Battle of Adasa
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The Battle of Adasa was fought during the
Maccabean revolt The Maccabean Revolt ( he, מרד החשמונאים) was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167–160 BCE and ended ...
on the 13th of the month Adar (late winter, equivalent to March), 161 BC at
Adasa Adasa ( grc, Αδασά) is a city referred to in 1 Maccabees, being the site of the Syrian-Seleucid General Nicanor's death and Judah Maccabee's post in the battle of Adasa (during the Maccabean Revolt). It is said to be less than four miles fro ...
( he, חדשה), near
Beth-horon Bethoron ( he, בֵית־חוֹרֹ֔ן, lit=house of Horon; grc, Ὡρωνείν), also Beth-Horon, was the name of two adjacent ancient towns strategically located on the Gibeon-Aijalon road, guarding the "ascent of Beth-Horon". The towns are ...
. It was a battle between the rebel
Maccabees The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees ( he, מַכַּבִּים, or , ; la, Machabaei or ; grc, Μακκαβαῖοι, ), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. ...
of Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and the
Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
, whose army was led by Nicanor. The Maccabees won the battle after killing Nicanor early in the fighting. The battle came after a period of political maneuvering over several months where the peace deal established a year earlier by Lysias was tested by new High Priest
Alcimus Alcimus (from grc-gre, Ἄλκιμος ''Alkimos'', "valiant" or Hebrew אליקום ''Elyaqum'', "God will rise"), also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (), was High Priest of Israel for three years from 162–159 BCE. He was a moderate Hel ...
, new military governor Nicanor, and Maccabee leader Judas Maccabeus. The date of the battle in the
Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...
, 13
Adar Adar ( he, אֲדָר ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 d ...
, was celebrated as ''Yom Nicanor'' (Day of Nicanor) to commemorate the victory.


Primary sources

Nicanor's military governance of Judea, the Battle of Caphar-salama, and the Battle of Adasa are recorded in the book of
1 Maccabees The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...
(), the book of 2 Maccabees (, ), and in
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
's ''
Antiquities of the Jews ''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the re ...
'' Book 12, Chapter 10. The Battle of Caphar-salama is portrayed with fairly few details; either it was a short and one-sided affair, the author of 1 Maccabees was not an eye-witness to it, or both. Slightly more details are written of the Battle of Adasa, but largely of the geographic region it took place in. The writers instead focused more on the political maneuvering between Nicanor, Alcimus, and Judas.Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 347–351; 359–361


Nicanor's governorship

In 162 BC, Regent
Lysias Lysias (; el, Λυσίας; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace i ...
led an expedition to restore government control of Judea and relieve a siege of the Acra citadel in Jerusalem. After winning the
Battle of Beth Zechariah The Battle of Beth Zechariah was a battle around May 162 BC during the Maccabean revolt fought between Jewish rebels under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) against an army of the Seleucid Empire, the Greek successor state (diadoch ...
, the Maccabees were forced to retreat. Political considerations hastened Lysias's return to the Seleucid capital of
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
, however. Despite fending off a challenge from a Seleucid leader called Philip, a far greater threat arrived soon after:
Demetrius I Soter Demetrius I (Greek: ''Δημήτριος Α`'', 185 – June 150 BC), surnamed Soter (Greek: ''Σωτήρ'' - "Savior"), reigned as king ( basileus) of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire from November 162 – June 150 BC. Demetrius grew up in Rome ...
, who escaped from captivity in Rome with the help of the Greek historian
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
and returned to Syria. Demetrius was the son of
Seleucus IV Seleucus IV Philopator (Greek: Σέλευκος Φιλοπάτωρ; c. 218 – 3 September 175 BC), ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria (now including Cilicia and Judea), Mes ...
, and
Antiochus IV Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his deat ...
taking the throne after Seleucus IV's death in 175 BC had been perceived as a usurpation by some. Additionally, Demetrius was a man in his prime, around 24 years old, while King
Antiochus V Eupator Antiochus V Eupator (Greek: ''Αντίοχος Ε' Ευπάτωρ''), whose epithet means "of a good father" (c. 172 BC – 161 BC) was a ruler of the Greek Seleucid Empire who reigned from late 164 to 161 BC (based on dates from 1 Maccabees 6:1 ...
was still a child. Demetrius successfully swayed the Greek leaders of Antioch to his side, took the throne, and ordered the arrest and execution of Antiochus V and Lysias. This would sour Seleucid relations with the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
; Rome began offering tentative offers of support and assistance to any potential sources of rebellion and disunity within the Seleucid Empire, such as
Timarchus Timarchus or Timarch was a Greek noble and a satrap of the Seleucid Empire during the reign of his ally King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. After Antiochus IV's death, he styled himself an independent ruler in his domain in the Persian east of the Emp ...
, Ptolemaus of Commagene, and the Maccabees. Demetrius's first act with regards to the situation in Judea was to send a new military expedition there under Seleucid general Bacchides. The size and scope of the expedition is unknown, but one of its purposes was to install
Alcimus Alcimus (from grc-gre, Ἄλκιμος ''Alkimos'', "valiant" or Hebrew אליקום ''Elyaqum'', "God will rise"), also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (), was High Priest of Israel for three years from 162–159 BCE. He was a moderate Hel ...
as High Priest of Judea. Alcimus was a moderate Hellenizer who worked to split off Jewish support of the Maccabees, apparently to some success. Bacchides left, but tensions between the Maccabees in the countryside, the moderate Hellenist Jews in the cities, and the Greeks continued. The books of Maccabees accuse Alcimus of arranging a slaughter of moderate
Hasideans The Hasideans ( he, חסידים הראשונים, ''Hasidim ha-Rishonim'', Greek ''Ἀσιδαῖοι'' or Asidaioi, also transcribed Hasidæans, Assideans, Hassideans or Assideans) were a Jewish religious party which played an important role ...
. Against this backdrop, Nicanor was appointed ''
strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...
'' (general / governor) of the region, likely ruling from the Acra. Nicanor had previously been a commander of Seleucid
war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...
s, and had taken part in the
Battle of Emmaus A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
four years earlier. On his way to assume the governorship, he apparently fought a skirmish with Maccabee forces under Simon Thassi (Simeon) at a place called Dessau or Caphar-dessau; Nicanor won and forced the Maccabees into retreat. As part of his governorship, Nicanor apparently attempted to negotiate with and even befriend Judas, according to 2 Maccabees. Judas was even given an official government role (''diadokhos'', "deputy" or "representative"), and would tentatively be involved in the administration and management of Judea. A rivalry between Nicanor and Alcimus would undo this potential warming of relations. Alcimus, perhaps worried of being replaced or his authority undermined, complained to the authorities in Antioch. New orders from Demetrius at the behest of this rivalry forced Nicanor to move against Judas more aggressively. Judas realized something had changed, and laid low. Regardless of whether the original negotiations were sincere or not, the negotiations now broke down, and Nicanor made moves to have Judas arrested. Judas fled back to the countryside where his remaining army waited.Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 352–355


