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153-559: The name Maccabee is often used as a synonym for the entire Hasmonean dynasty , but the Maccabees proper comprised Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic maqqəḇa , "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditional Jewish explanation

306-418: A Jewish priest . His older full-blooded brother was also, like his father, called Matthias. Their mother was an aristocratic woman who was descended from the royal and formerly ruling Hasmonean dynasty . Josephus's paternal grandparents were a man also named Joseph(us) and his wife—an unnamed Hebrew noblewoman—distant relatives of each other. Josephus's family was wealthy. He descended through his father from

459-645: A Roman citizen and former general in the Galilee, who survived the Jewish–Roman wars of the 1st century, was a Jew who was captured by and cooperated with the Romans, and wrote his books under Roman patronage. The continuing Hellenization of Judea pitted traditional Jews against those who eagerly Hellenized. The latter felt that the former's orthodoxy held them back. Jews were divided both between those favoring Hellenization and those opposing it and over allegiance to

612-537: A Greek polis called Antioch". In turn, Menelaus then bribed Antiochus and was appointed high priest in place of Jason. Menelaus had Onias assassinated. Menelaus' brother Lysimachus stole holy vessels from the Temple ; the resulting riots led to the death of Lysimachus. Menelaus was arrested for Onias' murder and was arraigned before Antiochus, but he bribed his way out of trouble. Jason subsequently drove out Menelaus and became high priest again. In 168 Antiochus pillaged

765-491: A Greek polis replete with gymnasium and ephebeion (2 Maccabees 4). Whether this step represents the culmination of a 150-year process of Hellenisation within Jerusalem in general, or whether it was only the initiative of a small coterie of Jerusalem priests with no wider ramifications, has been debated for decades." Hellenised Jews are known to have engaged in non-surgical foreskin restoration (epispasm) in order to join

918-600: A Greek Jewish woman from Crete , who was a member of a distinguished family. They had two sons, Flavius Justus and Flavius Simonides Agrippa. Josephus's life story remains ambiguous. He was described by Harris in 1985 as a law-observant Jew who believed in the compatibility of Judaism and Graeco-Roman thought, commonly referred to as Hellenistic Judaism . Josippon , the Hebrew version of Josephus, contains changes. His critics were never satisfied as to why he failed to commit suicide in Galilee, and after his capture, accepted

1071-587: A Greek lifestyle. According to historian Victor Tcherikover , the main motive for the Tobiads' Hellenism was economic and political. The Hellenizing Jews built a gymnasium in Jerusalem , competed in international Greek games, " removed their marks of circumcision and repudiated the holy covenant ". When Antiochus IV Epiphanes became ruler of the Seleucid Empire in 175 BCE, Onias III held

1224-582: A Hasmonean princess, Mariamne , and planning to drown the last male Hasmonean heir at his Jericho palace. In 6 CE, Rome joined Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea into the Roman province of Judaea . In 44 CE, Rome installed the rule of a procurator side by side with the rule of the Herodian kings (specifically Agrippa I 41–44 and Agrippa II 50–100). The family name of the Hasmonean dynasty originates from

1377-476: A Roman onslaught. In Upper Galilee , he fortified the towns of Jamnith , Seph , Mero , and Achabare , among other places. Josephus, with the Galileans under his command, managed to bring both Sepphoris and Tiberias into subjection, but was eventually forced to relinquish his hold on Sepphoris by the arrival of Roman forces under Placidus the tribune and later by Vespasian himself. Josephus first engaged

1530-547: A brief visit to Rome in the early 60s ( Life 13–17). In the wake of the suppression of the Jewish revolt, Josephus would have witnessed the marches of Titus 's triumphant legions leading their Jewish captives, and carrying treasures from the despoiled Temple in Jerusalem . It was against this background that Josephus wrote his War . He blames the Jewish War on what he calls "unrepresentative and over-zealous fanatics" among

1683-537: A civil war took on the character of an invasion when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided with the Hellenising Jews against the traditionalists. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus prohibited the practices of the traditionalists, thereby, in a departure from usual Seleucid practice, banning the religion of an entire people. Other scholars argue that while the rising began as a religious rebellion, it

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1836-609: A detailed examination of all the available manuscripts, mainly from France and Spain. Henry St. John Thackeray and successors such as Ralph Marcus used Niese's version for the Loeb Classical Library edition widely used today. On the Jewish side, Josephus was far more obscure, as he was perceived as a traitor. Rabbinical writings for a millennium after his death (e.g. the Mishnah ) almost never call out Josephus by name, although they sometimes tell parallel tales of

1989-605: A friendly conference, where he persuaded him to dismiss his army of 40,000 men, promising to give him Ptolemais and other fortresses. Jonathan fell into the trap; he took with him to Ptolemais 1,000 men, all of whom were slain; he himself was taken prisoner. When Diodotus Tryphon was about to enter Judea at Hadid, he was confronted by the new Jewish leader, Simon, ready for battle. Tryphon, avoiding an engagement, demanded one hundred talents and Jonathan's two sons as hostages, in return for which he promised to liberate Jonathan. Although Simon did not trust Diodotus Tryphon, he complied with

2142-482: A mercenary army to capture Madaba and Schechem , significantly increasing his regional influence. Hyrcanus conquered Transjordan , Samaria , and Idumea (also known as Edom ), and forced Idumeans to convert to Judaism: Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus ( / dʒ oʊ ˈ s iː f ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἰώσηπος , Iṓsēpos ; c.  AD 37  – c.  100 ) or Yosef ben Mattityahu ( Hebrew : יוֹסֵף בֵּן מַתִּתְיָהוּ )

2295-580: A one-and-a-half-millennium long secondary symbolic interpretation in Judaism, while the Christian tradition kept the original meaning, that of a martyrdom-for-the-faith tradition. This interpretation would help to explain the unique iconography of this particular mosaic carpet, which is the only one found so far in synagogues of its period depicting scenes not found in the Hebrew Bible . Only due to

2448-670: A person of great experience in everything belonging to his own nation, he attained to that remarkable familiarity with his country in every part, which his antiquarian researches so abundantly evince. But he was controlled by political motives: his great purpose was to bring his people, the despised Jewish race, into honour with the Greeks and Romans; and this purpose underlay every sentence, and filled his history with distortions and exaggerations. Josephus mentions that in his day there were 240 towns and villages scattered across Upper and Lower Galilee , some of which he names. Josephus's works are

2601-596: A pretender to the Seleucid throne, and was succeeded by Simon Maccabee , the last remaining son of Mattathias. Simon gave support to Demetrius II Nicator , the Seleucid king, and in return Demetrius exempted the Maccabees from tribute . Simon conquered the port of Joppa , where the Gentile population were 'forcibly removed', and the fortress of Gezer . He expelled the garrison from the Acra in Jerusalem. In 140 BCE, he

2754-455: A rival claimant to the Seleucid throne: Alexander Balas , who purported to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and a first cousin of Demetrius. Demetrius was forced to recall the garrisons of Judea, except those in the City of Acre and at Beth-zur, to bolster his strength. Furthermore, he made a bid for the loyalty of Jonathan, permitting him to recruit an army and to reclaim the hostages kept in

