Part two will cover a historical survey of Palestine from circa 200 BC to 160BC, focusing upon the power-struggles of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and the Kingdom of Seleucid, who attempted to solve the 'problematic region, and how the struggle subsequently affected the Hellenistic and integration into the Judaic region.
The Shift of Governance
By 200 BC, when the child king Ptolemy V of Epiphanes, ruled by his powerful government ministers, lost the battle of Panion, north of Galilee, Palestine, along with all Ptolemaic territory north of the Sinai desert, was occupied and ruled by the Seleucid dynasty. Palestine had settled under the Seleucid Kingdom, whose boundary stretched as north as Tripoli in Lebanon, a frontier marked by the Kabir River.
It was not possible for the Seleucid Kingdom to exploit the region with total and absolute control as the Ptolemaic reign had, primarily due to the vast territorial scope of their empire. Compared to Ptolemaic rule, at first, the Seleucid rule was not considered to be oppressive to the Jews, but instead, was able to improve the development of Jewish communities, by assimilating their urban conditions to the same state as the Hellenistic cities.
By 188 BC, the Seleucid Kingdom began to deteriorate, due to the costly war with Rome, which in 189BC had ended in their complete defeat. The loss of this war had cost the Seleucid Kingdom almost the entirety of Anatolia (Asia Minor), alongside yearly reparations of 15,000 talents (worth its weight in over a billion dollars today).
A Shift of Policy
The ascension of Antiochus Epiphanes to the throne shifted the direction of the Seleucid Kingdom towards the restoration of the former eastern empire, to counterbalance the loss of the provinces in the war with Rome. In Palestine, Antiochus installed a philhellene high priest, clearly meant to undermine the Jewish high priest, and expel the Jewish religion from the region. (It must be stated that there is no suggestion that he underwent a genocide of the Jewish people, but intended to undermine the religion, by conversion).
As part of his policy to re-establish the empire, Antiochus successfully invaded Egypt, and afterward, returned to Syria, via Jerusalem, where his army looted and plundered the Jewish Temple. His military campaigns, and plunder of the Jewish temples were able to recuperate some wealth to his kingdom’s coffers. However, his desire to restore the Seleucid was destroyed, once again, humiliated by the Romans, whose legate expelled him from the gates of Egypt.
In response, Antiochus dispatched a financial official, accompanied with an army, to journey to all the cities of Judea, demanding an increase in taxes. Met with some hostility and refusal, Antiochus’ army, lead by his financial official, assaulted the city of Jerusalem, and established fortifications in the citadel, reclaiming it as the Akra.
Persecution
This achieved the overthrow and enslavement of the Jewish authority at the heart of Judah, Jerusalem. It was a direct attack on the Jewish religion, the customs, rites and practices were outlawed and prohibited, symbolized by the abolition of the Sabbath day observance, punishable by death. No greater symbol than the decapitation of Jewish rule in Judea was the events which took place on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev; December 168BC. The event is referred to the ‘abomination of desolation’, when an altar to Zeus was erected in the Temple of Jerusalem.
Resistance erupted, instigated by the sons of Mattathias, led by Judas Maccabeus, known as the Maccabean revolt. It would be a mistake to insinuate that all Jewish communities in Judea joined the revolt. Many had assimilated into the Hellenistic upper-class, and adapted their customs and practices to the Greek way of life. Nonetheless, many furious Jews joined the Maccabean revolt, and were able to resist the wave of Seleucid forces sent to quash the revolt.
Following three-years of war between the Maccabees, effectively led by Judas Maccabeus, and the Seleucids, ineffectively ruled by Antiochus, the Maccabees managed to breach the temple, topple the altar of Zeus and re-establish the Jewish Temple. Despite reclaiming the temple, Akra remained under the rule of Seleucid.
Turmoil in the Seleucid
After the death of Antiochus in 164BC, a number of usurpers attempted to assume the rule of the Seleucid Kingdom. Each usurper attempted to gain the support of the Kingdoms provinces. During this period of turmoil, many of the high Jewish priests were bribed by the scheming kings and royals of Syria. This enabled the Jewish Judeans to establish a form of influence, by supporting or opposing the new hereditary dynasty.
Subsequently, Lysias, Regent of the Seleucid Empire, sought to renew support with the Jews to counter the potential rival opposition brewing in Syria. In order to gain the support of the Jewish high-priests, Lysias restored Jewish religious rights in Judea, to coexist alongside Hellenistic pagan worship. However, the terms of this liberty pended upon the appointment of Lysias’ nominee for the position of high priest.
161 BC, inspired fresh friction for conflict, out which erupted another Jewish revolt, led by Judas Maccabeus, who trounced the army of Seleucid, led by general, Nicanor, who died in combat. In retaliation, King Demetrius I Soter of the Seleucid Kingdom, ordered his most trusted general Bacchides, to move on Jerusalem. After close-quartered combat in the streets, Judas Maccabeus, leader of the Maccabean revolt, was killed.
Bibliography
Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History, Nur Mashala (London, Zed Books Ltd, 2019)
Plutarch's Lives, with an English Translation, from Bernadotte Perrin (London, William Heinemann, MCMXIV)
Revealing the History of Ancient Palestine, Changing Perspectives 8 by Keith W.Whitelam (London, Routledge, 2018)
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