An Atheist's Guide to the Bible
The Hasmonaean period
|
|
|
|
 |
Related articles
Historical outline of the BibleIn the 2nd century BCE, during the turbulent times of the Seleucid empire, the Jews successfully rebelled and the Hasmonaean dynasty established itself as an independent state once again for the first time since the fall of Judah in 587 BCE.
The Seleucids were the Hellenistic successors of Alexander the Great, but theirs was an unstable empire, frequently at war with the Parthians, the Ptolemies of Egypt, and riven with internal strife. After decades of intrigue involving rival claimants to the empire and the ambitions of the high priests of Jerusalem, attempts to restrict freedom of Jewish worship led to rebellion.
The rebellion began in 168 BCE with a priest called Mattathias who refused to submit to the imperial command to abandon his religious beliefs and practice. He and his five sons began a guerilla war which ended with the overthrow of Seleucid power in Judaea. The sons of Mattathias secured the high priesthood and established Judaea as a religious state. Eventually, Mattathias' great-grandson Alexander Jannaeus (103 - 76 BCE) declared himself king.
The family takes its name from Asamonaeus, grandfather of Mattathias. They are alternatively known as Maccabean from the nickname of Mattathias' son Judas Maccabeus. A partial history of the revolt and its religious motivation is given in the apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) books of Maccabees, which will be found in some Bibles.
Herod
Hasmonaean power lasted until the coming of the Romans in Palestine and the successful political maneouvres of Herod the Great, king of neighbouring Idumaea. He became ruler of Judaea as a client of Rome, and continued to expand his power through ruthlessness and careful dynastic marriages.
Herod had five wives in succession, and married most of his many children into his own family or that of the Hasmonean dynasty to secure his influence in Judaea. Herod's family connections were so bizarre that two sons of his by one wife both married (in turn) the same grand-daughter of his by a different wife.
Further reading
A.R.C Leaney, The Jewish and Christian World 200 BC to AD 200, Cambridge University Press 1984
Comments or feedback - Email the Atheist Guide
.