2907-972: A significant, extra-Biblical account of the post-Exilic period of the Maccabees , the Hasmonean dynasty, and the rise of Herod the Great . He also describes the Sadducees , the Pharisees and Essenes , the Herodian Temple, Quirinius 's census and the Zealots , and such figures as Pontius Pilate , Herod the Great , Agrippa I and Agrippa II , John the Baptist , James the brother of Jesus , and Jesus . Josephus represents an important source for studies of immediate post-Temple Judaism and

3060-465: A small jug of oil that had remained uncontaminated by virtue of a seal, and although it only contained enough oil to sustain the Temple menorah for one day, it miraculously lasted for eight days, by which time further oil could be procured. Following the re-dedication of the Temple, the supporters of the Maccabees were divided over the question of whether to continue fighting. When the revolt began under

3213-524: A systematic order, proceeding topically and logically" and included all relevant material for their subject. Antiquarians moved beyond political history to include institutions and religious and private life. Josephus does offer this wider perspective in Antiquities . The works of Josephus are major sources of our understanding of Jewish life and history during the first century. His first work in Rome

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3366-754: Is 1 August in both the Eastern Orthodox Church (for which 1 August is also the first day of the Dormition Fast ) and the Catholic Church . While studying a floor mosaic discovered during the 2012-2016 campaigns at the Huqoq synagogue near the Sea of Galilee and dating to the 4th–5th centuries, Russian researcher Nina V. Braginskaya comes to a different conclusion from that of the dig director, Jodi Magness . Braginskaya puts forward that

3519-775: Is also called the Septuagint . Both books are included in the Old Testament used by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, since those churches consider the books deuterocanonical . They are not included in the Old Testament books in most Protestant Bibles since most Protestants consider the books apocryphal . Multiple references to Hanukkah are made in the Mishnah (Bikkurim 1:6, Rosh HaShanah 1:3, Taanit 2:10, Megillah 3:4 and 3:6, Moed Katan 3:9, and Bava Kama 6:6), though specific laws are not described. The miracle of

3672-468: Is damaged in some places. In the Life , Niese follows mainly manuscript P, but refers also to AMW and R. Henry St. John Thackeray for the Loeb Classical Library has a Greek text also mainly dependent on P. André Pelletier edited a new Greek text for his translation of Life . The ongoing Münsteraner Josephus-Ausgabe of Münster University will provide a new critical apparatus. Late Old Slavonic translations of

3825-623: Is explained throughout Chabad Chassidic thought. It says that Antiochus didn't mind that the Jews kept the culture of Judaism, rather all he wanted was to eradicate the laws of the Torah ( mitzvos ) that weren't logical but rather kept solely because it is God's command. But when he saw that even the logical/rational and cultural commandments of the Torah were being practiced by the Jews in a way higher than logic, he then opposed Judaism in its entirety. In

3978-609: Is linked with the village of Heshmon , mentioned in Joshua 15:27 . P.J. Gott and Logan Licht attribute the name to "Ha Simeon", a veiled reference to the Simeonite Tribe . Canaan State of Israel (1948–present) The lands of the former Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah ( c.  722 –586 BCE), had been occupied in turn by Assyria , Babylonia , the Achaemenid Empire , and Alexander

4131-423: Is repentance: in later life he felt so bad about the traitorous War that he needed to demonstrate … his loyalty to Jewish history, law and culture." However, Josephus's "countless incidental remarks explaining basic Judean language, customs and laws … assume a Gentile audience. He does not expect his first hearers to know anything about the laws or Judean origins." The issue of who would read this multi-volume work

4284-404: Is that Maccabee ( Hebrew : מכבים Makkabi ) is an acronym for the Torah verse that was the battle-cry of the Maccabees, " M i k amocha ba' elim Y HWH " , "Who is like You among the heavenly powers, oh God!", as well as an acronym for " M atityahu ha K ohen b en Y ochanan " (Matthias the priest, son of John). The correlating Torah verse Exodus 15:11, The song of Moses and

4437-487: Is unresolved. Other possible motives for writing Antiquities could be to dispel the misrepresentation of Jewish origins or as an apologetic to Greek cities of the Diaspora in order to protect Jews and to Roman authorities to garner their support for the Jews facing persecution. Josephus was a very popular writer with Christians in the 4th century and beyond as an independent source to the events before, during, and after

4590-664: The Haskalah ("Jewish Enlightenment") in the 19th century, when sufficiently "neutral" vernacular language translations were made. Kalman Schulman finally created a Hebrew translation of the Greek text of Josephus in 1863, although many rabbis continued to prefer the Yosippon version. By the 20th century, Jewish attitudes toward Josephus had softened, as he gave the Jews a respectable place in classical history. Various parts of his work were reinterpreted as more inspiring and favorable to

4743-411: The nomen Flavius from his patrons, as was the custom amongst freedmen . Vespasian arranged for Josephus to marry a captured Jewish woman, whom he later divorced. Around the year 71, Josephus married an Alexandrian Jewish woman as his third wife. They had three sons, of whom only Flavius Hyrcanus survived childhood. Josephus later divorced his third wife. Around 75, he married his fourth wife,

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4896-516: The Battle of Antioch resulted in the final defeat of Alexander Balas by the forces of his father-in-law Ptolemy VI. Ptolemy himself, however, was among the casualties of the battle. Demetrius II Nicator remained sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire and became the second husband of Cleopatra Thea . Jonathan owed no allegiance to the new King and took this opportunity to lay siege to the Acra ,

5049-642: The Battle of Elasa (Laisa), where this time it was the Hasmonean commander who was killed. (161/160 BCE). Bacchides now established the Hellenes as rulers in Israel; and upon Judah's death, the persecuted patriots, under Jonathan, brother of Judah, fled beyond the Jordan River. (ib. 9:25–27) They set camp near a morass by the name of Asphar, and remained, after several engagements with the Seleucids, in

5202-651: The Egyptians , who, in turn, taught the Greeks . Moses set up a senatorial priestly aristocracy, which, like that of Rome, resisted monarchy . The great figures of the Tanakh are presented as ideal philosopher-leaders. He includes an autobiographical appendix defending his conduct at the end of the war when he cooperated with the Roman forces. Louis H. Feldman outlines the difference between calling this work Antiquities of

5355-680: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church , also refer to the Maccabee martyrs. The first of these books states that their father was a Benjamite named Maccabeus and that three of the brothers, who are called Abya, Seela, and Fentos, were captured and martyred for leading a guerrilla war against Antiochus Epiphanes. From before the time of the Tridentine calendar , the Holy Maccabees had a commemoration in

5508-489: The Euphrates . In 116 BCE, a civil war between Seleucid half-brothers Antiochus VIII Grypus and Antiochus IX Cyzicenus broke out, resulting in a further breakup of the already significantly reduced kingdom. This provided opportunity for semi-independent Seleucid client states such as Judea to revolt. In 110 BCE, John Hyrcanus carried out the first military conquests of the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom, raising

