed heavy fines on the Jews and ordered the ancient synagogue, associated with the prophet Elijah , to be destroyed. Under the rule of Muhammad Ali of Egypt , Jews began to experience great social and economic development. During World War I, many Jews living in Ottoman Palestine were exiled to Alexandria under Ottoman rule. In 1937, 24,690 Jews lived in Alexandria. Following

1860-563: The Herodian dynasty , who ruled as client kings . In 6 CE, Judea came under direct Roman rule as the southern part of the province of Judaea , although Jews living there still maintained some form of independence and could judge offenders by their own laws, including capital offences, until c. 28 CE. The province of Judea, during the late Hellenistic period and early Roman Empire was also divided into five conclaves: Jerusalem, Gadara , Amathus , Jericho , and Sepphoris , and during

1953-1192: The Israelites formed the Tribe of Judah , with whom the Kingdom of Judah is associated. Related nomenclature continued to be used under the rule of the Babylonians (the Yehud province ), the Persians (the Yehud province ), the Greeks (the Hasmonean Kingdom ), and the Romans (the Herodian Kingdom and the Judaea province ). Under the Hasmoneans, the Herodians, and the Romans, the term

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2046-693: The Levant . This gave rise to the Hellenistic period , which sought to create a common or universal culture in the Alexandrian empire based on that of fifth-century Athens , along with a fusion of Near Eastern cultures. The period is characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa, the most famous being Alexandria in Egypt. New cities established composed of colonists from different parts of

2139-653: The Romaniote Jewish community. They spoke Yevanic , a Greek dialect with Hebrew , Arabic and Aramaic influence. According to oral tradition, they were descendants of Jewish refugees who fled Jerusalem in 70 CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple . However, their presence dates back to 300-250 BCE, according to existing inscriptions. Greek philosophers such as Clearchus of Soli were impressed by Jews and believed they were descendants of Indian philosophers. Elsewhere, Jews in Alexandria created

2232-591: The Seleucid Empire , Judea witnessed a period of peace and protection of its institutions. For their aid against his Ptolemaic enemies, Antiochus III the Great promised his Jewish subjects a reduction in taxes and funds to repair the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple . Relations deteriorated under Antiochus's successor Seleucus IV Philopator , and then, for reasons not fully understood, his successor Antiochus IV Epiphanes drastically overturned

2325-526: The Seleucids , as opposed to 1 Maccabees which was written in Judea and criticizes the entire Hellenistic ideology. Strabo (64/63 BCE–c.24 CE) described the Jewish community in Alexandria as having substantial autonomy, with an ethnarch that "governs the people and adjudicates suits and supervises contracts and ordinances just as if he were the head of a sovereign state." Contemporary studies affirm that

2418-578: The Talmud ) was also established during this time. During the period of the Second Temple the Jews of Alexandria were represented in Jerusalem by a sizeable community. During Herod’s reign several prominent Alexandrian Jewish families lived in Jerusalem, such as Simeon the Just who was appointed high priest by Herod. Alexandria's Jewish population served as secular public officials and as soldiers for

2511-775: The Tomb of the Patriarchs . The early history of Judah is uncertain; the biblical account states that the Kingdom of Judah, along with the Kingdom of Israel , was a successor to a united monarchy of Israel and Judah , but modern scholarship generally holds that the united monarchy is ahistorical. Regardless, the Northern Kingdom was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 720 BCE. The Kingdom of Judah remained nominally independent, but paid tribute to

2604-501: The mosaics and frescos representing heroic figures and Biblical characters (viewed as potentially conductive of "image worship" by later generations of Jewish scholars and rabbis ), many of these early synagogues were at first mistaken for Greek temples or Antiochian Greek Orthodox churches. Early rabbis of Babylonian Jewish descent, such as Hillel the Elder , whose parents were Aramaic-speaking Jewish migrants from Babylonia (hence

2697-585: The "West Bank"), though "Yehuda" is the Hebrew term used for the area in modern Israel since the region was captured and occupied by Israel in 1967. The Israeli government in the 20th century used the term Judea as part of the Israeli administrative district name " Judea and Samaria Area " for the territory that is generally referred to as the West Bank . The name Judea is a Greek and Roman adaptation of

