Herod Archelaus (, ''Hērōidēs Archelaos''; 23 BC – ) was the

ethnarch Ethnarch (pronounced , also ethnarches, ) is a term that refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or homogeneous kingdom. The word is derived from the Greek language, Greek words (''Ethnic group, ethnos'', "tribe/nation ...

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

, and

Idumea Edom (; Edomite: ; , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomites appear in several written sources relating to the ...

, including the cities Caesarea and

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

, for nine years (). He was the son of

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

and

Malthace Malthace () was a Samaritan woman who lived in the latter half of the 1st century BC. She was one of the wives of Herod the Great and the mother by Herod of Herod Antipas, Archelaus, and a daughter, Olympias. She died in 4 BC at Rome, while he ...

the Samaritan, brother of

Herod Antipas Herod Antipas (, ''Hērṓidēs Antípas''; ) was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a s ...

, and half-brother of Herod II. Archelaus (a name meaning "leading the people") came to power after the death of his father

in 4 BC, and ruled over one-half of the territorial dominion of his father. Archelaus was removed by the Roman emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

when Judaea province was formed under direct Roman rule, at the time of the

Census of Quirinius The Census of Quirinius was a census of the Roman Empire, Roman province of Judaea (Roman province), Judaea taken in 6 Common Era, CE, upon its formation, by the governor of Roman Syria, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius. The census triggered a r ...

Biography

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

writes that Herod the Great (father of Archelaus) was in

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

at the time of his death. Just prior to his final trip to Jericho, he was deeply involved in a religious conflagration. Herod had placed a golden eagle over the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

entrance, a symbol which was perceived as blasphemous. The eagle was chopped down with axes. Two teachers and approximately 40 other youths were arrested for this act and immolated. Herod defended his works and went on to attack his predecessors, the Hasmoneans; he also killed all male lineal successors of the Hasmoneans. The

Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

had long insulted the Hasmoneans as well with claims of parentage from

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

. This racial slur was repeated by the Pharisees through the rule of

Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( , English: "Alexander Jannaios", usually Latinised to "Alexander Jannaeus"; ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE. ...

and Queen

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

. With this explicit background given, Josephus began an exposition of the days of Archelaus' reign before

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

of 4 BC. Archelaus dressed in white and ascended a golden throne. He appeared to be kind to the populace in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, in order to appease their desires for lower taxes and an end to the (political) imprisonment of Herod's enemies. The demeanor of the questioning appeared to turn at some point, and the crowd began to call for the punishment of those of Herod's people who ordered the death of the two teachers and the 40 youths. They also demanded the replacement of the

High Priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious organisation. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many god ...

, from the appointed High Priest of Herod's to a High Priest, "of greater piety and purity". Archelaus acceded to this request and asked the crowd for moderation until he was confirmed king by Octavianus

. While people were mourning the death of the teachers, Archelaus began to worry as a crowd started streaming into the temple area, and the masses were escalating in their threatening behavior. Henry St. John Thackeray's translation of Josephus here states it thus: "The promoters of the mourning for the doctors stood in the body of the temple, procuring recruits for their faction". So Archelaus sent a general and a "tribune in command of a cohort" to reason with these "Seditionists" and wait until Archelaus could return from Rome. Those who came from Archelaus were stoned, with many killed. After midnight Archelaus ordered the entire army into the city to the temple where the insurrectionists had gone top perform sacrifices; Josephus records the death toll at 3000. Archelaus sent heralds around the city announcing the cancellation of Passover. Archelaus was proclaimed king by the army, but declined to assume the title until he had submitted his claims to

Caesar Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

; thus he sailed to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to face accusations from his younger brother Antipas over how the recent uproar was handled and regarding the succession clash between the two. Nicolaus of Damascus argued in favour of Archelaus, suggesting the change to Herod's will (supposedly written a few weeks prior and yielding the kingship to Archelaus instead of Antipas) as valid. The change of the will is attested from Jericho by one "Ptolemy", keeper of Herod's Seal and brother to Nicholaus. Archelaus, at the conclusion of the arguments, fell at Caesar's feet. Caesar raised him up and stated that Archelaus "was worthy to succeed his father". Caesar opted to divide the kingdom, and entrust the most important regions of Judea to Archelaus by granting him the tetrarchy of Judea, and bestowing the title of

upon him. The first wife of Archelaus is given by Josephus simply as Mariamne, perhaps Mariamne III, daughter of

Aristobulus IV Aristobulus IV (31–7 BC) was a prince of Judea from the Herodian dynasty, and was married to his cousin, Berenice (daughter of Salome), Berenice, daughter of Costobarus and Salome I. He was the son of Herod the Great and his second wife, Mariamn ...