5661-657: The Roman Rite liturgy within the feast of Saint Peter in Chains . This commemoration remained within the weekday liturgy when in 1960 Pope John XXIII suppressed this particular feast of Saint Peter. Nine years later, 1 August became the feast of Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori , and the mention of the Maccabee martyrs was omitted from the General Roman Calendar , since in its 1969 revision it no longer admitted commemorations. The feast day of these saints

5814-607: The Roman army led by military commander Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat . Josephus claimed the Jewish messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Roman emperor . In response, Vespasian decided to keep him as a slave and presumably interpreter . After Vespasian became emperor in AD ;69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed

5967-676: The Sabbath . Other Jews then reasoned that they must fight when attacked, even on the Sabbath. The institution of guerrilla warfare practices by Judah over several years led to victory against the Seleucids: It was now, in the fall of 165, that Judah's successes began to disturb the central government. He appears to have controlled the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and thus to have cut off the royal party in Acra from direct communication with

6120-490: The Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity ), from c.  140 BCE to 37 BCE. Between c.  140 and c.  116 BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire , and from roughly 110 BCE, with the empire disintegrating, Judea gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea , Samaria , Idumea , Galilee , and Iturea . The Hasmonean rulers took

6273-572: The Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 141 BCE. According to 1 Maccabees , 2 Maccabees , and the first book of The Jewish War by historian Josephus (37 –  c.  100  CE), the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( r.  175–164 ) moved to assert strict control over the Seleucid satrapy of Coele Syria and Phoenicia after his successful invasion of Ptolemaic Egypt (170–168 BCE)

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6426-543: The Septuagint that was codified by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians. The other primary source for the Hasmonean dynasty is the first book of The Wars of the Jews and a more detailed history in Antiquities of the Jews by the Jewish historian Josephus , (37– c. 100 CE). Josephus' account is the only primary source covering the history of the Hasmonean dynasty during the period of its expansion and independence between 110 and 63 BCE. Notably, Josephus,

6579-623: The swamp in the country east of the Jordan. Following the death of his puppet governor Alcimus , High Priest of Jerusalem, Bacchides felt secure enough to leave the country, but two years after the departure of Bacchides from Israel, the City of Acre felt sufficiently threatened by Maccabee incursions to contact Demetrius and request the return of Bacchides to their territory. Jonathan and Simeon, now more experienced in guerrilla warfare , thought it well to retreat farther, and accordingly fortified in

6732-419: The "antiquated" and "outdated" religion practised in Jerusalem, and to rid it of superstitious elements. They were the ones who egged on Antiochus IV and instituted the religious reform in Jerusalem. One suspects that [Bickermann] may have been influenced in his view by an antipathy to Reform Judaism in 19th- and 20th-century Germany. Tcherikover, perhaps influenced by socialist concerns, saw the uprising as one of

6885-617: The 17th century. The 1544 Greek edition formed the basis of the 1732 English translation by William Whiston , which achieved enormous popularity in the English-speaking world. It was often the book—after the Bible—that Christians most frequently owned. Whiston claimed that certain works by Josephus had a similar style to the Epistles of St. Paul . Later editions of the Greek text include that of Benedikt Niese , who made

7038-733: The Children of Israel by the Sea , makes a reference to elim , with a mundane notion of natural forces, heavenly might, war and governmental powers. The scholar and poet Aaron Kaminka argues that the name is a corruption of Machbanai , a mighty warrior in the army of King David . In the 2nd century BCE, Judea lay between the Ptolemaic Kingdom (based in Egypt ) and the Seleucid Empire (based in Syria ), monarchies which had formed following

7191-418: The City of Acre. Jonathan gladly accepted these terms, took up residence at Jerusalem in 153 BCE, and began fortifying the city. Alexander Balas offered Jonathan even more favourable terms, including official appointment as High Priest in Jerusalem, and despite a second letter from Demetrius promising prerogatives that were almost impossible to guarantee, Jonathan declared allegiance to Balas. Jonathan became

7344-502: The Emperor's family name of Flavius . Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship . He became an advisor and close associate of Vespasian's son Titus , serving as his translator during Titus's protracted siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, which resulted in the near-total razing of the city and the destruction of the Second Temple . Josephus recorded

7497-408: The Galileans and by the Romans; he was guilty of shocking duplicity at Jotapata, saving himself by sacrifice of his companions; he was too naive to see how he stood condemned out of his own mouth for his conduct, and yet no words were too harsh when he was blackening his opponents; and after landing, however involuntarily, in the Roman camp, he turned his captivity to his own advantage, and benefited for

7650-400: The Great 's Hellenic Macedonian empire ( c.  330 BCE), although Jewish religious practice and culture had persisted and even flourished during certain periods. The entire region was heavily contested between the successor states of Alexander's empire, the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Kingdom, during the six Syrian Wars of the 3rd–1st centuries BCE: "After two centuries of peace under

7803-445: The Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66–70), including the siege of Masada . His most important works were The Jewish War ( c.  75 ) and Antiquities of the Jews ( c.  94). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation. Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Greek and Roman audience. These works provide insight into first-century Judaism and

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7956-444: The Greek also exist, but these contain a large number of Christian interpolations. Author Joseph Raymond calls Josephus "the Jewish Benedict Arnold " for betraying his own troops at Jotapata, while historian Mary Smallwood , in the introduction to the translation of The Jewish War by G. A. Williamson , writes: [Josephus] was conceited, not only about his own learning, but also about the opinions held of him as commander both by

8109-483: The Greek title basileus ("king") as the kingdom became a regional power for several decades. Forces of the Roman Republic intervened in the Hasmonean Civil War in 63 BCE and made it into a client state, marking the decline of Hasmonean dynasty; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BCE. Simon Thassi established the dynasty in 141 BCE, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus ( יהודה המכבי Yehudah HaMakabi ) had defeated

8262-410: The Hasmonean kingdom into the Herodian kingdom —a client kingdom of Rome. The Maccabean story is preserved in the books of the First and Second Maccabees , which describe in detail the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the lighting of the menorah. These books are not part of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ) which came from the Jewish canon; however, they were part of the Alexandrian canon which

8415-427: The Hellenistic party's complaints against Jonathan. In 147 BCE, Demetrius II Nicator , a son of Demetrius I Soter, claimed Balas' throne. The governor of Coele-Syria , Apollonius Taos, used the opportunity to challenge Jonathan to battle, saying that the Jews might for once leave the mountains and venture out into the plain . Jonathan and Simeon led a force of 10,000 men against Apollonius' forces in Jaffa , which

8568-412: The Jews (cf. Life 430) – where the author for the most part re-visits the events of the War and his tenure in Galilee as governor and commander, apparently in response to allegations made against him by Justus of Tiberias (cf. Life 336). Josephus's Against Apion is a two-volume defence of Judaism as classical religion and philosophy , stressing its antiquity, as opposed to what Josephus claimed

8721-411: The Jews , completed during the last year of the reign of the Emperor Flavius Domitian , around 93 or 94 AD. In expounding Jewish history, law and custom, he is entering into many philosophical debates current in Rome at that time. Again he offers an apologia for the antiquity and universal significance of the Jewish people. Josephus claims to be writing this history because he "saw that others perverted