2790-495: The Apostle eventually preferred to evangelize communities of Greek and Macedonian proselytes and God-fearers , or Greek circles sympathetic to Judaism : the Apostolic Decree allowing converts to forego circumcision made Christianity a more attractive option for interested pagans than Rabbinic Judaism , which required ritual circumcision for converts. See also Circumcision controversy in early Christianity and

2883-615: The Assyrian Empire from 715 and throughout the first half of the 7th century BCE, regaining its independence as the Assyrian Empire declined after 640 BCE, but after 609 again fell under the sway of imperial rule, this time paying tribute at first to the Egyptians and after 601 BCE to the Neo-Babylonian Empire , until 586 BCE, when it was finally conquered by Babylonia. The Babylonian Empire fell to

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2976-553: The Christians there were recent arrivals who had moved from the Kerak area only a few years previously. According to Ehrlich, the region's Christian population decreased as a result of a combination of factors including impoverishment, oppression, marginalization, and persecution. Sufi activity took place in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, which most likely pushed Christian villagers in the region to convert to Islam. Judea, in

3069-522: The Dead Sea. The suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt led to widespread destruction and displacement throughout Judea, and the district saw a decline in population. The Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina , which was built on the ruins of Jerusalem, remained a backwater for the duration of its existence. The villages around the city were depopulated, and arable lands in the region were confiscated by

3162-775: The Diaspora, who returned to settle in Jerusalem. To identify them, Luke uses the term Hellenistai . When he had in mind Greeks, gentiles , non-Jews who spoke Greek and lived according to the Greek fashion, then he used the word Hellenes (Acts 21.28). As the very context of Acts 6 makes clear, the Hellenistai are not Hellenes. Some historians believe that a sizeable proportion of the Hellenized Jewish communities of southern Turkey (Antioch, Alexandretta and neighboring cities) and Syria / Lebanon converted progressively to

3255-988: The European Christian fold: some ancient Judeo-Greek traditions were thus deliberately abolished or reduced in the process. Members of these communities still call themselves " Rûm " (literally "Roman"; usually referred to as "Byzantine" in English) and referring to Greeks in Turkish , Persian and Levantine Arabic . In that context, the term Rûm is preferred over Yāvāni or Ionani (literally " Ionian "), also referring to Greeks in Ancient Hebrew , Sanskrit and Classical Arabic . Judea Judea or Judaea ( / dʒ uː ˈ d iː ə , dʒ uː ˈ d eɪ ə / ; Hebrew : יהודה , Modern :   Yəhūda , Tiberian :   Yehūḏā ; Greek : Ἰουδαία , Ioudaía ; Latin : Iudaea )

3348-581: The Franks tended to settle in the southern half of the region between Jerusalem and Nablus since there was a sizable Christian population there. Most of the people living in the northern portion of Judea in the late 16th century were Muslims; some of them resided in towns that today have significant Christian populations. According to the 1596–1597 Ottoman census, Birzeit and Jifna , for instance, were wholly Muslim villages, while Taybeh had 63 Muslim families and 23 Christian families. There were 71 Christian families and 9 Muslim families in Ramallah , although

3441-438: The Greco-Roman branch of Christianity that eventually constituted the " Melkite " (or "Imperial") Hellenistic churches of the MENA area: As Christian Judaism originated at Jerusalem, so Gentile Christianity started at Antioch , then the leading center of the Hellenistic East, with Peter and Paul as its apostles. From Antioch it spread to the various cities and provinces of Syria, among the Hellenistic Syrians as well as among

3534-453: The Greek world and not from a specific metropolis ("mother city") as before. The spread of Hellenism caused a blending of the local indigenous culture and the culture of the conquerors. Jewish life in both Judea and the diaspora was influenced by the culture and language of Hellenism. Local indigenous elites frequently played a significant role in embracing and promoting Hellenism, leading to its impact on all regional cultures, including

