Joppa was restored to the Hasmonean domain, Judea was granted freedom from all tribute and taxes to Rome, and the independence of the internal administration was guaranteed."[79]. Because only the wealthy the urban ruling class and large landowners, led by the priests were citizens, the democracy of the Hellenized Jerusalem polis oppressed the vast majority of Jews, who were powerless. An assessment of the legitimacy of the Maccabean liberation, therefore, depends on whether the Hellenists are viewed as apostates or as Jews who have taken on some Greek ways. At Bozrah, the Maccabees "killed every male by the edge of the sword, (..) seized all its spoils, and burned it with fire". Maccabeus, The Battle of Beth Horon was fought in 166 BC between Jewish forces led by Judas Maccabaeus and a Seleucid Empire force under the command of Seron. One of his sons, Judah Maccabee, took the mantle of leader and began to garner support for the revolt against the Seleucids. What effects accomplishments did Francisco have. Like Judah in former years, Jonathan sought alliances with foreign peoples. The struggle between the people and the Romans had begun in earnest, and though Antigonus, when placed on the throne by the Parthians, proceeded to spoil and harry the Jews, rejoicing at the restoration of the Hasmonean line, thought a new era of independence had come. The coins are struck only in bronze. I find it disconcerting that BAS continues to draw upon, and point people to, their offerings. In the year 30 BCE, charged with plotting with the King of Arabia, Hyrcanus was condemned and executed. According to Josephus, the besiegers kept the enormous price of one thousand drachmas they had asked for the lamb. Hasmonean Jerusalem Exposed in Time for Hanukkah, Where the Heroes of the Maccabean Revolt Lie. The Maccabees were armed primarily with Hellenistic-style Was the appropriate response, then, to reform Judaism in the spirit of Hellenism or to assume a stance protective of traditional Jewish values by liberating Judea from the Syrian Greeks? They forced Jews to conform to their version of Judaism and expelled non-Jews from the land. Twenty-fourth Dynasty of EgyptTefnakht Bakenranef, (Sargonid dynasty)Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II, Seleucid Empire: Seleucus I Antiochus I Antiochus II Seleucus II Seleucus III Antiochus III Seleucus IV Antiochus IV Antiochus V Demetrius I Alexander III Demetrius II Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes. Herod soon returned, however, and the honours to Antipater's family continued. revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucids set the stage for the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty in Judea. Relations apparently collapsed between Jews and Gentiles during the radicalization spurred by the revolt, so the Maccabees went on campaign to protect the outlying Jews and attack hostile Gentiles. 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. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. A siege of two towers took longer than expected and some of the enemy escaped; according to 2 Maccabees, this was due to the malfeasance of the commanders who accepted bribes, but also fits with the trend of the authors for any setbacks to be attributed to commanders other than Judas, who is consistently portrayed as both pious and a masterful general. ), "Josephus uses for the first time in connection with the decree of the Roman governor of Syria, Gabinius (57 BCE), who abolished the constitution and the then existing form of government of Palestine and divided the country into five provinces, at the head of each of which a sanhedrin was placed ("Ant." Although these texts were written long after these periods, many scholars believe that they are a fairly reliable account of history during the Second Temple era. As First Maccabees recounts, In those days there emerged in Israel lawless men [Jewish Hellenists] who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the nations that are around us; for since we separated ourselves from them, many evils have come upon us (I Maccabees 1:11). Jonathan 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. Josephus narrates a similar story, but dates it to the reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon (169-116 B.C., Contra Apion, 2.52-55).The story narrated by 3 Maccabees is fanciful, but as Livia Capponi comments, the intention of the author was "to offer a testimony to the . Do they have to give members warning before they bar you? 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. Furthermore, he made a bid for the loyalty of Jonathan, permitting him to recruit an army and to reclaim the hostages kept in the City of Acre. The Maccabees attacked it, plundered and razed the town, and killed the male inhabitants. Upon Hyrcanus' death in 104 BCE, however, Aristobulus I jailed his three brothers (including Alexander Jannaeus) and his mother and allowed her to starve there. held the office of High Priest continuously, "Yavan in the House of Shem. Judah continued the fight begun by Mattathias by actively attacking apostasy destroying idolatrous altars, compelling observance of Torah by force, circumcising . These in turn were expelled by the fickle mob; but recovering their throne by force of arms, they banished citizens, destroyed towns, killed brothers, wives, and parents, and dared essay every other kind of royal crime without hesitation; but they fostered the national superstition, for they had assumed the priesthood to support their civil authority.