8874-517: The Jews instead of History of the Jews . Although Josephus says that he describes the events contained in Antiquities "in the order of time that belongs to them," Feldman argues that Josephus "aimed to organize [his] material systematically rather than chronologically" and had a scope that "ranged far beyond mere political history to political institutions, religious and private life." An autobiographical text written by Josephus in approximately 94–99 CE – possibly as an appendix to his Antiquities of

9027-460: The Jews first made the acquaintance of Hellenism and of the more corrupt sides of Greek culture; and it was from Antioch that Judea henceforth was ruled." The major source of information about the origin of the Hasmonean dynasty is the books 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees , held as canonical scripture by the Catholic , Orthodox , and most Oriental Orthodox churches and as apocryphal by Protestant denominations, although they do not comprise

9180-419: The Jews than the Renaissance translations by Christians had been. Notably, the last stand at Masada (described in The Jewish War ), which past generations had deemed insane and fanatical, received a more positive reinterpretation as an inspiring call to action in this period. The standard editio maior of the various Greek manuscripts is that of Benedictus Niese , published 1885–95. The text of Antiquities

9333-449: The Jews who supported him. The author of the Second Book of Maccabees presented the conflict as a struggle between "Judaism" and "Hellenism", words that he was the first to use. Modern scholarship tends to the second view. Most modern scholars argue that the king was intervening in a civil war between traditionalist Jews in the countryside and Hellenised Jews in Jerusalem. According to Joseph P. Schultz, modern scholarship, "considers

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9486-424: The Jews, who led the masses away from their traditional aristocratic leaders (like himself), with disastrous results. For example, Josephus writes that " Simon [bar Giora] was a greater terror to the people than the Romans themselves." Josephus also blames some of the Roman governors of Judea , representing them as corrupt and incompetent administrators. The next work by Josephus is his 21-volume Antiquities of

9639-477: The Jews. His government set up an idol of Zeus on the Temple Mount , which Jews considered to be desecration of the Mount; it also forbade both circumcision and possession of Jewish scriptures, on pain of death. According to Josephus, "Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during

9792-409: The Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp." In the conflict over the office of High Priest, traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contested against Hellenisers with Greek names like Jason or Menelaus. Other authors point to social and economic factors in the conflict. What began as

9945-418: The Maccabee family, they are referred to in Christianity as the "Holy Maccabean Martyrs" or the "Holy Maccabees." According to one tradition, their individual names are Habim, Antonin, Guriah, Eleazar, Eusebon, Hadim (Halim), Marcellus, their mother Solomonia, and their teacher Eleazar . The three Ethiopian books of Meqabyan (quite distinct works from the other four books of Maccabees), which are canonical in

10098-410: The Parthian Empire, rapidly crushed by the Romans under Mark Antony and Augustus . The Hasmonean dynasty had survived for 103 years before yielding to the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE. The installation of Herod the Great (an Idumean ) as king in 37 BCE made Judea a Roman client state and marked the end of the Hasmonean dynasty. Even then, Herod tried to bolster the legitimacy of his reign by marrying

10251-412: The Persians, the Hebrew state found itself once more caught in the middle of power struggles between two great empires: the Seleucid state with its capital in Syria to the north and the Ptolemaic state, with its capital in Egypt to the south. ... Between 319 and 302 BCE, Jerusalem changed hands seven times." Under Antiochus III the Great , the Seleucids wrested control of Judea from the Ptolemies for

10404-414: The Ptolemies or Seleucids. In 175 BCE, conflict broke out between High Priest Onias III (who opposed Hellenisation and favoured the Ptolemies ) and his brother Jason (who favoured Hellenisation and the Seleucids). A period of political intrigue followed, with both Jason and Menelaus bribing the king to win the High Priesthood, and accusations of murder of competing contenders for the title. The result

10557-463: The Roman Republic to remove the Greeks: "In the year 161 BCE he sent Eupolemus the son of Johanan and Jason the son of Eleazar , 'to make a league of amity and confederacy with the Romans.'" A Seleucid army under General Nicanor was defeated by Judah (ib. 7:26–50) at the Battle of Adasa , with Nicanor himself killed in action. Next, Bacchides was sent with Alcimus and an army of twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, and met Judah at

10710-403: The Roman army at a village called Garis , where he launched an attack against Sepphoris a second time, before being repulsed. At length, he resisted the Roman army in its siege of Yodfat (Jotapata) until it fell to the Roman army in the lunar month of Tammuz , in the thirteenth year of Nero 's reign. After the Jewish garrison of Yodfat fell under siege, the Romans invaded, killing thousands;

10863-442: The Roman forces and became prisoners. In 69 AD, Josephus was released. According to his account, he acted as a negotiator with the defenders during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, during which time his parents were held as hostages by Simon bar Giora . While being confined at Yodfat (Jotapata), Josephus claimed to have experienced a divine revelation that later led to his speech predicting Vespasian would become emperor. After

11016-588: The Roman historian Livy , the Roman senate dispatched the diplomat Gaius Popilius to Egypt who demanded Antiochus to withdraw. When Antiochus requested time to discuss the matter Popilius "drew a circle round the king with the stick he was carrying and said, 'Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate.'" While Antiochus was campaigning in Egypt, a rumor spread in Judah that he had been killed. The deposed high priest Jason took advantage of

11169-413: The Seleucid fortress in Jerusalem and the symbol of Seleucid control over Judea. It was heavily garrisoned by a Seleucid force and offered asylum to Jewish Hellenists. Demetrius was greatly incensed; he appeared with an army at Ptolemais and ordered Jonathan to come before him. Without raising the siege, Jonathan, accompanied by the elders and priests, went to the king and pacified him with presents, so that

11322-520: The Seleucid king (who had tried to eradicate their religion) and against the Jews who supported him. The author of the Second Book of Maccabees presents the conflict as a struggle between "Judaism" and "Hellenism", concepts which he coined. Most modern scholars argue that King Antiochus reacted to a civil war between traditionalist Jews in the Judean countryside and Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem, though

11475-594: The Seleucid throne appeared in the person of the young Antiochus VI Dionysus , son of Alexander Balas and Cleopatra Thea. He was three years old at most, but general Diodotus Tryphon used him to advance his own designs on the throne. In the face of this new enemy, Demetrius not only promised to withdraw the garrison from the City of Acre, but also called Jonathan his ally and requested him to send troops. The 3,000 men of Jonathan protected Demetrius in his capital, Antioch , against his own subjects. As Demetrius II did not keep his promise, Jonathan thought it better to support

11628-455: The Temple, attacked Jerusalem and "led captive the women and children." From this point onwards, Antiochus pursued a zealous Hellenizing policy in the Seleucid satrapies of Coele Syria and Phoenicia . Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city ( Jerusalem ), or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during

11781-469: The Torah a capital offense and burned the copies he could find; sabbaths and feasts were banned; circumcision was outlawed, and mothers who circumcised their babies were killed along with their families; and traditional Jewish ritual sacrifice was forbidden. It was said that an idol of Olympian Zeus was placed on the altar of the Temple and that Israelites set up altars to Greek gods and sacrificed "unclean" animals on them. The main objective of Antiochus