3627-521: The Greek-Levantine Christian diasporas of Brazil , Mexico , the United States and Canada . Many of the surviving liturgical traditions of these communities rooted in Hellenistic Judaism and, more generally, Second Temple Judaism , were expunged progressively in the late medieval and modern eras by both Phanariot European-Greek ( Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople ) and Vatican ( Roman Catholic ) Gentile theologians who sought to “bring back” Levantine Greek Orthodox and Greek-Catholic communities into

3720-457: The Hebrews," Acts vi. 1). The coffers in the Temple which contained the shekel contributions were marked with Greek letters (Sheḳ. iii. 2). It is therefore no wonder that there were synagogues of the Libertines , Cyrenians , Alexandrians, Cilicians , and Asiatics in the Holy City itself ( Acts vi. 9). The turbulence created by Alexander the Great's death also popularized Jewish messianism . For two milennia, Jews lived in Greece and created

3813-440: The Hellenistic Jews who, as a result of the great rebellions against the Romans in A.D. 70 and 130, were driven out from Jerusalem and Palestine into Syria. Both early Christianity and early Rabbinical Judaism were far less doctrinal and less theologically homogeneous than they are today, and both were significantly influenced by Hellenistic religion and borrowed allegories and concepts from classical Hellenistic philosophy and

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3906-414: The Jewish community of Alexandria was completely eradicated by the end of the Diaspora Revolt in 117 CE. By the beginning of the Byzantine era , the Jewish population had again increased, but suffered from the persecutions of the Christian Church . During the subsequent Muslim conquest of Egypt , the number of Jews in Alexandria increased greatly, with some estimates numbering around 400,000. Following

3999-446: The Jewish culture. In Palestine, Hellenism gradually took hold, despite the relatively small number of foreign inhabitants. The Jews living in countries west of the Levant formed the Hellenistic diaspora. The Egyptian diaspora is the most well known of these. It witnessed close ties. Indeed, there was firm economic integration of Judea with the Ptolemaic Kingdom that ruled from Alexandria, while there were friendly relations between

4092-401: The Jewish elite, including those in Alexandria, were not spared. The only Alexandrian Jews who might have survived were likely refugees who had fled to other regions at the onset of the revolt. By the beginning of the Byzantine era, the Jewish population had again increased, but in 414 Cyril expelled the Jews from the city. According to contemporary Christian historian Socrates Scholasticus ,

4185-413: The Jews were confined to one quarter of the city. Riots again erupted in 40 CE between Jews and Greeks. Jews were accused of not honouring the emperor, and Jews were angered by the erection of a clay altar and destroyed it. In response, Caligula ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Temple of Jerusalem . Philo wrote that Caligula "regarded the Jews with most especial suspicion, as if they were

4278-430: The League of Nations Mandatory Committee, as in 1937, the geographical terms employed were "Samaria and Judea". Jordan called the area ad-difa'a al-gharbiya (translated into English as the "West Bank"). "Yehuda" is the Hebrew term used for the area in modern Israel since the region was captured and occupied by Israel in 1967. The first century Roman-Jewish historian Josephus wrote ( The Jewish War 3.3.5): In

4371-419: The Navel of the country. Nor indeed is Judea destitute of such delights as come from the sea, since its maritime places extend as far as Ptolemais: it was parted into eleven portions, of which the royal city Jerusalem was the supreme, and presided over all the neighboring country, as the head does over the body. As to the other cities that were inferior to it, they presided over their several toparchies ; Gophna

4464-412: The Ptolemaic army. Rich Jews occasionally held the office of alabarch, such as Alexander the Alabarch . However, Ptolemy VII was hostile towards the Jews because when he strove to wrest the throne of Egypt from Cleopatra, the Jews, led by the general Onias, fought on the side of Cleopatra. During the Maccabean Revolt , an Alexandrian Jew probably wrote 2 Maccabees which defends Hellenism and criticizes

4557-460: The Roman era, as deep antisemitic sentiment began developing amongst the city's Greek and Egyptian populations. This led to the subsequent Alexandrian pogrom in 38 CE and the Alexandria riot in 66 CE, which was in parallel with the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War . Alexandria's Jewry began to diminish, leading to a mass immigration of Alexandrian Jews to Rome , as well as other Mediterranean and North African cities. It appears that

