HELLENISTIC JUDAISM

 

Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic culture and religion. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch in Syria (modern-day Turkey), the two main Greek urban settlements of the Middle East and North Africa, both founded in the end of the 4th century BCE in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hellenistic Judaism also existed in Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period, where there was a conflict between Hellenizers and traditionalists.

The major literary product of the contact between Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic culture is the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koine Greek, specifically, Jewish Koine Greek. Mentionable are also the philosophic and ethical treatises of Philo and the historiographical works of the other Hellenistic Jewish authors.

The decline of Hellenistic Judaism began in the 2nd century, and the precise causes are not fully understood. Following the Roman suppression of the Diaspora Revolt (115–117 CE), Jewish populations in Egypt, including the large and influential community in Alexandria, as well as those in Cyrenaica and Cyprus, were eradicated. Jewish presence in these regions was not re-established until centuries later, without regaining their former influence. Over time, much of the Greek-speaking diaspora was incorporated into the rabbinic framework by the rabbis. Additionally, it is possible that some members of Hellenistic Jewry were marginalized, absorbed, or gradually became part of the Koine-speaking core of early Christianity centered on Antioch and its traditions, such as the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.

The conquests of Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BCE spread Greek culture and colonization—a process of cultural change called Hellenization—over non-Greek lands including the Levant. This gave rise to the Hellenistic period, which sought to create a common or universal culture in the Alexandrian empire based on that of fifth-century Athens, along with a fusion of Near Eastern cultures.The period is characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa, the most famous being Alexandria in Egypt. New cities established composed of colonists from different parts of the Greek world and not from a specific metropolis ("mother city") as before.

The spread of Hellenism caused a blending of the local indigenous culture and the culture of the conquerors.Jewish life in both Judea and the diaspora was influenced by the culture and language of Hellenism. Local indigenous elites frequently played a significant role in embracing and promoting Hellenism, leading to its impact on all regional cultures, including the Jewish culture. In Judea, Hellenism gradually took hold, despite the relatively small number of foreign inhabitants.

The Jews living in countries west of the Levant formed the Hellenistic diaspora. The Egyptian diaspora is the most well known of these.Indeed, there was firm economic integration of Judea with the Ptolemaic Kingdom that ruled from Alexandria, while there were friendly relations between the royal court and the leaders of the Jewish community. This was a diaspora of choice, not of imposition. Information is less robust regarding diasporas in other territories. It suggests that the situation was by and large the same as it was in Egypt.

Adaptation to Hellenic culture did not require compromise of Jewish precepts or conscience. When a Greek gymnasium was introduced into Jerusalem, it was installed by a Jewish High Priest. And other priests soon engaged in wrestling matches in the palaestra. They plainly did not reckon such activities as undermining their priestly duties.

— Erich S. Gruen[9]: 73–74 

Later historians would sometimes depict Hellenism and Judaism uniquely incompatible, likely the result of the persecution of Antiochus IV. However, it does not appear that most Jews in the Hellenistic era considered Greek rulers any worse or different from Persian or Babylonian ones. Writings of Hellenized Jews such as Philo of Alexandria show no particular belief that Jewish and Greek culture are incompatible; as another example, the Letter of Aristeas holds up Jews and Judaism in a favorable light by the standards of Greek culture. The one major difference that even the most Hellenized Jews did not appear to compromise on was the prohibition on polytheism; this still separated Hellenistic Jews from wider Greek culture in refusing to honor shrines, temples, gods etc. that did not pertain to the God of Israel.

Hellenistic rulers of Judea

Under the suzerainty of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and later the Seleucid Empire, Judea witnessed a period of peace and protection of its institutions. For their aid against his Ptolemaic enemies, Antiochus III the Great promised his Jewish subjects a reduction in taxes and funds to repair the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple.

Relations deteriorated under Antiochus's successor Seleucus IV Philopator, and then, for reasons not fully understood, his successor Antiochus IV Epiphanes drastically overturned the previous policy of respect and protection, banning key Jewish religious rites and traditions in Judea (although not among the diaspora) and sparking a traditionalist revolt against Greek rule. Out of this revolt was formed an independent Jewish kingdom known as the Hasmonean Dynasty, which lasted from 141 BCE to 63 BCE and eventually disintegrated into civil war.