, whom he divorced to marry Glaphyra. She was the widow of Archelaus' brother Alexander, though her second husband,

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

, king of

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

, was alive. His subjects complained to Augustus over this violation of the

Mosaic law The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebr ...

. Archelaus fell into disrepute and was deposed in his 10th year of reign as

, being banished to Vienna (today Vienne) in

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. Samaria, Judea proper, and Idumea became the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Judaea.

Biblical references

Archelaus is mentioned in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

( chapter 2 verse 13– 23). An angel of the Lord appeared to

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

in a dream and told him to get up and take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt to avoid the

Massacre of the Innocents The Massacre (or Slaughter) of the Innocents is a story recounted in the Nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew ( 2:16– 18) in which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male children who are two years old and u ...

. When Herod the Great died, Joseph was told by an angel in a

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

to return to the land of Israel (presumably to

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

). However, upon hearing that Archelaus had succeeded his father as ruler of Judaea he "was afraid to go there" ( Matthew 2:22), and was again warned in a dream by God "and turned aside to the region of"

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

. This is Matthew's explanation of why Jesus was born in

but grew up in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

. The beginning and conclusion of Jesus'

parable of the minas The Parable of the Talents (also the Parable of the Minas) is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in two of the synoptic, canonical gospels of the New Testament: * * Although the basic theme of each of these parables is essentially the ...

in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

, chapter 19, may refer to Archelaus' journey to Rome. Some interpreters conclude from this that Jesus' parables and preaching made use of events familiar to the people as examples for bringing his spiritual lessons to life. Others read the allusion as arising from later adaptations of Jesus' parables in the oral tradition, before the parables were recorded in the gospels.

A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return ... But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, "We do not want this man to reign over us." ... "But as for these enemies of mine," aid the nobleman,"who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me." (, , )

According to the Ethiopic Christian apocryphal text "Epistle of the Apostles", Archelaus was ruling Cilicia under the Romans during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is not backed by any other primary sources, only the Ethiopic and Coptic versions of the Epistle of the Apostles. Bart D Ehrman, Lost Scriptures, https://ia804602.us.archive.org/15/items/apocryphal-gospels-bart-ehrman/Lost%20Scriptures%20%28Bart%20D%20Ehrman%29.pdf

References

* B.D. Ehrman, Lost Scriptures: Books that did not make it into the New Testament, 2003.

External links

ARCHELAUS
by Abraham Schalit. ''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'' article at

Encyclopedia.com ''Encyclopedia.com'' is an online encyclopedia. It aggregates information, images, and videos from other published dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works. History The website was launched by Infonautics in March 1998. Infonautics w ...

Herod Archelaus
at Livius.org
Archelaus
by Richard Gottheil and

Louis Ginzberg Louis Ginzberg (, ''Levy Gintzburg''; , ''Levy Ginzberg''; November 28, 1873 – November 11, 1953) was a Russian-born American rabbi and Talmudic scholar of Lithuanian-Jewish descent, contributing editor to numerous articles of '' The Jewis ...

The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

{{Authority control 23 BC births 18 deaths 1st-century BC Herodian rulers 1st-century Herodian rulers Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire Herodian dynasty People in the canonical gospels Roman client monarchs Jewish royalty 1st-century monarchs in the Middle East Children of Herod the Great Judea (Roman province) 1st-century BCE Jews 1st-century Jews 1st-century people Census of Quirinius Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Luke Exiled royalty Sons of kings

Biography

Biblical references

See also

References

External links