4650-407: The Roman period had eleven administrative districts ( toparchies ): Jerusalem, Gophna , Akrabatta , Thamna , Lod , Emmaus , Pella , Idumaea , Ein Gedi , Herodeion , and Jericho . In 66 CE, the Jewish population rose against Roman rule in a revolt that was unsuccessful. Jerusalem was besieged in 70 CE . The city was razed, the Second Temple was destroyed, and much of the population

4743-451: The Romans finally put an end to the uprising, most of the Jews in Judea were killed or displaced, and a sizable number of captives were sold into slavery, leaving the district mostly depopulated. Jews were expelled from the area surrounding Jerusalem. No village in the district of Judea whose remains have been excavated so far has not been destroyed during the revolt. Roman emperor Hadrian , determined to root out Jewish nationalism, changed

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4836-411: The Romans. Having no alternative population to fill the empty villages led the authorities to establish imperial or legionary estates and monasteries on confiscated village lands to benefit the elites and, later, the church. This also initiated a process of romanization that took place during the Late Roman period, with pagan populations penetrating the region and settling alongside Roman veterans. There

4929-413: The Temple in Jerusalem in 63 BCE. Damage to other significant structures, such as the Serapeum of Alexandria , was likely inflicted by Jewish groups from Egypt and Cyrenaica rather than by Alexandria's own Jewish inhabitants. Eusebius 's later account of Alexandria being "overthrown" and needing reconstruction by Hadrian is, however, considered exaggerated. Finally, the Roman suppression of the uprising in

5022-422: The city had some 400,000 around the time of the conquest. However, Benjamin of Tudela who visited the town in about 1170, speaks of only 3,000 Jews living in Alexandria. Nevertheless, throughout the Middle Ages , Alexandria had a small but significant community of Jewish rabbis and scholars. The community is mentioned in several documents in the Cairo Genizah , some of which relate to Alexandrian Jews' reaction to

5115-489: The city was aided by Greeks fleeing from Jewish attacks in other parts of the country. By the end of the conflict in late summer 117 CE, it is highly unlikely that Jews remained in Alexandria. The Great Synagogue, celebrated in the Talmud , was destroyed, and the city's Jewish court might have been abolished. Surviving Jews would have faced assaults by mobs, official reprisals, and possible executions ordered by Hadrian . The extensive confiscation of Jewish lands indicates that

5208-443: The city's moneylenders, premium merchants and alabarchs . The Jewish ethnarchs were also established during this time, along with a council of 71 elders. According to Strabo , the ethnarch was responsible for the general conduct of Jewish affairs in the city, particularly in legal matters and the drawing up of documents. The city also established a large Bet Din known as the "archion". The Great Synagogue of Alexandria (mentioned in

5301-405: The community had its own established social and legal institutions, operating with the consent of Ptolemaic and later Roman authorities. The Jews of Alexandria commemorated the translation of the Jewish Scriptures into Greek with an annual festival held on the island of Pharos, the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria , and traditionally associated with the translation event. During this celebration,

5394-426: The conquests of Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. Judea remained under Persian rule until the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, eventually falling under the rule of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire until the revolt of Judas Maccabeus resulted in the Hasmonean dynasty of kings who ruled in Judea for over a century. Judea lost its independence to the Romans in the 1st century BCE, becoming first

5487-482: The controversial Sar Shalom ben Moses . During the 12th century, Aaron He-Haver ben Yeshuah Alamani served as the community's spiritual leader. During the Arab period, Alexandrian Jewry kept a close relationship with other Egyptian communities in Cairo , Bilbeis , El Mahalla El Kubra as well as several others. It was during this time that Alexandria had two synagogues, one of which was called "the Small Synagogue of Alexandria". The Jews of Alexandria were engaged in

5580-416: The eastern parts, due to a rain shadow : this is the Judaean Desert . The climate, accordingly, moves between Mediterranean in the west and desert climate in the east, with a strip of semi-arid climate in the middle. Major urban areas in the region include Jerusalem, Bethlehem , Gush Etzion , Jericho and Hebron . Geographers divide Judea into several regions: the Hebron hills, the Jerusalem saddle,