Hellenization of Jewish society

Overall, Jewish society was divided between conservative factions and pro-Hellenist factions.Pro-Hellenist Jews were generally upper-class or minorities living in Gentile-majority communities. They lived in towns that were far from Jerusalem and heavily connected with Greek trading networks.

The most significant literary achievement of Hellenistic Judaism was the development of the Septuagint. Other notable works include the Book of Wisdom, Sirach and pseudepigraphic apocalyptic literature such as the Assumption of Moses, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Book of Baruch and the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch. Some scholars consider Paul the Apostle to be a Hellenist Jew, even though he claimed to be a Pharisee (Acts 23:6).

Hellenistic Jews also created rewritten versions and expansions of biblical stories. As Erich S. Gruen points out, these writings show "a strong sense of identity and national self-consciousness."

Philo defended Judaism as a monotheistic philosophy that anticipated the tenets of Hellenistic philosophy. He also popularized metaphors such as "circumcision of the heart" to Greek audiences.

Hellenization was evident in the religious Jewish establishment:

'Ḥoni' became 'Menelaus'; 'Joshua' became 'Jason' or 'Jesus' [Ἰησοῦς]. The Hellenic influence pervaded everything, and even in the very strongholds of Judaism it modified the organization of the state, the laws, and public affairs, art, science, and industry, affecting even the ordinary things of life and the common associations of the people [...] The inscription forbidding strangers to advance beyond a certain point in the Temple was in Greek; and was probably made necessary by the presence of numerous Jews from Greek-speaking countries at the time of the festivals (comp. the "murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews," Acts vi. 1). The coffers in the Temple which contained the shekel contributions were marked with Greek letters (Sheḳ. iii. 2). It is therefore no wonder that there were synagogues of the Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and Asiatics in the Holy City itself (Acts vi. 9).

The turbulence created by Alexander the Great's death also popularized Jewish messianism.

Legacy

Both early Christianity and early Rabbinical Judaism were far less doctrinal and less theologically homogeneous than they are today, and both were significantly influenced by Hellenistic religion and borrowed allegories and concepts from classical Hellenistic philosophy and the works of Greek-speaking Jewish authors of the end of the Second Temple period before the two schools of thought eventually affirmed their respective norms and doctrines, notably by diverging increasingly on key issues such as the status of purity laws, the validity of Christian messianic beliefs, and the use of Koiné Greek and Latin as liturgical languages replacing Biblical Hebrew.

The word synagogue comes from Jewish Koine Greek, a language spoken by Hellenized Jews across southeastern Europe (Macedonia, Thrace, northern Greece), North Africa, and the Middle East after the 3rd century BCE. Many synagogues were built by the Hellenistai or adherents of Hellenistic Judaism in the Greek Isles, Cilicia, Northwestern and Eastern Syria, and Northern Israel as early as the first century BCE—notably in Delos, Antioch, Alexandretta, Galilee and Dura-Europos. Because of the mosaics and frescos representing heroic figures and Biblical characters (viewed as potentially conductive of "image worship" by later generations of Jewish scholars and rabbis), many of these early synagogues were at first mistaken for Greek temples or Antiochian Greek Orthodox churches.

Early rabbis of Babylonian Jewish descent, such as Hillel the Elder, whose parents were Aramaic-speaking Jewish migrants from Babylonia (hence the nickname "Ha-Bavli"), had to learn the Greek language and Greek philosophy to be conversant with sophisticated rabbinical language—many of the theological innovations introduced by Hillel had Greek names, most famously the Talmudic notion of Prozbul, from Koine Greek προσβολή, "to deliver":

Unlike literary Hebrew, popular Aramaic or Hebrew constantly adopted new Greek loanwords, as is shown by the language of the Mishnaic and Talmudic literature. While it reflects the situation at a later period, its origins go back well before the Christian era. The collection of the loanwords in the Mishna to be found in Schürer shows the areas in which Hellenistic influence first became visible- military matters, state administration and legislature, trade and commerce, clothing and household utensils, and not least in building. The so-called copper scroll with its utopian list of treasures also contains a series of Greek loanwords. When towards the end of the first century BCE, Hillel in practice repealed the regulation of the remission of debts in the sabbath year (Deut. 15.1-11) by the possibility of a special reservation on the part of the creditor, this reservation was given a Greek name introduced into Palestinian legal language- perōzebbōl = προσβολή, a sign that even at that time legal language was shot through with Greek.

— Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism (1974)

The unique combination of ethnocultural traits inhered from the fusion of a Greek-Macedonian cultural base, Hellenistic Judaism and Roman civilization gave birth to the distinctly Antiochian "Middle Eastern-Roman" Christian traditions of Cilicia (Southeastern Turkey) and Syria/Lebanon:

"The mixture of Roman, Greek, and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for the great part it played in the early history of Christianity. The city was the cradle of the church".

Following the destruction of the Jewish community in Egypt during the Diaspora Revolt, the Septuagint and other Jewish writings from the region were adopted and preserved by early Christians. Some presently used Grecian "Ancient Synagogal" priestly rites and hymns have survived partially to the present, notably in the distinct church services of the followers of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and its sister church the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in the Hatay Province of southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Northern Israel, and in the Greek-Levantine Christian diasporas of Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Canada. Many of the surviving liturgical traditions of these communities rooted in Hellenistic Judaism and, more generally, Second Temple Judaism, were expunged progressively in the late medieval and modern eras by both Phanariot European-Greek (Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople) and Vatican (Roman Catholic) Gentile theologians who sought to “bring back” Levantine Greek Orthodox and Greek-Catholic communities into the European Christian fold: some ancient Judeo-Greek traditions were thus deliberately abolished or reduced in the process.[citation needed] Members of these communities still call themselves "Rûm" (literally "Roman"; usually referred to as "Byzantine" in English) and referring to Greeks in Turkish, Persian and Levantine Arabic. In that context, the term Rûm is preferred over Yāvāni or Ionani (literally "Ionian"), also referring to Greeks in Ancient Hebrew, Sanskrit and Classical Arabic.

In parallel to these Levantine developments, decentralized Jewish communities also emerged in the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Moesia, and Thrace—sometimes referred to as "Illyrian Jews" or "Jews of Slavia Graeca." These groups settled in frontier zones of the Balkans and adhered to Greek-speaking, Jerusalem Talmud traditions of Judaism, distinct from the rabbinic movements of Judea and Babylonia. Archaeological remains—including synagogue inscriptions and funerary sites—indicate their presence from the 1st through the 6th centuries CE, particularly in cities such as Stobi, Nicopolis ad Istrum, and along the Via Egnatia. Over time, these Balkan Jewish communities either migrated northward into the Carpathian Basin or were absorbed into the larger Romaniote and Ashkenazi populations. Their liturgical practices and communal structure may have influenced later Jewish developments in Southeastern Europe.

List of Hellenized Jews

Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods

-Andronicus son of Meshullam, Egyptian Jewish scholar of the 2nd century BCE. One of the first known advocates of early Pharisaic (proto-Rabbinical) orthodoxy against the Samaritans.

-Antigonus of Sokho, also known as Antigonos of Socho, was the first scholar of whom Pharisaic tradition has preserved not only the name but also an important theological doctrine. He flourished about the first half of the third century BCE. According to the Mishnah, he was the disciple and successor of Simon the Just. Antigonus is also the first noted Jew to have a Greek name, a fact commonly discussed by scholars regarding the extent of Hellenic influence on Judaism following the conquest of Judaea by Alexander the Great.

-Antigonus II Mattathias (known in Hebrew as Matityahu) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. Antigonus was executed in 37 BCE, after a reign of three years during which he led the national struggle of the Jews for independence from the Romans.

- Alexander of Judaea, or Alexander Maccabeus, was the eldest son of Aristobulus II, king of Judaea

- Aristobulus of Alexandria (fl. 181–124 BCE), philosopher of the Peripatetic school who attempted to fuse ideas in the Hebrew Scriptures with those in Greek thought.

- Artapanus of Alexandria (fl. 3rd century BCE), Alexandrian Jewish writer who wrote a history Concerning the Jews, quoted by Polyhistor and Eusebius.

- Cleodemus Malchus, Jewish historian referenced by Alexander Polyhistor and Josephus.

