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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] |
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of Judea and Samaria, and the Maccabean Revolt, rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees. The son of List of Seleucid rulers, King Antiochus III the Great, Antiochus IV accession to the throne was controversial, as he was seen as a usurper by some. After the death of his brother Seleucus IV Philopator in 175 BC, the "true" heir should have been Seleucus's son Demetrius I Soter, Demetrius I. However, Demetrius I was very young and a hostage in Rome at the time, and Antiochus seized the opportunity to declare himself king instead, successfully rallying enough of the Greek ruling class in Antioch to support his claim. This helped set a destabilizing trend in the Seleucid Empire in subsequent generations, as an increasing number of claimants tried to u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcimus
Alcimus (from ''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 Hellenizer who favored the ruling government of the Seleucid Empire (Greek Syria) and opposed the Maccabean Revolt which was in progress at the time. Original sources What is known of Alcimus comes from records found in 1 Maccabees (, ); 2 Maccabees (); and Josephus's ''Antiquities of the Jews'' Book 12, Chapters 9-11. All of these sources are hostile to Alcimus; no sources from his faction's perspective survived. Alcimus is described as a leader of the Hellenizing faction of Hellenistic Judaism that favored more enthusiastic adoption of Greek practices and less adherence to Jewish law. Biography The office of high priest was recently vacant in 163 BCE after despised High Priest Menelaus was executed by Regent Lysias. It is not clear if Menelaus was of the high pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emil Schürer
Emil Schürer (2 May 184420 April 1910) was a German Protestant theologian known mainly for his study of the history of the Jews around the time of Jesus' ministry. Biography Schürer was born in Augsburg. After studying at the universities of Erlangen, Berlin and Heidelberg from 1862 to 1866, he became in 1873 professor ''extraordinarius'' at Leipzig. Later on, he served as professor ''ordinarius'' at the universities of Giessen (from 1878), Kiel (from 1890) and Göttingen (from 1895 to 1910). In 1876 he founded and edited th''Theologische Literaturzeitung'' which he edited with Adolf von Harnack from 1881 to 1910. He died after a long illness in 1910 in Göttingen. Works His elaborate work on the history of the Jews in the time of Christ, ''Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi'' (1886–1890; 4th edition 1901–1909), made him one of the best known of modern German scholars in Great Britain and the United States The United States of America ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Grätz
Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielkopolski), Grand Duchy of Posen, in Prussia (now in Poland), he attended Breslau University, but since Jews at that time were barred from receiving Ph.D.s there, he obtained his doctorate from the University of Jena.''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' (2007, 2nd ed.) entry on "Graetz, Heinrich," by Shmuel Ettinger and Marcus Pyka After 1845 he was principal of the Jewish Orthodox school of the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and was the largest by population until it was surpassed by Damascus, the capital of Syria. Aleppo is also the largest city in Syria's Governorates of Syria, northern governorates and one of the List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest cities in the Levant region. Aleppo is one of List of cities by time of continuous habitation#West Asia, the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the sixth millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied by Amorites by the latter part of the third millennium BC. That is also the time at which Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lysias (Syrian Chancellor)
Lysias (; ; ; died 162 BC) was a 2nd-century BC general and governor of Syria under the Seleucid Empire. Biography The Seleucid Empire of the 2nd century BC was huge; it possessed two heartlands, the capital at Antioch in Syria, and a secondary capital at Babylon in Mesopotamia. Seleucid rulers had to aggressively remind their client rulers of their loyalty lest the client rulers drift towards independence, as happened with various subkingdoms over time. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes left Antioch around summer of 165 BC on an expedition to the eastern satrapies; he would see to affairs in Babylonia, dismiss corrupt or overly independent officials, and attempt to exercise control over the drifting Persian provinces to what would become the Parthian Empire. Antiochus IV left Lysias in charge of the government of the Western half of the empire as regent. Lysias also took guardianship of Antiochus's son who continued to be raised in Antioch. Antiochus then went east with a loyal Greek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiochus V Eupator
Antiochus V Eupator (), whose epithet means "of a good father" ( – 162 BC) was a ruler of the Seleucid Empire who reigned from late 164 to 162 BC (based on dates from 1 Maccabees 6:16 and 7:1). He was appointed as king by the RomansAppian ''Roman History'', Syrian Wars 8.46. with his protector Lysias as regent. Biography Early life and succession Antiochus V was only nine years old when he succeeded to the kingship, following the death in Persia of his father Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his mother Laodice IV. The general Lysias, who had been left in charge of Syria by Epiphanes, served as regent for the child, although he was challenged by other generals. The Roman Senate still kept Demetrius, son of Seleucus IV and the rightful heir to the throne, as a hostage, refusing to release him because they considered it better to have Syria nominally ruled by a boy and his regent than the 22-year-old Demetrius. Reign At the outset of the reign of Antiochus V, there was an attempt by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maccabees
The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (, or , ; or ; , ), were a group of Jews, Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 BCE (after the Maccabean Revolt) to 37 BCE, being a fully independent kingdom from 104 to 63 BCE. They reasserted the Judaism, Jewish religion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest, and reduced the influence of Hellenization, Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism. Etymology The name Maccabee is often used as a synonym for the entire Hasmonean dynasty, but the Maccabees proper comprised Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic ''maqqəḇa'', "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditional Jewish explan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tobiads
The Tobiads were a Jewish dynasty in Ammon with origins possibly rooted in the First Temple Period, both literary and archaeological evidence point to their prominence during the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty and at the beginning of the Hasmonean period. They were philhellene, supporters of Hellenistic Judaism, in the early years of the 2nd century BCE. What is known about the Tobiads is a combination of references in the Zenon Papyri, accounts of Josephus (''Antiquities of the Jews'' xii. 160-236) and the Books of Maccabees. These are supplemented by biblical references, the letters from Nimrud, the Lachish letters, and archaeological remains of the Tobiad estate in Iraq al-Amir. History The Tobiad family, most probably named after their ancestor bearing the name Tuvia (Tobias) ("God is my good" or "Good is my God"), a name which remained in the family by papponymy and patronymy for several hundred years, received its noble status possibly during the First Temple P ... [...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] |
Flavius Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judea—to a father of Kohen, priestly descent and a mother who claimed Hasmonean royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Roman Empire during the First Jewish–Roman War as general of the Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in AD 67 to the Roman army led by military commander Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat. Josephus claimed the Messiah in Judaism, Jewish messianic Bible prophecy, prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Roman emperor. In response, Vespasian decided to keep him as a slave and presumably interpreter. After Vespasian became emperor in AD 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