5673-401: The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and the ensuing Six-Day War in 1967, almost all of Alexandria's Jewish population were expelled from the country and emigrated to Israel. According to Josephus, Jews had inhabited Alexandria since its founding, and most historians agree that Jews lived in the city since at least the beginning of the third century BCE. Under Ptolemaic rule,

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5766-412: The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and the ensuing Six-Day War , almost all of Egypt's Jewish population were expelled from the country and immigrated to Israel. As of 2017, only 12 Jews currently live in Alexandria. In February 2020, 180 Jews from Europe , Israel and the United States arrived in Alexandria to attend religious ceremonies at the historic Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue , which

5859-418: The expulsion was a response to a Jewish-led massacre against some Christians. Historians are divided on whether the expulsion was wholesale or just against those who had perpetrated the violence. There is evidence for Jews from Alexandria settling in Milan , Italy in late antiquity. Following the Muslim conquest of Egypt starting in 641, Jews were allowed to return to the city; according to some Arab sources,

5952-429: The fountains of Jordan, and reaches breadthways to Lake Tiberias ; and in length is extended from a village called Arpha, as far as Julias. Its inhabitants are a mixture of Jews and Syrians. And thus have I, with all possible brevity, described the country of Judea, and those that lie round about it. Elsewhere, Josephus wrote that "Arabia is a country that borders on Judea." Judea is a mountainous region, part of which

6045-478: The great part it played in the early history of Christianity. The city was the cradle of the church". Some presently used Grecian "Ancient Synagogal " priestly rites and hymns have survived partially to the present, notably in the distinct church services of the followers of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and its sister church the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in the Hatay Province of southern Turkey , Syria , Lebanon , Northern Israel , and in

6138-576: The influence of 2 Maccabees , notably a work in Koine Greek ) as a threat of assimilation diametrically opposed to Jewish tradition, Adaptation to Hellenic culture did not require compromise of Jewish precepts or conscience. When a Greek gymnasium was introduced into Jerusalem, it was installed by a Jewish High Priest . And other priests soon engaged in wrestling matches in the palaestra . They plainly did not reckon such activities as undermining their priestly duties. Later historians would sometimes depict Hellenism and Judaism uniquely incompatible, likely

6231-423: The international trade centered in their city, and some even held government posts. Under Mamluk rule , the Jewish population of Alexandria began to decline. Meshullam of Volterra , who visited it in 1481, states that he found only 60 Jewish families, but reported that the old men remembered the time when the community numbered 4,000. In 1488, Obadiah of Bertinoro found 25 Jewish families in Alexandria. Following

6324-506: The language of the Mishnaic and Talmudic literature. While it reflects the situation at a later period, its origins go back well before the Christian era. The collection of the loanwords in the Mishna to be found in Schürer shows the areas in which Hellenistic influence first became visible- military matters, state administration and legislature, trade and commerce, clothing and household utensils, and not least in building. The so-called copper scroll with its utopian list of treasures also contains

6417-417: The laws, and public affairs, art, science, and industry, affecting even the ordinary things of life and the common associations of the people [...] The inscription forbidding strangers to advance beyond a certain point in the Temple was in Greek; and was probably made necessary by the presence of numerous Jews from Greek-speaking countries at the time of the festivals (comp. the "murmuring of the Grecians against

6510-480: The limits of Samaria and Judea lies the village Anuath, which is also named Borceos . This is the northern boundary of Judea. The southern parts of Judea, if they be measured lengthways, are bounded by a village adjoining to the confines of Arabia ; the Jews that dwell there call it Jordan. However, its breadth is extended from the river Jordan to Joppa. The city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle; on which account some have, with sagacity enough, called that city

6603-417: The majority of Jews were killed, and those who were captured were burned alive. Following this event was the second Alexandrian pogrom. Tiberius Julius Alexander , the governor of Alexandria (who was born Jewish, but left the religion) was able to calm the riots. However, most Jews saw the rising antisemitism and emigrated out of the city, mostly to Rome and other Mediterranean and North African cities. During