[85]. Jonathan vanquished even 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.[56]. Also known as: Judah Maccabee, Judas Maccabaeus. against the Syrian invaders who attempted to force all Jews into [11] The name appears to come from the Hebrew name Hashmonay ( amnay). Judas Maccabeus, also called Judah Maccabee, Maccabeus also spelled Maccabaeus, (died 161/160 bce ), Jewish guerrilla leader who defended his country from invasion by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, preventing the imposition of Hellenism upon Judaea, and preserving the Jewish religion. I totally agree with Bob enjoy reading and vision the early beginnings. (Magnes Collection of Jewish Art, University of California, Berkeley). The Maccabees suffered 2,000 dead in their defeat and retreat. (161/160 BCE). An unknown editor, the "Epitomist," used the factual notes of a historian . Arutz Sheva is not a reliable, objective news source the spinning of stories and headlines in accordance with their particular political agenda is somethings quite outrageous. xiii. SeventeenthDynasty, (15001100 BCE)Kidinuid dynastyIgehalkid dynastyUntash-Napirisha, Twenty-first Dynasty of EgyptSmendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon the Elder Siamun Psusennes II, Twenty-third Dynasty of EgyptHarsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini Through Antiochus decree, observance of the commandments of the Torah became a capital offense, and the worship of pagan gods was required. The skirmish resulted in the defeat of outnumbered Maccabee forces and the, The Battle of Emmaus took place in 166 BC between the Hasmonean forces of Judea, led by Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabaeus, known to history as Judah the Hammer, and the third. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights. Required fields are marked *. The New Optimal prognoses concerning the Samuels (from Bible) graves place. The Maccabean revolt was a fight for Israel and the remaining tribes at that time the tribes left in Jerusalem were Judah, Benjamin and Levi predominantly (Commonly labelled as Jews). Unfortunately for them, the Seleucids regained their composure and began to get the better of their enemy. A Seleucid army under General Nicanor was defeated by Judah (ib. The book 1 Maccabees describes a vicious campaign of extermination on both sides: the Gentiles were out to slaughter the Jews, and the Maccabees massacred Gentiles they believed involved, burning down their towns as intimidation and revenge. He accordingly began to impress upon Hyrcanus' mind that Aristobulus was planning his death, finally persuading him to take refuge with Aretas, king of the Nabatans. Forces of the Roman Republic conquered the Hasmonean kingdom in 63 BCE and made it into a client state; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler 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. Commanders named Joseph and Azariah attacked to the west of Judea at the town of Jamnia (Yavneh), but were repulsed: according to 1 Maccabees by Seleucid general Gorgias himself, who served in other battles of the Revolt such as the Battle of Emmaus. [87][88] Frequent dynastic quarrels also contributed to the view among Jews of later generations that the latter Hasmoneans were degenerate. [12] An alternative view posits that the Hebrew name Hashmona'i is linked with the village of Heshmon, mentioned in Joshua 15:27. At the time, Judea was home to many Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon thanks to the Persians. Pronounced: KHAH-nuh-kah, also ha-new-KAH, an eight-day festival commemorating the Maccabees victory over the Greeks and subsequent rededication of the temple. However, the Battle of Emmaus remains as one of ancient historys greatest military triumphs. To summarise. The struggle would have ended here but for Antipater the Idumean. The death of Alexander the Great of Greece in 323 BCE led to the breakup of the Greek empire as three of his generals fought for supremacy and divided the Middle East among themselves. Yehudah2 was the eldest of the band of brothers,3 known for being the leader of the Jewish revolt and the mightiest of them all. 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 the Parthian Empire, rapidly crushed by the Romans under Mark Antony and Augustus. Chanukah and the Sanctity of Human Life The oingoing battle between two concepts of life By Tzvi Freeman The Babylonian Jews warned him in vain. 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. 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 the title of King (basileus) in 104 BCE by Aristobulus I. What does it mean to call a minor party a spoiled? The town is around 15 miles northwest of the city of Jerusalem and the Seleucid army of 4,000 men, commanded by Soron, marched there to confront Judah. Mattathias declares, Let everybody who is zealous for the law and stands by the covenant follow me (I Maccabees 2:27). From 6340 BCE, the government (by this time reduced to a protectorate of Rome as described below) was in the hands of Hyrcanus II as High Priest and Ethnarch, although effective power was in the hands of his adviser Antipater the Idumaean. It was already clear that Judah was utilizing guerrilla tactics to outmanoeuvre and surprise much larger enemy forces. Judas Maccabeus, also called Judah Maccabee, Maccabeus also spelled Maccabaeus, (died 161/160 bce), Jewish guerrilla leader who defended his country from invasion by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, preventing the imposition of Hellenism upon Judaea, and preserving the Jewish religion. The 3,000 men of Jonathan protected Demetrius in his capital, Antioch, against his own subjects. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Simon Thassi established the dynasty in 141 BCE, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus ( Yehudah HaMakabi) had defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 141 BCE. [45] Antiochus was succeeded by Demetrius I Soter, the nephew whose throne he had usurped. In that year Herod, who feared that Hyrcanus might induce the Parthians to help him regain the throne, invited him to return to Jerusalem. Coming under the administration of a governor, Judaea was allowed a king; the governor's business was to regulate trade and maximise tax revenue. Antipater the Idumean was assassinated in 43 BCE by the Nabatean king, Malichus I, who had bribed one of Hyrcanus' cup-bearers to poison and kill Antipater. [20] Jews were divided both between those favoring Hellenization and those opposing it and over allegiance to the Ptolemies or Seleucids. Maccabeus won the battle, and was able to recapture Jerusalem. The Hasmonean dynasty[4] (/hzmnin/; Hebrew: amnam) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity, from c.140 BCE to 37 BCE. In this time period, only Judea truly had a strong majority of Jews; many outlying regions, while having substantial Jewish populations, had many non-Jews. [5], The book of 1 Maccabees archaically refers to the area as the "land of the Philistines" for the same reason as calling the Edomites the "sons of Esau"; the Philistines were long relegated to ancient history, but it made for a Biblical allusion to describe the territory and frame the Maccabee expedition in the language of ancient Jewish heroes. What years of time was the separate but equal doctrine the law of the land in the US? Historical context of the Maccabees 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 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 was three years old at most, but general Diodotus Tryphon used him to advance his own designs on the throne. He then imposed a tax and established a fortress in Jerusalem. Tryphon, avoiding an engagement, demanded one hundred talents and Jonathan's two sons as hostages, in return for which he promised to liberate Jonathan. Emil Schrer, "Gesch." Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. FREE ebook: Masada: The Dead Seas Desert Fortress. Does Jerry Seinfeld have Parkinson's disease? The continuing Hellenization of Judea pitted traditional Jews against those who eagerly Hellenized. One of his daughters was an ancestor of Josephus.[59]. The Parthians split their army, and under Pacorus conquered the Levant: Antigonus roused the Parthians to invade Syria and Palestine, [and] the Jews eagerly rose in support of the scion of the Maccabean house, and drove out the hated Idumeans with their puppet Jewish king. 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. At first Scaurus, moved by a gift of four hundred talents, decided in favour of Aristobulus. [43], Towards the end of 164, Judah felt strong enough to enter Jerusalem and the formal religious worship of Yahweh was re-established. I enjoy BAS findings and explanations. The campaigns against Timothy (Greek: Timotheus) and the local Gentiles (non-Jews) are recorded in the books of 1 Maccabees (1 Maccabees 5), 2 Maccabees (2 Maccabees 10:1438, 2 Maccabees 12:1037), and Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews Book 12, Chapter 8. CHANUKAH After the first three years, the Jews are able re-conquer Jerusalem. The latter, however, fathomed the designs of Pompey, and assembled his armies. Your email address will not be published. First Maccabees continues by explicitly comparing Mattathias to the biblical figure Pinchas, who killed a tribal leader and his Midianite partner to stop the spread of idolatry and was rewarded by God with a brit shalom covenant of peace of eternal priesthood (Numbers 25). Whereas some modern sensibilities will be offended by the Maccabees vicious treatment of the Hellenist Jews, First Maccabees not only lauds Mattathias zealotry against his coreligionists, but uses that very zealotry to legitimize the Maccabean dynasty. His actions caused a riot in the Temple and led to a brief civil war that ended with a bloody repression of the Pharisees, although at his deathbed the king called for a reconciliation between the two parties. The brothers appealed to him, each endeavouring by gifts and promises to win him over to his side. [13], The lands of the former Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah (c.722586 BCE), had been occupied in turn by Assyria, Babylonia, the Achaemenid Empire, and Alexander the Great's Hellenic Macedonian empire (c.330 BCE), although Jewish religious practice and culture had persisted and even flourished during certain periods. The Maccabees invited Jews living in hostile territory back to Judea as refugees and escorted them back under the safety of their army. 