11934-460: The actions of both parties with accuracy." Josephus confesses he will be unable to contain his sadness in transcribing these events; to illustrate this will have little effect on his historiography, Josephus suggests, "But if any one be inflexible in his censures of me, let him attribute the facts themselves to the historical part, and the lamentations to the writer himself only." His preface to Antiquities offers his opinion early on, saying, "Upon

12087-457: The ancestor of the house, whom Josephus called by the Hellenised form Asmoneus or Asamoneus ( Greek : Ἀσαμωναῖος ), said to have been the great-grandfather of Mattathias , but about whom nothing more is known. The name appears to come from the Hebrew name Hashmonay ( Hebrew : חַשְׁמוֹנַאי , romanized :  Ḥašmonay ). An alternative view posits that the Hebrew name Hashmona'i

12240-459: The ancient geography of the region: Outside of the Scriptures, Josephus holds the first and the only place among the native authors of Judaea; for Philo of Alexandria, the later Talmud, and other authorities, are of little service in understanding the geography of the country. Josephus is, however, to be used with great care. As a Jewish scholar, as an officer of Galilee, as a military man, and

12393-479: The background of Early Christianity . Josephus's works are the chief source next to the Bible for the history and antiquity of ancient Israel , and provide an independent extra-biblical account of such figures as Pontius Pilate , Herod the Great , John the Baptist , James, brother of Jesus , and Jesus of Nazareth . Josephus was born into one of Jerusalem's elite families. He was the second-born son of Matthias,

12546-539: The canonical books of the Hebrew Bible . The books cover the period from 175 BCE to 134 BCE during which time the Hasmonean dynasty became semi-independent from the Seleucid empire but had not yet expanded far outside of Judea. They are written from the point of view that the salvation of the Jewish people in a crisis came from God through the family of Mattathias, particularly his sons Judas Maccabeus, Jonathan Apphus, and Simon Thassi, and his grandson John Hyrcanus . The books include historical and religious material from

12699-530: The city of Ekron along with its outlying territory. The people of Azotus complained to King Ptolemy VI, who had come to make war upon his son-in-law, but Jonathan met Ptolemy at Jaffa in peace and accompanied him as far as the River Eleutherus. Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem, maintaining peace with the King of Egypt despite their support for different contenders for the Seleucid throne. In 145 BCE,

12852-523: The city. He remained governor as a Seleucid vassal . For the next two decades of his reign, Hyrcanus continued, like his father, to rule semi-autonomously from the Seleucids. The Seleucid empire had been disintegrating in the face of the Seleucid–Parthian wars and in 129 BCE Antiochus VII Sidetes was killed in Media by the forces of Phraates II of Parthia , permanently ending Seleucid rule east of

13005-494: The conflict. What began as a civil war took on the character of an invasion when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided with the Hellenizing Jews against the traditionalists. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus prohibited the practices of the traditionalists, thereby, in a departure from usual Seleucid practice, banning the religion of an entire people. The motives of Antiochus remain unclear: he may have been incensed at

13158-685: The context of early Christianity . A careful reading of Josephus's writings and years of excavation allowed Ehud Netzer , an archaeologist from Hebrew University , to discover what he considered to be the location of Herod's Tomb , after searching for 35 years. It was above aqueducts and pools, at a flattened desert site, halfway up the hill to the Herodium , 12 km south of Jerusalem—as described in Josephus's writings. In October 2013, archaeologists Joseph Patrich and Benjamin Arubas challenged

13311-430: The continuation of the war were led by Judah Maccabee. On his death in battle in 160 BCE, Judah was succeeded as army commander by his younger brother, Jonathan, who was already high priest. Jonathan made treaties with various foreign states, causing further dissent between those who merely desired religious freedom and those who sought greater power. In 142 BCE, Jonathan was assassinated by Diodotus Tryphon ,

13464-589: The death of Alexander the Great . Judea had initially come under Ptolemaic rule but fell to the Seleucids around 197 BCE, after the Battle of Panium , during the Fifth Syrian War. Judea at that time had been affected by the Hellenization initiated by Alexander the Great. Some Jews, mainly those of the urban upper class, notably the Tobiad family, wished to dispense with Jewish law and to adopt

13617-426: The desert a place called Beth-hogla; there they were besieged several days by Bacchides. Jonathan offered the rival general a peace treaty and exchange of prisoners of war . Bacchides readily consented and even took an oath of nevermore making war upon Jonathan. He and his forces then vacated Israel. The victorious Jonathan now took up his residence in the old city of Michmash . From there he endeavoured to clear

13770-524: The difference between history and philosophy by saying, "[T]hose that read my book may wonder how it comes to pass, that my discourse, which promises an account of laws and historical facts, contains so much of philosophy." In both works, Josephus emphasizes that accuracy is crucial to historiography. Louis H. Feldman notes that in Wars , Josephus commits himself to critical historiography, but in Antiquities , Josephus shifts to rhetorical historiography, which

13923-536: The discovery of the Huqoq mosaic could the connection between the Jewish and Christian traditions be noticed and proposed for discussion, to Braginskaya. Hasmonean dynasty The Hasmonean dynasty ( / h æ z m ə ˈ n iː ən / ; Hebrew : חַשְׁמוֹנָאִים ‎ Ḥašmōnāʾīm ; Greek : Ασμοναϊκή δυναστεία ) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of

14076-487: The dominant Hellenistic cultural practice of socialising naked in the gymnasium, where their circumcision would have carried a social stigma; Classical , Hellenistic , and Roman culture found circumcision to be a cruel, barbaric and repulsive custom. In spring 168 BCE, after successfully invading the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, Antiochus IV was humiliatingly pressured by the Romans to withdraw. According to

14229-563: The election was performed in Hellenistic fashion. Simon, having made the Jewish people semi-independent of the Seleucid Greeks, reigned from 142 to 135 BCE and formed the Hasmonean dynasty, finally capturing the citadel [Acra] in 141 BCE. The Roman Senate accorded the new dynasty recognition c.  139 BCE, when the delegation of Simon was in Rome. Simon led the people in peace and prosperity, until in February 135 BCE, he

14382-432: The entourage of Titus. There, he became a Roman citizen and client of the ruling Flavian dynasty . In addition to Roman citizenship , he was granted accommodation in the conquered Judaea and a pension. While in Rome and under Flavian patronage, Josephus wrote all of his known works. Although he only ever calls himself "Josephus" in his writings, later historians refer to him as "Flavius Josephus", confirming that he adopted

14535-488: The fall of Jerusalem , and the subsequent fall of the fortresses of Herodion, Macharont and Masada and the Roman victory celebrations in Rome, the mopping-up operations, Roman military operations elsewhere in the empire and the uprising in Cyrene . Together with the account in his Life of some of the same events, it also provides the reader with an overview of Josephus's own part in the events since his return to Jerusalem from

14688-471: The final time, defeating Ptolemy V Epiphanes at the Battle of Panium in 200 BCE. Seleucid rule over the Jewish parts of the region then resulted in the rise of Hellenistic cultural and religious practices: "In addition to the turmoil of war, there arose in the Jewish nation pro-Seleucid and pro-Ptolemaic parties; and the schism exercised great influence upon the Judaism of the time. It was in Antioch that