- Eupolemus, an early Hellenic Jewish historian whose writings are known from Alexander Polyhistor and Eusebius Pamphili.

- Ezekiel the Tragedian, Alexandrian Jewish poet who wrote a play Exagōgē, a paraphrase of the Exodus in iambic trimeter.

- Jason of the Oniad family, High Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem from 175 to 172 BCE.

- Menelaus, High Priest in Jerusalem from 171 BCE to about 161 BCE.

- Mariamne I, Jewish princess of the Hasmonean dynasty, was the second wife of Herod the Great.

- Onias I (Hellenized form of Hebrew name (Greek: Ὀνίας) from (Hebrew: Honiyya) was the son of Jaddua mentioned in Nehemiah. According to Josephus, this Jaddua is said to have been a contemporary of Alexander the Great. I Maccabees regards Onias as a contemporary of the Spartan king Areus I (309–265 BCE). Onias I is thought to be the father or grandfather of Simon the Just.

- Ben Sira, also known as Yesu'a son of Sirach, leading 2nd century BCE Jewish scholar and theologian who lived in Jerusalem and Alexandria, author of the Wisdom of Sirach, or "Book of Ecclesiasticus".

- Simon Thassi (died 135 BCE) was the second son of king Mattathias and the first prince of the Jewish Hasmonean Dynasty. He was also a general (Doric Greek: στραταγός, stratagos; literally meaning "army leader") in the Greco-Syrian Seleucid army of Antiochus VI.

Herodian and Roman periods

- Philo of Alexandria (Φίλων, Philōn; c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE), also called Philo Judaeus, of Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.

- Flavius Josephus was the first Jewish historian. Initially a Jewish military leader during the First Jewish-Roman War, he famously switched sides and became a Roman citizen and acclaimed Romano-Jewish academic. He popularized the idea that Judaism was similar in many ways to Greek philosophy.

- Justus of Tiberias, Jewish historian born in Tiberias, "a highly Hellenistic Galilean city", he was a secretary to governor Herod Agrippa II and rival of Flavius Josephus.

- Julianos (Hellenized form of the Latin name Julianus) and Pappos (from Koine Greek pappa or papas 'patriarch' or 'elder') born c. 80 CE in the city of Lod (לוֹד; Greco-Latin: Lydda, Diospolis, Ancient Greek: Λύδδα / Διόσπολις – city of Zeus), one of the main centers of Hellenistic culture in central Israel. It is possible that Julian and Pappus led the Jewish resistance movement against the Roman army in Israel during the Kitos War, 115–117 CE (their Hebrew names were Shemaiah and Ahijah respectively).

- Lukuas, also called Andreas, Libyan Jew born c. 70 CE, was one of the main leaders the Jewish resistance movement against the Roman army in North Africa and Egypt during the Diaspora Revolt, 115–117 CE.

- Trypho the Jew, thought to be a 2nd-century CE rabbi opposed to Christian apologist Justin Martyr, whose Dialogue with Trypho is paradoxically "equally influenced by Greek and Rabbinic thought." He is most likely the same as Rabbi Tarfon.

EDITED FROM WIKIPEDIA 

HEBREW IS GREEK ~ PDF

 

Paleo Hebrew is Greek.

What you call Hebrew today is modern Hebrew using the Babylonia Aramaic Alphabet.

For about 30 years, the genius Jewish researcher Joseph Ezekiel Yahuda compared 3 languages: Jewish, Arabic and Ancient Greek Homeric. Finally, in the year 1982, in London UK, he published a 680-page book titled ’’ Hebrew is Greek’’.

For those who wish to read it, it's available here in pdf form for free.

Click on this  https://fr.scribd.com/.../Joseph-Yahuda-Hebrew-is-Greek-pdf

or  this https://ia801600.us.archive.org/13/items/Hebrew.is.Greek/Hebrew_is_Greek_lite_text.pdf

or  this https://archive.org/details/Hebrew.is.Greek/page/n17/mode/2up

THEODOTUS INSCRIPTION ~ ISRAEL

 THEODOTUS  INSCRIPTION ~ ISRAEL 

The Theodotos inscription is the earliest known inscription from a synagogue. It was found  by Raymond Weill in Wadi Hilweh (known as the City of David).

