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Battle With Apollonius
The Battle of the Ascent of Lebonah () or Battle with Apollonius () was the first battle fought between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Empire in 167 or 166 BCE. The Jewish forces were led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and the Seleucid army force was under the command of Apollonius, described by Josephus as "the ''strategos'' (general) of the Samaritan forces". In the earliest stages of the Maccabean Revolt, Judas had a small band of guerrilla combat units in the hills of northern Judea and southern Samaria. Apollonius was sent with the local Samaritan armies to link up with Seleucid forces from Jerusalem. The exact location of the battle is not known, but presumably it was along a road between Samaria and Jerusalem. The date of the battle is not precisely known either, but occurred early in the revolt. It is the first battle discussed in the book of 1 Maccabees, hence generally being dated to 167–166 BCE. The precise details of the battle are not known either, but 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maccabean Revolt
The Maccabean Revolt () 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 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of Judea, but conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence. Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes launched a massive campaign of repression against the Jewish religion in 168 BCE. The reason he did so is not entirely clear, but it seems to have been related to the King mistaking an internal conflict among the Jewish priesthood as a full-scale rebellion. Jewish practices were banned, Jerusalem was placed under direct Seleucid control, and the Second Temple in Jerusalem was made the site of a syncretic Pagan-Jewish cult. This repression triggered the revolt that Antiochus IV had feared, with a group of Jewish fighters led by Judas Maccabeus (J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Antiquities
''Antiquities of the Jews'' (; , ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which was 94 CE. It contains an account of the history of the Jewish people for Josephus's gentile patrons. In the first ten volumes Josephus follows the events of the Hebrew Bible beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve. The second ten volumes continues the history of the Jewish people beyond the biblical text and up to the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE). This work, along with Josephus's other major work, ''The Jewish War'' (''De Bello Iudaico''), provides valuable background material for historians wishing to understand 1st-century CE Judaism and the early Christian period. Stephen L. Harris, ''Understanding the Bible'', (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985). Content Josephus' ''Antiquities of the Jews'' is a vital source for the history of the intertestamenta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menelaus (High Priest)
Menelaus () was High Priest in Jerusalem from about 172 BC to about 161 BC. He was high priest at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt (167-160). He was the successor of Jason, the brother of Onias III. The sources are divided as to his origin. According to II Maccabees, he belonged to the Tribe of Benjamin and was the brother of the Simeon who had denounced Onias III to Seleucus IV Philopator, and revealed to the Syrians the existence of the treasure of the Temple; according to Flavius Josephus, Menelaus was the brother of Onias III and Jason, his two predecessors as High Priest, and also bore the name Onias. It is possible that Josephus confused Simeon, the brother of Menelaus, with Simeon, the father of Onias and Jason. Hellenizing tendencies Although during the three years of his pontificate Jason had given many proofs of his attachment to the Hellenistic party (by building a gymnasium in Jerusalem and by introducing many Greek customs) the Hellenists of the stamp of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silwad
Silwad () is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian town located north-east of Ramallah, about 5 km away from the Nablus-Jerusalem highway of the West Bank, in the State of Palestine. Silwad's altitude is about 851 meters above sea level. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 6,342 inhabitants in 2017. Silwad is thought to have been built upon ruins dating back to the Mamluk Sultanate, Mamluk and Early Ottoman Empire, Ottoman eras. During the Ottoman period, it was primarily inhabited by people of Bedouin origin. It was previously recorded under the name of "Lisan el-Wadi". Etymology Historians have argued the etymology of Silwad's name. Some debated that it is derived from the words ''lisan'' and ''wad'', meaning "tongue of the valley," as the town is surrounded by mountains from all sides, while the town appears as a tongue amidst the mountains. Others claim that "Silwad" comes from the words ''sal'' and ''wad'', me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shechem
Shechem ( ; , ; ), also spelled Sichem ( ; ) and other variants, was an ancient city in the southern Levant. Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna Letters, it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel following the split of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Monarchy. According to , it was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the tribe of Ephraim. Shechem declined after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), northern Kingdom of Israel. The city later regained its importance as a prominent Samaritans, Samaritan center during the Hellenistic Palestine, Hellenistic period. Traditionally associated with the city of Nablus, Shechem is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in the Balata al-Balad suburb of the West Bank. Geographical position Shechem's position is indicated in the Hebrew Bible: it lay north of Bethel and Shiloh (Biblical city), Shiloh, on the high road ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya
Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya () is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, 20 kilometers south of Nablus, in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine. The town has a total land area of 12,075 dunams of which 200 dunams is built-up area. The village is just north of the historic Khan al-Lubban caravansary. In 2012, the nearby village of Ammuriya was joined with Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya into one Municipal Council, also called Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya. and sherds from Crusader/Ayyubid have also been found here. In 593 AH/1196 CE, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Makhzumi al-Lubanni (d. 1260), a qadi (Islamic judge) in Baalbek, was born in the village. In 1320s CE it was marked as ''Casale Lepna'' on the map of Marino Sanuto.Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 617 Sherds from the Mamluk era have been found here. Ottoman era In 1517 the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. Under the name "Lubban as-Sawi", the village appeared in 1596 Ottoman tax ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Avi-Yonah
Michael Avi-Yonah (; September 26, 1904 – March 26, 1974) was an Israeli archaeologist and historian. During his career he was a Professor of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and served as secretary of Israel's Department of Antiquities. Biography Born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (today Lviv, Ukraine), Avi-Yonah moved to Mandatory Palestine with his parents in 1919 during the Third Aliyah. He first studied at Gymnasia Rehavia in Jerusalem, then he went to England and studied history and archeology at the University of London. After returning to Jerusalem, he studied at the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. His first archaeological excavations were at Tel el-Ajjul near Gaza, and the Jerusalem Ophel. At the end of his studies, he joined the Department of Antiquities of the British government of Palestine. He worked as a librarian and archivist. After the independence of the state of Israel, he became secretary of the Department of Antiquities. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregorian Calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years slightly differently to make the average calendar year 365.2425 days long rather than the Julian calendar's 365.25 days, thus more closely approximating the 365.2422-day tropical year, "tropical" or "solar" year that is determined by the Earth's revolution around the Sun. The rule for leap years is that every year divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are divisible by 100, except in turn for years also divisible by 400. For example 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was. There were two reasons to establish the Gregorian calendar. First, the Julian calendar was based on the estimate that the average solar year is exactly 365.25 days long, an overestimate of a li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seleucid Era
The Seleucid era ("SE") or (literally "year of the Greeks" or "Greek year"), sometimes denoted "AG," was a Calendar era, system of numbering years in use by the Seleucid Empire and other countries among the ancient Hellenistic period, Hellenistic civilizations, and later by the Parthians. It is sometimes referred to as "the dominion of the Seleucidæ," or the Year of Alexander. The era dates from Seleucus I Nicator's reconquest of Babylon in 312/11 BC after his exile in Ptolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemaic Egypt, considered by Seleucus and his court to mark the founding of the Seleucid Empire. According to Jewish tradition, it was during the sixth year of Alexander the Great's reign (lege: possibly Alexander the Great's infant son, Alexander IV of Macedon) that they began to make use of this counting. Versions Two different variations of the Seleucid years existed, one where the year started in spring and another where it starts in autumn: # The natives of the empire used the Babylonian c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mattathias
Mattathias ben Johanan (, ''Mattīṯyāhū haKōhēn ben Yōḥānān''; died 166–165 BCE) was a Kohen (Jewish priest) who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees and in the writings of Josephus. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) and the Amidah during the festival's eight days. History In all extant accounts from the Second Temple Period, Mattathias was a resident of the rural village of Modi'in, though it is not clear if he was a native. The account of 1 Maccabees states that he moved away from Jerusalem and settled in Modi'in,1 Maccabees 2:1. and while the account of Josephus in Antiquities matches this, the account in Wars simply states that Mattathias (or his father) was a "priest of a village called Modi'in", implying that it w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bezalel Bar-Kochva
Bezalel Bar-Kochva (Hebrew: בצלאל בר-כוכבא; 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 Second Temple period of Judaism. Bar-Kochva's research focuses on Judea, the Land of Israel, diaspora Jews, and the Seleucid Empire in that era. Notably, he has written extensively on the military history of the Maccabean Revolt as well as Greek views on Judaism and Jewish adaptation to Greek culture during the Hellenistic era. He is the recipient of the 2013 Humboldt Research Award Programme. Biography Bezalel Bar-Kochva was born in Tel Aviv (then part of Mandatory Palestine) in 1941. His family was part of the Revisionist movement within Zionism, a precursor to later right-wing Zionist movements. He received religious schooling as a child in yeshivas, including extensive study of the Talmud. Like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essenes
The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''ʾĪssīyīm''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') or Essenians were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. The Essene movement likely originated as a distinct group among Jews during Jonathan Apphus's time, driven by disputes over Jewish law and the belief that Jonathan's high priesthood was illegitimate. Most scholars think the Essenes seceded from the Zadokite priests. They attributed their interpretation of the Torah to their early leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, possibly a legitimate high priest. Embracing a conservative approach to Jewish law, they observed a strict hierarchy favoring priests (the Sons of Zadok) over laypeople, emphasized ritual purity, and held a dualistic worldview. According to Jewish writers Josephus and Philo, the Essenes numbered around four thousand, and resided in various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