Caphar-salama and Adasa

Nicanor left Jerusalem with a small force to track down Judas and the rebels. At Caphar-salama, a skirmish was fought; the Seleucids suffered 500 casualties, and retreated back to Jerusalem. Allegedly, Nicanor then blasphemed at the
Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...
; he threatened the priests there to help him find Judas, or else he would return and burn the Temple down. The truth of this matter may be unknown as well due to the hostility of the surviving sources to Nicanor; the priests at the Temple would presumably have been Alcimus's subordinates, although according to 2 Maccabees it had been Alcimus who forced Nicanor's hand in the first place. Whether Nicanor really did turn on his own allies in a self-destructive frenzy is unclear, but regardless, he gained the hatred of the rebels.Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 355–358 Nicanor rode out again and camped in the region of
Beth-horon Bethoron ( he, בֵית־חוֹרֹ֔ן, lit=house of Horon; grc, Ὡρωνείν), also Beth-Horon, was the name of two adjacent ancient towns strategically located on the Gibeon-Aijalon road, guarding the "ascent of Beth-Horon". The towns are ...
, northwest of Jerusalem, to meet up with Seleucid reinforcements traveling from Samaria. He likely had at least some heavy infantry with him. The rebels set their forces against him at
Adasa Adasa ( grc, Αδασά) is a city referred to in 1 Maccabees, being the site of the Syrian-Seleucid General Nicanor's death and Judah Maccabee's post in the battle of Adasa (during the Maccabean Revolt). It is said to be less than four miles fro ...
. According to 2 Maccabees 15, Judas inspired his troops by relating to them a dream-vision he had experienced, wherein the Prophet
Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern:   , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
presented a gold sword to him and said, "Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with which you will strike down your adversaries." The battle appears to have been a direct frontal confrontation rather than an ambush or surprise attack; 1 Maccabees simply says that "armies met in battle", unlike phrasings suggesting surprise in earlier battles of the Revolt. Nicanor was killed very early in the battle, rattling the Seleucid force from the loss of its commander. Hellenistic commanders typically fought in the cavalry on the right wing and the force was comparatively small, so Nicanor would likely have been easy to find had Judas planned on attacking him directly.Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 362–369 The Seleucid troops retreated toward Gazara, the nearest Seleucid fortress to the west around away. The Jewish army followed in pursuit, and Jewish partisans in the nearby towns harried their retreat, inflicting significant casualties on the fleeing government army.


Aftermath

Nicanor's body was desecrated after the battle. His head and right hand were cut off, originally a Persian punishment, and posted for display near Jerusalem. This was to raise the morale of the rebels as the first truly high-ranking officer slain by the Maccabees. Judas was also able to undertake negotiations with the Romans from a position of greater strength, and extracted a weak promise of potential Roman support in the future against Demetrius.Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 370–375 King Demetrius would suppress the rebellion of Timarchus in the eastern satrapies around early 160 BC, freeing up soldiers for other tasks such as suppressing the Judean unrest. Despite the victory at Adasa, in a year Judas Maccabeus would be defeated and killed at the
Battle of Elasa The Battle of Elasa was fought in April 160 BCE during the Maccabean Revolt between Judean rebels led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and an army of the Seleucid Empire under the command of Bacchides. The battle resulted in the triumph o ...
.