Greek script

ΘΕΟΔΟΤΟΣ ΟΥΕΤΤΗΝΟΥ ΙΕΡΕΥΣ ΚΑΙ

ΑΡΧΙΣΥΝΑΓΩΓΟΣ ΥΙΟΣ ΑΡΧΙΣΥΝ(ΑΓΩ)

Γ(Ο)Υ ΥΙΩΝΟΣ ΑΡΧΙΣΥΝ(Α)ΓΩΓΟΥ ΩΚΟ

ΔΟΜΗΣΕ ΤΗΝ ΣΥΝΑΓΩΓ(Η)Ν ΕΙΣ ΑΝ(ΑΓ)ΝΩ

Σ(ΙΝ) ΝΟΜΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΕΙΣ (Δ)ΙΔAΧ(Η)Ν ΕΝΤΟΛΩΝ ΚΑ(Ι)

ΤΟΝ ΞΕΝΩΝΑ ΚΑ(Ι TΑ) ΔΩΜΑΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΧΡΗ

Σ(Τ)ΗΡΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΥΔΑΤΩΝ ΕΙΣ ΚΑΤΑΛΥΜΑ ΤΟΙ

Σ(Χ)ΡΗΖΟΥΣΙΝ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΣ ΞΕ(Ν)ΗΣ ΗΝ ΕΘΕΜΕ

Λ(ΙΩ)ΣΑΝ ΟΙ ΠΑΤΕΡΕΣ (Α)ΥΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΟΙ ΠΡΕ

Σ(Β)ΥΤΕΡΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΣΙΜΩΝ(Ι)ΔΗΣ

Translation

Theodotos son of Vettenus, priest and head of the synagogue (archisynágōgos), son of a head of the synagogue, and grandson of a head of the synagogue, built the synagogue for the reading of the law and for the teaching of the commandments, as well as the guest room, the chambers, and the water fittings as an inn for those in need from abroad, the synagogue which his fathers founded with the elders and Simonides.

Edited from Wikipedia 

ANTIOCHUS IV EPIPHANES ~ THE KING WHO CAUSED THE MACCABEAN REVOLT

Antiochus IV Epiphanes, (Greek: “God Manifest”) also called Antiochus Epimanes (the Mad), (born c. 215 BCE—died 164 BCE ) was a Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian Kingdom, who reigned from 175 to 164 BCE. As a ruler, he was best known for his support of Greek culture and institutions. His attempts to suppress Judaism brought on the Wars of the Maccabees.

Early career

Antiochus was the third son of Antiochus III the Great. After his father’s defeat by the Romans in 190–189 BCE, he served as hostage for his father in Rome from 189 to 175, where he learned to admire Roman institutions and policies. His brother, King Seleucus IV, exchanged him for Demetrius, the son of Seleucus; and after Seleucus was murdered by Heliodorus, a usurper, Antiochus in turn ousted him. During this period of uncertainty in Syria, the guardians of Ptolemy VI, the Egyptian ruler, laid claim to Coele Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia, which Antiochus III had conquered. Both the Syrian and Egyptian parties appealed to Rome for help, but the Senate refused to take sides. In 173 BCE, Antiochus paid the remainder of the war indemnity that had been imposed by the Romans on Antiochus III at the Treaty of Apamea .

Antiochus forestalled an Egyptian expedition to Palestine by invading Egypt. He defeated the Egyptians between Pelusium and Mount Kasion, conquered Pelusium, and in 169 occupied Egypt with the exception of Alexandria, the capital. Ptolemy VI was Antiochus’ nephew—Antiochus’ sister, Cleopatra I, had married Ptolemy V—and Antiochus contented himself with ruling Egypt as Ptolemy’s guardian, giving Rome no excuse for intervention. The citizens of Alexandria, however, appealed to Ptolemy VIII, the brother of Ptolemy VI, and to his sister Cleopatra II to form a rival government. Disturbances in Palestine forced Antiochus to return to Syria, but he safeguarded his access to Egypt with a strong garrison in Pelusium.

