How long did the maccabean rule

Upon rumors of his death in battle there, civil war erupted among the Jews in Jerusalem as Jason reappeared from exile, and led a popular revolt against Menelaus. But Antiochus was not dead. He had been humiliated by the Romans and forced out of Egypt.

Yet while retreating, he heard of the struggle in Jerusalem - and reinstated Menelaus. Once back in power, Menelaus led a reign of terror and set out to Hellenize the Jews. A statue of Zeus was placed in the Holy of Holies, among other violations of Jewish law. Many pious Jews resisted Menelaus' measures, some by martyrdom, others by escaping into the wilderness, and still others by active revolt. Most prominent of these rebels was the group led by Mattathias of Modiin and his five sons — of whom Judas Maccabeus proved to be the most able and drew the rest of the Jewish rebels into his camp.

Judas and his band of rebels staged guerrilla warfare against Hellenized Jews; Menelaus in response summoned the Greek armies from neighboring Seleucid provinces. The first army to arrive, from Samaria in the north, was led by Apollonius. Judas was tipped off, and crushed the small army on the road to Jerusalem. Next came a larger force, led by Seron, from Palestine in the west. Once again Judas ambushed them, and enemy soldiers were killed. Alarmed, the Seleucids dispatched a real army, from Antioch, led by two generals, Nicanor and Gorgias.

But once again, Judas proved his military prowess: he routed the army and seized its weapons. Even after this defeat, the Seleucid army remained bigger and badder than the small rebel force. There was real danger that it would press on and crush the rebellion. But at this point, the rebels caught a lucky break. Antiochus had to concentrate his forces on the Parthians. With the Seleucid army thus preoccupied, the rebels captured Jerusalem in BCE, though the Akra Fortress overlooking the Temple Mount remained loyal to Antioch within it, Assyrian soldiers and Hellenized Jews would remain steadfast.

The Temple was rededicated and the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah was created, modeled on the eight-day holiday of Sukkot. However, passive resistance to the religious persecutions immediately surfaced, and some Jews preferred to die as martyrs rather than abandon their faith and transgress their laws. These martyrs were to serve as a model for other followers of the monotheistic faiths, be they Jews or not. Thus a new period in the history of the Jewish people was inaugurated, a period that was to last for more than half a century.

In this struggle, the Hasmoneans clashed with the Hellenistic Kingdom of the Seleucids and the Greek cities around Judea, yet at the same time the Maccabean state acquired some of the Hellenistic cultural traits of its adversaries. One can offer alternative dates for the Maccabean Revolution.

These made Judea a military power roughly equal in strength to that of its Seleucid opponents; the self enthronement of the Hasmoneans was first undertaken either by Judas Aristobulus reigned — BCE or by his brother, Alexander Janneus reigned —76 BCE.

All these landmarks reflect a sharp change in the standing of the Jews and the state of Judea. However, while the reign of Alexander Janneus may be perceived as the high point of the Jewish state, his reign witnessed not only foreign wars of expansion but also a bloody civil war waged by the king against the Pharisees. No wonder, then, that soon after his death 76 BCE , increasing divisions within the royal house coupled with the rivalry between the Pharisees and Sadducees eroded the remaining strength of the Hasmonean Kingdom.

Thus, the edifice of a Jewish state enjoying political and military power was to last for less than a century before its collapse. The persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the Jewish reactions to this are often studied against their background. Thus, several scholars offer a study of Judea since its occupation by Alexander the Great Tcherikover , or since the beginning of the contention between the Ptolemaic and the Seleucid Kingdoms over the mastery of that country Hengel The question of the early Hellenization of various groups inhabiting Judea is also a major concern of these two scholars, Victor Tcherikover and Martin Hengel.

Some of the other studies prefer to open their investigation with the annexation of Coele Syria and Phoenicia, Judea included, to the Seleucid Kingdom Bickerman Still others select the reign of Antiochus IV as their starting point Sievers Bickerman, Elias. Translated by Moses Hadas. Schocken Library 6. New York: Schocken, The running thread in this booklet is the process by which the Hasmonean ruling family, and Jewish society as a whole, absorbed Hellenistic culture yet maintained the supremacy of Jewish Law above all else.

Judaism was thus saved from stagnation, and its existence was ensured for generations to come. Translated by Horst R. Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, Against this background, his hypothesis seems paradoxical. Bringmann, Klaus. Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften, philologisch-historische Klasse 3. Bringmann offers a new chronological framework for the events discussed, which was not universally received.

He further dwells on the monetary undertakings of Jason and Menelaus to the king. The Jewish rebels soon organized a real army modeled on the Greek military forces and capable, when fighting on its own terrain, of overcoming the Syrian troops. They also cultivated relations with distant nations, either for symbolic reasons, as in the case of the alliance with Sparta which was based upon the notion of affinity between the heirs of Lycurgus and the heirs of Moses, or for practical purposes, as in the alliance with Rome, the most formidable enemy of the Greeks.

Maccabee diplomacy did not exclude propaganda. Judith and Esther, heroines of the recent past, were depicted as the daughters of the bold prophetess Deborah, while Judah himself was presented as an incarnation of Joshua—judge and conqueror of the land.

The revolt achieved rapid success. It is only through this festival that the revolt was transmitted to rabbinical posterity. The history of the revolt was retained only in Greek texts later preserved by Christian authors.