14841-514: The founder of the Arabs , the connection of "Semites", "Hamites" and "Japhetites" to the classical nations of the world , and the story of the siege of Masada . Scholars debate about Josephus's intended audience. For example, Antiquities of the Jews could be written for Jews—"a few scholars from Laqueur onward have suggested that Josephus must have written primarily for fellow Jews (if also secondarily for Gentiles). The most common motive suggested

14994-449: The identification of the tomb as that of Herod. According to Patrich and Arubas, the tomb is too modest to be Herod's and has several unlikely features. Roi Porat, who replaced Netzer as excavation leader after the latter's death, stood by the identification. Josephus's writings provide the first-known source for many stories considered as Biblical history, despite not being found in the Bible or related material. These include Ishmael as

15147-412: The king not only confirmed him in his office of high priest, but gave to him the three Samaritan toparchies of Mount Ephraim , Lod , and Ramathaim-Zophim . In consideration of a present of 300 talents the entire country was exempted from taxes , the exemption being confirmed in writing. Jonathan in return lifted the siege of the Acra and left it in Seleucid hands. Soon, however, a new claimant to

15300-568: The king's new policies, it is wrong to see the revolt as simply a conflict between Hellenism and Judaism, since "[t]he revolt was not provoked by the introduction of Greek customs (typified by the building of a gymnasium) but by the persecution of people who observed the Torah by having their children circumcised and refusing to eat pork." In the conflict over the office of high priest, traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contested with Hellenizers with Greek names like Jason and Menelaus. Some scholars point to social and economic factors in

15453-493: The king's response of persecuting the religious traditionalists was unusual in antiquity, and was the immediate provocation for the revolt. According to Joseph P. Schultz, modern scholarship "considers the Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp", but John J. Collins writes that while the civil war between Jewish leaders led to

15606-486: The kingdom was invaded by the Roman Republic , broken up and set up as a Roman client state . Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II , Simon's great-grandsons, became pawns in a proxy war between Julius Caesar and Pompey . The deaths of Pompey (48 BCE) and Caesar (44 BCE), and the related Roman civil wars , temporarily relaxed Rome's grip on the Hasmonean kingdom, allowing a brief reassertion of autonomy backed by

15759-593: The land of "the godless and the apostate ". The chief source, 1 Maccabees, says that with this "the sword ceased in Israel", and in fact nothing is reported for the five following years (158–153 BCE). An important external event brought the design of the Maccabeans to fruition. Demetrius I Soter 's relations with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon (reigned 159–138 BCE), Ptolemy VI of Egypt (reigned 163–145 BCE), and Ptolemy's co-ruler Cleopatra II of Egypt were deteriorating, and they supported

15912-479: The leadership (142 BCE), receiving the double office of High Priest and Ethnarch (Prince) of Israel. The leadership of the Hasmoneans was established by a resolution, adopted in 141 BCE, at a large assembly "of the priests and the people and of the elders of the land, to the effect that Simon should be their leader and High Priest forever, until there should arise a faithful prophet " (1 Macc. 14:41). Ironically,

16065-442: The leadership of Mattathias, it was seen as a war for religious freedom to end the oppression of the Seleucids. However, as the Maccabees realized how successful they had been, many wanted to continue the revolt and conquer other lands with Jewish populations or to convert their peoples. This policy exacerbated the divide between the Pharisees and Sadducees under later Hasmonean monarchs such as Alexander Jannaeus . Those who sought

16218-620: The life of Jesus of Nazareth . Josephus was always accessible in the Greek-reading Eastern Mediterranean. His works were translated into Latin, but often in abbreviated form such as Pseudo-Hegesippus 's 4th century Latin version of The Jewish War ( Bellum Judaicum ). Christian interest in The Jewish War was largely out of interest in the downfall of the Jews and the Second Temple, which

16371-539: The mosaic reflects the ancient Jewish veneration of the nine Maccabee martyrs from the books of the Maccabees, which is later perpetuated just in Christianity, while Jewish tradition preserves only the rite of lighting a nine-branched candelabrum during Hanukkah . In her opinion, there is a direct relationship between the Jewish symbolic object and the Christian symbolic story, with the Hanukkah menorah undergoing

16524-536: The name Maccabees is based on the Aramaic word for "hammer", because they "strike hammer blows against their enemies". The revolt involved many battles, in which the Maccabean forces gained notoriety among the Seleucid army for their use of guerrilla tactics. After the victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Maccabee as high priest. A large Seleucid army

16677-509: The narrative of I Maccabees , after Antiochus issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice, a rural Jewish priest from Modi'in , Mattathias the Hasmonean , sparked the revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods . Mattathias killed a Hellenistic Jew who stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias' place. He and his five sons fled to

16830-466: The new king when Diodotus Tryphon and Antiochus VI seized the capital, especially as the latter confirmed all his rights and appointed his brother Simon (Simeon) strategos of the Paralia (the sea coast), from the "Ladder of Tyre " to the frontier of Egypt . Jonathan and Simon were now entitled to make conquests; Ashkelon submitted voluntarily while Gaza was forcibly taken. Jonathan vanquished even

16983-444: The office of high priest in Jerusalem. To Antiochus, the high priest was merely a local governor within his realm, a man whom he could appoint or dismiss at will, while orthodox Jews saw the holder of the high priesthood as divinely appointed. Jason , the brother of Onias, bribed Antiochus to make him high priest instead of Onias. Jason abolished the traditional theocracy and "received from Antiochus permission to convert Jerusalem into

17136-615: The official religious leader of his people, and officiated at the Feast of Tabernacles of 153 BCE wearing the High Priest's garments. The Hellenistic party could no longer attack him without severe consequences. Hasmoneans held the office of High Priest continuously until 37 BCE. Soon, Demetrius lost both his throne and his life, in 150 BCE. The victorious Alexander Balas was given the further honour of marriage to Cleopatra Thea , daughter of his allies Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II. Jonathan

17289-477: The one-day supply of oil lasting eight days is first described in the Talmud , committed to writing about 600 years after the events described in the books of Maccabees. The New Testament mentions Jesus visiting the temple during Hanukkah (John 10:22-23). The second and fourth books of the Maccabees recount the martyrdom of seven Jewish brothers, their mother and their teacher. Although these are not said to be of

17442-474: The overthrow of his appointee, Menelaus, he may have been responding to a Jewish revolt that had drawn on the Temple and the Torah for its strength, or he may have been encouraged by a group of radical Hellenisers among the Jews. The author of the First Book of Maccabees regarded the Maccabean revolt as a rising of pious Jews against the Seleucid king who had tried to eradicate their religion and against

17595-488: The overthrow of his appointee, Menelaus, or – encouraged by a group of radical Hellenizers among the Jews, he may have been responding to an orthodox Jewish revolt that drew on the Temple and the Torah for its strength. Other scholars argue that, while the rising began as a religious rebellion, it was gradually transformed into a war of national liberation. According to 1 Maccabees, Antiochus banned many traditional Jewish and Samaritan religious practices: he made possession of

