The Paralia ( - ''beach''), also known as Medinat HaYam ( - ''country by the sea'') was a coastal
eparchy
Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...
in
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
during Hellenistic and Roman times, ruled by the Seleucid Empire between 197 and 99 BCE, as part of the
Coele-Syria province. According to
Josephus, the inhabitants of the region were primarily Greek city-dwellers. The name appears in the 6th-century
Madaba Map, appended to the town of
Ashdod-Yam, as ''Azotos Paralos'' (), ca. 3 kilometers south of Modern
Ashdod.
The region was originally set up by the
Seleucids, along with the eparchies of Idumea and Galaaditis and neighbouring the eparchy of Samaria.
Josephus wrote that the Paralia was outside Jewish jurisdiction throughout the
Second Temple Period
The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...
, except for a short period under the
Hasmoneans and during the reign 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 the Agrippas.
Etymology
The region was described as the ''Coastal Country'' in
1 Maccabees (; ) and
2 Maccabees ().
[The Apocrypha, edited by Martin Goodman, John Barton, John Muddiman]
p.154
In earlier
Halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...
it was described at "Medinat HaYam" (cities of the sea).
History
The region was originally set up by the
Seleucids. The eparchy bordered Samaria, Idumea and Galaaditis, all part of the Coele-Syria province. Nicanor son of Patroclus was likely one of the governors of Paralia district, and was titled Cypriarch - apparently commanding some Cypriot garrison troops in the region, when
Antiochus V Eupator acceded to the throne.
[B. Bar-Kochva. ''Judas Maccabaeus: The Jewish Struggle Against the Seleucids''. Cambridge University Press. p239.]
Part of the Paralia region was first conquered by Jews under the
Hasmoneans.
Simon Thassi captured
Joppa in 143 BCE,
John Hyrcanus
John Hyrcanus (; ; ) was a Hasmonean (Maccabee, Maccabean) leader and Jewish High Priest of Israel of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until he died in 104 BCE). In rabbinic literature he is often referred to as ''Yoḥana ...
captured
Jamnia and
Ashdod in 125 BCE, and between 103 and 99 BCE
Alexander Jannaeus conquered the areas from
Dora, northwards to
Acra, and from
Gaza, southwards to
Rinocorura. The first penetration of Hasmoneans to
Joppa was gradual - first a garrison was set up in the city, with later replacement of the pagan population by incoming Jews.
[ Only Ashkelon was never conquered by the Hasmoneans.
]
Demographics
According to Josephus, the inhabitants of the region were primarily Greek city-dwellers.
See also
* Phoenice (Roman province)
Footnotes
Sources
* {{citation, title=Flavius Josephus and His Portrayal of the Coast (Paralia) of Contemporary Roman Palestine: Geography and Ideology, first=Ben-Zion, last=Rosenfeld, journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review, year=2000 , volume=91, issue=1, pages=143–183, publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press, doi=10.2307/1454789 , jstor=1454789
2nd-century BC establishments in the Seleucid Empire
Jewish Seleucid history
History of Palestine (region)
Political entities in the Land of Israel
Seleucid colonies