Analysis

The location of Dessau, where Simon fought Nicanor before he assumed the governorship, is unknown. The story is only related in 2 Maccabees, which provides no further geographic clues. Some scholars speculate that the epitomist who abridged 2 Maccabees may have confused Caphar-salama with Caphar-dessau and they were the same battle, but the terms are not particularly alike, and 2 Maccabees describes the battle at Dessau as a rebel defeat while 1 Maccabees describes Caphar-salama as a rebel victory. 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees disagree on the extent and sincerity of the negotiations between Nicanor and Judas. In 1 Maccabees, the negotiations were solely a trap by the evil Nicanor that Judas easily evaded; in 2 Maccabees, they only fell apart after the intervention of High Priest Alcimus, who was hostile to Judas. Scholars who favor 1 Maccabees believe that the depiction of Nicanor as initially sincere and a friend of Judas is done solely for literary purposes to make a better "tragic" story of downfall, and thus cannot be trusted to be historical. Scholars who favor 2 Maccabees cite the later Seleucid negotiations with Maccabee leaders as evidence that there is nothing strange about the negotiations described before Adasa; additionally, 1 Maccabees seems to have less knowledge of Seleucid internal politics and depicts nearly all Syrian leaders as simply evil opponents of Judaism, so it is the source that is less trustworthy on this matter. The fighting at the Battle of Adasa was more small-scale than the dramatic
Battle of Beth Zechariah The Battle of Beth Zechariah was a battle around May 162 BC during the Maccabean revolt fought between Jewish rebels under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) against an army of the Seleucid Empire, the Greek successor state (diadoch ...
, where the Regent's personal army had fought a Maccabee army rallied while they had control of all of Judea. Josephus writes that Nicanor had 9,000 soldiers at this battle. 1 Maccabees writes that the Maccabees had access to 3,000 soldiers in this battle; Josephus writes a mere 2,000. Historian
Bezalel Bar-Kochva Bezalel Bar-Kochva (born January 1, 1941) is a professor emeritus in the Department of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University. He is a historian of the Hellenistic period, the three centuries after the conquests of Alexander the Great, and the Sec ...
believes that these estimates for the size of the Judean army are too low - Judas appeared to be an able military commander who confidently chose this battle as a winnable one. He would not have gambled the remaining rebel forces in an open battle in which he was badly outnumbered; if Judas really had been outnumbered, he would have fought in a narrow pass rather than Adasa, such as the strategy used at the earlier Battle of Beth Horon. 2 Maccabees also reports enemy casualties of 35,000, a grossly inflated number discounted as myth-making to make Judas's victory seem more impressive. According to 2 Maccabees, the Seleucids had war elephants at this battle. This is considered doubtful and likely a temporal mix-up, as 2 Maccabees was written decades after 1 Maccabees; according to Greek and Roman sources, a Roman delegation enforcing the
Treaty of Apamea The Treaty of Apamea was a peace treaty conducted in 188 BC between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It ended the Roman–Seleucid War. The treaty took place after Roman victories at the Battle of Thermopylae ...
hamstrung the Seleucid war elephants in 163 or 162 BC. If some elephants had escaped the Romans, perhaps from staying in the coastal region of Paralia rather than returning to Antioch, they were likely very few.Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 366 The story of Jeremiah bestowing a divine sword to Judas as a sign of God's favor may possibly be influenced by a synthesis of Egyptian cultural beliefs and the Jewish religion. The epitomist of 2 Maccabees was an Egyptian Jew, and a common motif of authority was to show the
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
holding or about to wield a royal sword. This story would be bolstering Judas's king-like authority as leader, albeit with a Jewish spin in using the famous prophet Jeremiah. The date of the battle on 13 Adar is described, but not the year. A year of 161 BC implies that Nicanor's governorship was rather short, only lasting a few months. However, a year of 160 BC implies that there was practically no time between Adasa and Bacchides' second expedition in 160 BC that would lead to the
Battle of Elasa The Battle of Elasa was fought in April 160 BCE during the Maccabean Revolt between Judean rebels led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and an army of the Seleucid Empire under the command of Bacchides. The battle resulted in the triumph o ...
, which happened in the month of Nisan, the month immediately after Adar.


Legacy

A Jewish festival, ''Yom Nicanor'' (Day of Nicanor), was created to honor the victory at Adasa, the demise of the disliked Nicanor who had threatened to burn the Temple, and the triumphant return of Judas Maccabeus to Jerusalem after a period of Seleucid rule. The date it is held is 13
Adar Adar ( he, אֲדָר ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 d ...
, the day of the Battle of Adasa. It still has a place in the Jewish calendar of special days (" Megillat Ta'anit"). Later rabbinical writings, such as in the Ta'anit tractate of the Talmud, focus more on Nicanor's arrogance and threats backfiring on him, and omit mention of Judas Maccabeus. This may have been an attempt to counterbalance the Hasmonean aggrandizement of the book of 1 Maccabees and avoid hero-worship of Judas.


Notes


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adasa, Battle Of 161 BC Adasa 161 BC 2nd century BC in the Seleucid Empire