17748-466: The patronage of Romans. The works of Josephus provide information about the First Jewish–Roman War and also represent literary source material for understanding the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls and late Temple Judaism. Josephan scholarship in the 19th and early 20th centuries took an interest in Josephus's relationship to the sect of the Pharisees . Some portrayed him as a member of

17901-708: The people of Tiberias appealed to King Agrippa 's forces to protect them from the insurgents. Josephus trained 65,000 troops in the region. Josephus also contended with John of Gischala who had also set his sight over the control of Galilee. Like Josephus, John had amassed to himself a large band of supporters from Gischala (Gush Halab) and Gabara , including the support of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Josephus fortified several towns and villages in Lower Galilee , among which were Tiberias, Bersabe , Selamin , Japha , and Tarichaea , in anticipation of

18054-480: The philosophical school of the Pharisees as a matter of deference, and not by willing association. The works of Josephus include useful material for historians about individuals, groups, customs, and geographical places. However, modern historians have been cautious of taking his writings at face value. For example, Carl Ritter , in his highly influential Erdkunde in the 1840s, wrote in a review of authorities on

18207-454: The prediction came true, he was released by Vespasian, who considered his gift of prophecy to be divine. Josephus wrote that his revelation had taught him three things: that God, the creator of the Jewish people, had decided to "punish" them; that "fortune" had been given to the Romans; and that God had chosen him "to announce the things that are to come". To many Jews, such claims were simply self-serving. In 71 AD, he went to Rome as part of

18360-456: The priestly order of the Jehoiarib , which was the first of the 24 orders of priests in the Temple in Jerusalem . Josephus calls himself a fourth-generation descendant of " High Priest Jonathan", referring to either Jonathan Apphus or Alexander Jannaeus . He was raised in Jerusalem and educated alongside his brother. In his mid twenties, he traveled to negotiate with Emperor Nero for

18513-431: The primary source for the chain of Jewish high priests during the Second Temple period. A few of the Jewish customs named by him include the practice of hanging a linen curtain at the entrance to one's house, and the Jewish custom to partake of a Sabbath-day 's meal around the sixth-hour of the day (at noon). He notes also that it was permissible for Jewish men to marry many wives ( polygamy ). His writings provide

18666-485: The release of some Jewish priests. Upon his return to Jerusalem, at the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War , Josephus was appointed the military governor of Galilee . His arrival in Galilee, however, was fraught with internal division: the inhabitants of Sepphoris and Tiberias opted to maintain peace with the Romans; the people of Sepphoris enlisted the help of the Roman army to protect their city, while

18819-428: The request so that he might not be accused of the death of his brother. But Diodotus Tryphon did not liberate his prisoner; angry that Simon blocked his way everywhere and that he could accomplish nothing, he executed Jonathan at Baskama , in the country east of the Jordan. Jonathan was buried by Simeon at Modin . Nothing is known of his two captive sons. One of his daughters was an ancestor of Josephus. Simon assumed

18972-555: The rest of his days from his change of side. In the Preface to Jewish Wars , Josephus criticizes historians who misrepresent the events of the Jewish–Roman War , writing that "they have a mind to demonstrate the greatness of the Romans, while they still diminish and lessen the actions of the Jews." Josephus states that his intention is to correct this method but that he "will not go to the other extreme ... [and] will prosecute

19125-572: The rural peasants against the rich elite. According to I and II Maccabees, the priestly family of Mattathias (Mattitiyahu in Hebrew), which came to be known as the Maccabees , called the people forth to holy war against the Seleucids. Mattathias' sons Judas (Yehuda), Jonathan (Yonoson/Yonatan), and Simon (Shimon) began a military campaign, initially with disastrous results: one thousand Jewish men, women, and children were killed by Seleucid troops because they refused to fight, even in self-defence, on

19278-491: The same events that Josephus narrated. An Italian Jew writing in the 10th century indirectly brought Josephus back to prominence among Jews: he authored the Yosippon , which paraphrases Pseudo-Hegesippus's Latin version of The Jewish War , a Latin version of Antiquities , as well as other works. The epitomist also adds in his own snippets of history at times. Jews generally distrusted Christian translations of Josephus until

19431-470: The sea and thus with the government. It is significant that this time the Syrian troops, under the leadership of the governor-general Lysias, took the southerly route, by way of Idumea. Towards the end of 164, Judah felt strong enough to enter Jerusalem and the formal religious worship of Yahweh was re-established. The feast of Hanukkah was instituted to commemorate the recovery of the temple. Antiochus, who

19584-466: The sect and as a traitor to the Jewish nation—a view which became known as the classical concept of Josephus. In the mid-20th century, a new generation of scholars challenged this view and formulated the modern concept of Josephus. They consider him a Pharisee but describe him in part as patriot and a historian of some standing. In his 1991 book, Steve Mason argued that Josephus was not a Pharisee but an orthodox Aristocrat-Priest who became associated with

19737-549: The siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar." He also outlawed observance of the Sabbath and the offering of sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple and required Jewish leaders to sacrifice to idols; punitive executions were also instituted. Possession of Jewish scriptures was made a capital offence. The motives of Antiochus are unclear. He may have been incensed at

19890-420: The siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar; against which they all opposed themselves, and the most approved among them were put to death. — Flavius Josephus , The War of the Jews , Book 1.1 §2 The author of the First Book of Maccabees regards the Maccabean revolt as a rising of pious Jews against

20043-556: The situation, attacked Jerusalem, and drove away Menelaus and his followers. Menelaus took refuge in Akra , the Seleucids fortress in Jerusalem. When Antiochus heard of this, he sent an army to Jerusalem to sort things out. Jerusalem was taken, Jason and his followers were driven out, and Menelaus reinstated as high priest. He then imposed a tax and established a fortress in Jerusalem. Antiochus tried to suppress public observance of Jewish laws, apparently in an attempt to secure control over

20196-629: The strategoi of Demetrius II far to the north, in the plain of Hazar, while Simon at the same time took the strong fortress of Beth-zur on the pretext that it harboured supporters of Demetrius. Like Judah in former years, Jonathan sought alliances with foreign peoples. He renewed the treaty with the Roman Republic and exchanged friendly messages with Sparta and other places. However, the documents referring to those diplomatic events are of questionable authenticity. Diodotus Tryphon went with an army to Judea and invited Jonathan to Scythopolis for

20349-524: The survivors committed suicide. According to Josephus, he was trapped in a cave with 40 of his companions in July 67 AD. The Romans (commanded by Flavius Vespasian and his son Titus, both subsequently Roman emperors ) asked the group to surrender, but they refused. According to Josephus's account, he suggested a method of collective suicide; they drew lots and killed each other, one by one, and Josephus happened to be one of two men that were left who surrendered to

20502-401: The territory of Galilee , and Alexander Jannaeus conquered the territory of Iturea . In addition to territorial conquests, the Hasmonean rulers, initially reigning only as rebel leaders, gradually assumed the religious office of High Priest during the reign of Jonathan Apphus in 152 BCE and the monarchical title of Ethnarch during the reign of Simon Thassi in 142 BCE, eventually assuming