6696-636: The mid-5th century BCE: Palaestina Prima , Secunda , and Tertia or Salutaris (First, Second, and Third Palestine), part of the Diocese of the East . Palaestina Prima consisted of Judea, Samaria, the Paralia , and Peraea with the governor residing in Caesarea . Palaestina Secunda consisted of Galilee, the lower Jezreel Valley , the regions east of Galilee, and the western part of the former Decapolis with

6789-639: The name " Judah ", which originally encompassed the territory of the Israelite tribe of that name and later of the ancient Kingdom of Judah . Nimrud Tablet K.3751 , dated c. 733 BCE, is the earliest known record of the name Judah (written in Assyrian cuneiform as Yaudaya or KUR.ia-ú-da-a-a). Judea was sometimes used as the name for the entire region, including parts beyond the river Jordan . In 200 CE Sextus Julius Africanus , cited by Eusebius ( Church History 1.7.14), described "Nazara" ( Nazareth ) as

6882-617: The name of the province from Judaea to Syria Palaestina . The province's Jewish population was now mainly concentrated in Galilee, the coastal plain (especially in Lydda , Joppa , and Caesarea ), and smaller Jewish communities continued to live in the Beth She'an Valley , the Carmel , and Judea's northern and southern frontiers, including the southern Hebron Hills and along the shores of

6975-460: The nickname "Ha-Bavli"), had to learn the Greek language and Greek philosophy to be conversant with sophisticated rabbinical language—many of the theological innovations introduced by Hillel had Greek names, most famously the Talmudic notion of Prozbul , from Koine Greek προσβολή, "to deliver": Unlike literary Hebrew, popular Aramaic or Hebrew constantly adopted new Greek loanwords, as is shown by

7068-536: The only persons who cherished wishes opposed to his." Following the First Jewish–Roman War, many Romans in Alexandria questioned the loyalty of the city's Jewry. Violence occurred in 66 CE, when the Alexandrines had organized a public assembly to deliberate about an embassy to Nero , and a great number of Jews came flocking to the amphitheater . When the Alexandrines saw the Jews, they attacked them ;

7161-459: The previous policy of respect and protection, banning key Jewish religious rites and traditions in Judea (although not among the diaspora) and sparking a traditionalist revolt against Greek rule . Out of this revolt was formed an independent Jewish kingdom known as the Hasmonean dynasty , which lasted from 141 BCE to 63 BCE and eventually disintegrated into civil war . Overall, Jewish society

7254-443: The regional population, composed of pagan populations who had migrated there after Jews were driven out following the Bar Kokhba revolt, gradually converted to Christianity . The Byzantines redrew the borders of the land of Palestine. The various Roman provinces ( Syria Palaestina , Samaria , Galilee , and Peraea ) were reorganized into three dioceses of Palaestina, reverting to the name first used by Greek historian Herodotus in

7347-512: The result of the persecution of Antiochus IV . However, it does not appear that most Jews in the Hellenistic era considered Greek rulers any worse or different from Persian or Babylonian ones. Writings of Hellenized Jews such as Philo of Alexandria show no particular belief that Jewish and Greek culture are incompatible; as another example, the Letter of Aristeas holds up Jews and Judaism in

7440-400: The royal court and the leaders of the Jewish community. This was a diaspora of choice, not of imposition. Information is less robust regarding diasporas in other territories. It suggests that the situation was by and large the same as it was in Egypt. The Greeks viewed Jewish culture favorably, while Hellenism gained adherents among the Jews. While Hellenism has sometimes been presented (under

7533-496: The seat of government at Scythopolis . Palaestina Tertia included the Negev , southern Jordan—once part of Arabia—and most of Sinai , with Petra as the usual residence of the governor. Palestina Tertia was also known as Palaestina Salutaris. According to historian H.H. Ben-Sasson, this reorganisation took place under Diocletian (284–305), although other scholars suggest this change occurred later, in 390. According to Ellenblum,