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 then returned to Jerusalem, maintaining peace with the King of Egypt despite their support for different contenders for the Seleucid throne.[52]. Who did the Maccabees fight? Although the text of Maccabees views Judah as a liberator whose zealotry was necessary to preserve the Torah and the Jewish people, later rabbinic commentators frowned upon such zealotry, realizing the danger of individuals taking the law into their own hands and interpreting it in accord with their own interests. Jewish resistance The home of Mattathias, a priest in the village of Modiim (now Modiin), 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Jerusalem, quickly became the centre of resistance. Alexander Balas honoured the victorious High Priest by giving him the city of Ekron along with its outlying territory. During the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, there were a series of campaigns in 163 BC in regions outlying Judea - Ammon, Gilead, Galilee, Idumea, and Judea's coastal plain, a wider region usually referred to as either Palestine or Eretz Israel. Nothing is known of his two captive sons. An effort to legitimize the Hasmonean dynasty. [31] Modern scholarship tends to the second view. The Battle of Beth-Zechariah was fought between the Jewish Maccabeans and Greek forces during the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire. They were the ones who egged on Antiochus IV and instituted the religious reform in Jerusalem. Honi, ordered to curse the besieged, prayed: "Lord of the universe, as the besieged and the besiegers both belong to Thy people, I beseech Thee not to answer the evil prayers of either." In turn, the aristocratic elites who embraced Hellenism gained access to the social and economic perquisites flowing to citizens of a Greek polis, including the right to mint coins, to take part in international Hellenistic events, and to receive protection from the citys founding ruler. This led to increasing tension between Hyrcanus and the family of Antipater, culminating in a trial of Herod for supposed abuses in his governorship, which resulted in Herod's flight into exile in 46 BCE. Within a year of the death of Simon, Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes attacked Jerusalem. Aristobulus was taken to Rome a prisoner, and Hyrcanus was reappointed High Priest, but without political authority. Later on, since the power of Macedon had waned, the Parthians were not yet come to their strength, and the Romans were far away, the Jews selected their own kings. Chanukah - Hanukkah 2023 Jewish Holidays Chanukah - Hanukkah Insights & Stories The Battle Judaism v. Hellenism Why did the outnumbered Maccabees fight the Greeks? While possible, the author is sufficiently biased in favor of Judas Maccabeus that it is also possible that the author interpreted any setbacks as due to defiance of his orders rather than other factors. [54], As Demetrius II did not keep his promise, Jonathan thought it better to support 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. The origin of Hanukkah is traced back to the Maccabean Revolt. How co2 is dissolve in cold drink and why? He also argues that these raids probably did not stretch as far as claimed. Demetrius II Nicator remained sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire and became the second husband of Cleopatra Thea. [64][65][66] In 110 BCE, John Hyrcanus carried out the first military conquests of the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom, raising a mercenary army to capture Madaba and Schechem, significantly increasing his regional influence. During the second century BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king, issued a series of religious decrees designed to impose Hellenism and eliminate sectarianism. 2 Maccabees also mentions Timothy and his armies briefly in passing in while discussing the Battle of Emmaus (2 Maccabees 8:308:33); this is generally assumed to be a "flash-forward" in time to discuss Timothy's defeat rather than actually happening during the Emmaus campaign of 164 BC by most historians, however.[1]. 2 Maccabees records, "Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their ancestors and no longer to live by the laws of God; also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and to call it the temple of . [4], Simon Thassi led 3,000 soldiers to Galilee to fight there. Hyrcanus' incapacity and weakness were so manifest that, when he defended Herod against the Sanhedrin and before Mark Antony, the latter stripped Hyrcanus of his nominal political authority and his title, bestowing them both upon the accused. Last edited on 28 February 2022, at 20:34, Peter Paul Rubens and studio of Peter Paul Rubens, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maccabee_campaigns_of_163_BC&oldid=1074548508, This page was last edited on 28 February 2022, at 20:34. Menelaus took refuge in Akra, the Seleucids fortress in Jerusalem. [40], 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 the "antiquated" and "outdated" religion practised in Jerusalem, and to rid it of superstitious elements. Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE and unrest and confusion spread throughout the Roman world, including Judaea.
Concord School Schedule, If A Test Is Standardized This Means That, Wheaton College Ma Volleyball Roster, Where Is Doughboy From Street Outlaws, Articles W