20655-564: The title of King ( basileus ) in 104 BCE by Aristobulus I. In c.  135 BCE, John Hyrcanus, Simon's third son, assumed the leadership as both the High Priest (Kohen Gadol) and Ethnarch, taking a Greek " regnal name " (see Hyrcania ) in an acceptance of the Hellenistic culture of his Seleucid suzerains . Within a year of the death of Simon, Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes attacked Jerusalem. According to Josephus , John Hyrcanus opened King David 's sepulchre and removed three thousand talents which he paid as tribute to spare

20808-612: The truth of those actions in their writings", those writings being the history of the Jews. In terms of some of his sources for the project, Josephus says that he drew from and "interpreted out of the Hebrew Scriptures" and that he was an eyewitness to the wars between the Jews and the Romans, which were earlier recounted in Jewish Wars . He outlines Jewish history beginning with the creation, as passed down through Jewish historical tradition. Abraham taught science to

20961-465: The whole, a man that will peruse this history, may principally learn from it, that all events succeed well, even to an incredible degree, and the reward of felicity is proposed by God." After inserting this attitude, Josephus contradicts Berossus: "I shall accurately describe what is contained in our records, in the order of time that belongs to them ... without adding any thing to what is therein contained, or taking away any thing therefrom." He notes

21114-409: The wilderness of Judah. After Mattathias' death about one year later in 166 BCE, his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucids in guerrilla warfare , which at first was directed against Hellenizing Jews, of whom there were many. The Maccabees destroyed pagan altars in the villages, circumcised boys and forced Jews into outlawry. As a result, one explanation of

21267-498: Was assassinated at the instigation of his son-in-law Ptolemy , son of Abubus (also spelled Abobus or Abobi), who had been named governor of the region by the Seleucids. Simon's eldest sons, Mattathias and Judah, were also murdered. After achieving semi-independency from the Seleucid Empire, the dynasty began to expand into the neighboring regions. Perea was conquered already by Jonathan Apphus , subsequently John Hyrcanus conquered Samaria and Idumea , Aristobulus I conquered

21420-525: Was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing The Jewish War , he was born in Jerusalem —then part of the Roman province of Judea —to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry . He initially fought against the Roman Empire during the First Jewish–Roman War as general of the Jewish forces in Galilee , until surrendering in AD 67 to

21573-400: Was a brief civil war. The Tobiads , a philo-Hellenistic party, succeeded in placing Jason into the powerful position of High Priest. He established an arena for public games close by the Temple. Author Lee I. Levine notes, "The 'piece de resistance' of Judaean Hellenisation, and the most dramatic of all these developments, occurred in 175 BCE, when the high priest Jason converted Jerusalem into

21726-666: Was an account of the Jewish War, addressed to certain "upper barbarians"—usually thought to be the Jewish community in Mesopotamia —in his "paternal tongue" ( War I.3), arguably the Western Aramaic language . In AD 78 he finished a seven-volume account in Greek known as the Jewish War ( Latin Bellum Judaicum or De Bello Judaico ). It starts with the period of the Maccabees and concludes with accounts of

21879-537: Was away on a campaign against the Parthians , died at about the same time in Persis . Antiochus was succeeded by Demetrius I Soter , the nephew whose throne he had usurped. Demetrius sent the general Bacchides to Israel with a large army, in order to install Alcimus with the office of high priest. Bacchides subdued Jerusalem and returned to his King. After five years of war and raids, Judah sought an alliance with

22032-539: Was freed from Seleucid rule on the death of Antiochus in 129 BCE. Independent Hasmonean rule lasted until 63 BCE, when the Roman general Pompeius intervened in the Hasmonean civil war, making it a client kingdom of Rome. The Hasmonean dynasty ended in 37 BCE when the Idumean Herod the Great became king of Israel, designated "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate, effectively transforming

22185-405: Was gradually transformed into a war of national liberation. The two greatest twentieth-century scholars of the Maccabean revolt, Elias Bickermann and Victor Tcherikover, each placed the blame on the policies of the Jewish leaders and not on the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but for different reasons. Bickermann saw the origin of the problem in the attempt of "Hellenised" Jews to reform

22338-474: Was invited to Ptolemais for the ceremony, appearing with presents for both kings, and was permitted to sit between them as their equal; Balas even clothed him with his own royal garment and otherwise accorded him high honour. Balas appointed Jonathan as strategos and "meridarch" (i.e., civil governor of a province; details not found in Josephus), sent him back with honours to Jerusalem, and refused to listen to

22491-489: Was recognised by an assembly of the priests, leaders and elders as high priest, military commander and ruler of Israel. Their decree became the basis of the Hasmonean kingdom. Shortly after, the Roman Senate renewed its alliance with the Hasmonean kingdom and commanded its allies in the eastern Mediterranean to do so also. Although the Maccabees won autonomy, the region remained a province of the Seleucid Empire, and Simon

22644-449: Was required to provide troops to Antiochus VII Sidetes , the brother of Demetrius II. When Simon refused to give up the territory he had conquered, Antiochus took them by force. Simon was murdered in 134 BCE by his son-in-law Ptolemy and was succeeded as high priest and king by his son John Hyrcanus I . Antiochus conquered the entire district of Judea but refrained from attacking the Temple or interfering with Jewish observances. Judea

22797-420: Was sent to quash the revolt but returned to Syria on the death of Antiochus IV. Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Seleucid affairs, agreed to a political compromise that restored religious freedom. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple following Judah Maccabee's victory over the Seleucids. According to rabbinic tradition, the victorious Maccabees could only find

22950-520: Was the norm of his time. Feldman notes further that it is significant that Josephus called his later work "Antiquities" (literally, archaeology) rather than history; in the Hellenistic period, archaeology meant either "history from the origins or archaic history." Thus, his title implies a Jewish peoples' history from their origins until the time he wrote. This distinction is significant to Feldman, because "in ancient times, historians were expected to write in chronological order," while "antiquarians wrote in

23103-481: Was turned back by the intervention of the Roman Republic. He sacked Jerusalem and its Temple , suppressing Jewish and Samaritan religious and cultural observances, and imposed Hellenistic practices ( c. 168–167 BCE). The steady collapse of the Seleucid Empire under attacks from the rising powers of the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire allowed Judea to regain some autonomy; however, in 63 BCE,

23256-411: Was unprepared for the rapid attack and opened the gates in surrender to the Jewish forces. Apollonius received reinforcements from Azotus and appeared in the plain in charge of 3,000 men including superior cavalry forces. Jonathan assaulted, captured and burned Azotus along with the resident temple of Dagon and the surrounding villages. Alexander Balas honoured the victorious High Priest by giving him

23409-740: Was widely considered divine punishment for the crime of killing Jesus . Improvements in printing technology (the Gutenberg Press ) led to his works receiving a number of new translations into the vernacular languages of Europe, generally based on the Latin versions. Only in 1544 did a version of the standard Greek text become available in French, edited by the Dutch humanist Arnoldus Arlenius . The first English translation, by Thomas Lodge , appeared in 1602, with subsequent editions appearing throughout

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