7626-545: The slopes are still layered with centuries-old stone terracing . The Jewish Revolt against the Romans ended in the devastation of vast areas of the Judean countryside. Mount Hazor marks the geographical boundary between Samaria to its north and Judea to its south. Judea is central to much of the narrative of the Torah , with the Patriarchs Abraham , Isaac and Jacob said to have been buried at Hebron in

7719-399: The tenets of Hellenistic philosophy . He also popularized metaphors such as " circumcision of the heart" to Greek audiences. Hellenization was evident in the religious Jewish establishment: 'Ḥoni' became 'Menelaus'; 'Joshua' became 'Jason' or 'Jesus' [Ἰησοῦς]. The Hellenic influence pervaded everything, and even in the very strongholds of Judaism it modified the organization of the state,

7812-561: The two main Greek urban settlements of the Middle East and North Africa , both founded in the end of the 4th century BCE in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great . Hellenistic Judaism also existed in Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period , where there was a conflict between Hellenizers and traditionalists. The major literary product of the contact between Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic culture

7905-452: The works of Greek-speaking Jewish authors of the end of the Second Temple period before the two schools of thought eventually affirmed their respective norms and doctrines, notably by diverging increasingly on key issues such as the status of purity laws, the validity of Christian messianic beliefs, and the use of Koiné Greek and Latin as liturgical languages replacing Biblical Hebrew . The word synagogue comes from Jewish Koine Greek ,

7998-519: Was applied to an area larger than Judea of earlier periods. In 132 CE, the Roman province of Judaea was merged with Galilee to form the enlarged province of Syria Palaestina . The term Judea was used by English speakers for the hilly internal part of Mandatory Palestine until the Jordanian rule of the area in 1948. Most of the region of Judea was incorporated into what the Jordanians called ad-difa'a al-gharbiya (translated into English as

8091-463: Was divided between conservative factions and pro-Hellenist factions. Pro-Hellenist Jews were generally upper-class or minorities living in Gentile -majority communities. They lived in towns that were far from Jerusalem and heavily connected with Greek trading networks. The most significant literary achievement of Hellenistic Judaism was the development of the Septuagint . Other notable works include

8184-683: Was eventually marginalized by, partially absorbed into, or progressively became the Koine-speaking core of early Christianity centered on Antioch and its traditions, such as the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch . The conquests of Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BCE spread Greek culture and colonization —a process of cultural change called Hellenization —over non-Greek lands including

8277-597: Was killed or enslaved. In 132 CE, the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE) broke out. After an initial string of victories, rebel leader Simeon Bar Kokhba was able to form an independent Jewish state that lasted several years and included most of the district of Judea, including the Judean Mountains, the Judean Desert, and northern Negev desert, but probably not other sections of the country. When

8370-527: Was only a revival of village settlement on the eastern edges of Jerusalem's hinterland, on the transition between the arable highlands and the Judaean Desert . Those settlements grew on marginal lands with vague ownership and unenforced state land dominion. Judea's decline only came to an end in the fifth century CE, when it developed into a monastic center, and Jerusalem became a major Christian pilgrimage and ecclesiastical hub. Under Byzantine rule,

8463-614: Was renovated by the Egyptian government as part of a program to protect Jewish heritage sites. Hellenistic Judaism Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic culture and religion. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean , the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch in Turkey ,

8556-408: Was shot through with Greek. The unique combination of ethnocultural traits inhered from the fusion of a Greek - Macedonian cultural base, Hellenistic Judaism and Roman civilization gave birth to the distinctly Antiochian "Middle Eastern-Roman" Christian traditions of Cilicia (Southeastern Turkey) and Syria/Lebanon: "The mixture of Roman, Greek, and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for

8649-451: Was the second of those cities, and next to that Acrabatta, after them Thamna, and Lydda , and Emmaus , and Pella, and Idumea , and Engaddi , and Herodium , and Jericho ; and after them came Jamnia and Joppa , as presiding over the neighboring people; and besides these there was the region of Gamala, and Gaulonitis, and Batanea, and Trachonitis, which are also parts of the kingdom of Agrippa. This [last] country begins at Mount Libanus, and

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