In the winter of 169/168 BCE, Perseus of Macedonia begged Antiochus to join forces with him against the danger that Rome presented to all of the Hellenistic monarchs. However, his pleas were in vain. In Egypt, Ptolemy VI,along with his brother and sister, sent a renewed request to Rome for aid, and Antiochus prepared for battle. The fleet of Antiochus won a victory at Cyprus, whose governor surrendered the island to him. Antiochus invaded Egypt again in 168 BCE, and demanded that Cyprus and Pelusium be ceded to him. He occupied Lower Egypt, and camped outside Alexandria. The cause of the Ptolemaeans seemed lost. But on June 22, 168 BCE, the Romans defeated Perseus and his Macedonians at Pydna, and Antiochus lost the benefits of his victory. In Eleusis, a suburb of Alexandria, the Roman ambassador, Gaius Popillius Laenas, presented Antiochus with the ultimatum that he evacuate Egypt and Cyprus immediately. Antiochus, taken by surprise, asked for time to consider this ultimatum. Popillius, however, drew a circle in the earth around the king with his walking stick and demanded an unequivocal answer before Antiochus left the circle. Dismayed by this public humiliation, the king quickly agreed to comply. Roman intervention had reestablished the status quo. By being allowed to retain southern Syria, to which Egypt had laid claim, Antiochus was able to preserve the territorial integrity of his realm.

Efforts to hellenize the kingdom

Both economically and socially Antiochus made efforts to strengthen his kingdom— mostly inhabited by non-Greeks—by founding and fostering Greek cities. Even before the beginning of his reign he had contributed to the building of the temple of Zeus in Athens and to the adornment of the theatre. He enlarged Antioch on the Orontes by adding a section to the city , named Epiphania after him. There he built an aqueduct, a council hall, a marketplace, and a temple to Zeus Capitolinus. Babylon, which revered him as Soter (Liberator, or Saviour) of Asia, was given a Greek colony that was granted freedom of the city. Another Epiphania was founded in Armenia. Ecbatana (in Persia) was also named Epiphania and became a Greek city. Many of these cities were granted the right to coin their own municipal currency. The mint of Antioch on the Persian Gulf served the trade along the sea route between India and the district at the mouth of the great Mesopotamian rivers.

Antiochus’s hellenizing policies brought him into conflict with the prosperous non-Greek temple organizations, and particularly with the Jews. Since Antiochus III’s reign the Jews had enjoyed extensive autonomy under their high priest. They were divided into two parties, the orthodox Hasideans (Pious Ones) and a reform party that favoured Hellenism. For financial reasons Antiochus supported the reform party and, in return for a considerable sum, permitted the high priest, Jason, to build a gymnasium in Jerusalem and to introduce the Greek mode of educating young people. In 172 BCE, for an even bigger tribute, he appointed Menelaus in place of Jason. In 169, however, while Antiochus was campaigning in Egypt, Jason conquered Jerusalem—with the exception of the citadel—and murdered many adherents of his rival Menelaus. When Antiochus returned from Egypt in 167 he took Jerusalem by storm and enforced its Hellenization. The city forfeited its privileges and was permanently garrisoned by Syrian soldiers.

The revolt of Judas Maccabeus

The Greeks and those friendly toward them were united into the community of Antiochians; the worship of Yahweh and all of the Jewish rites were forbidden by punishment of death. In the Temple an altar to Zeus Olympios was erected, and sacrifices were to be made at the feet of an statue in the image of the King. Against that action, Judas Maccabeus, leader of the anti-Greek Jews, led the Hasideans in a guerrilla war and managed to defeat repeatedly the generals Antiochus had commissioned to deal with the uprising. Judas refused a partial amnesty, conquered Judaea with the exception of the Acra in Jerusalem, and in December 164 was able to tear down the altar of Zeus and return the temple to the Jewish religion. 

Antiochus then mounted a campaign against the Parthians who were threatening the empire in the east, recovered the income from that area, forced Artaxias of Armenia—who had defected—to recognize his authority, founded the city of Antioch on the Persian Gulf, set out on an expedition to the Arabian coast, and, at the end of 164 BCE, died of an illness at Tabae (or Gabae, probably present Isfahan) in Persis.

Edited from: https://www.britannica.com

2,200-YEAR-OLD GREEK SLING BULLET FOUND IN ISRAEL

 

 A 2,200-year-old Greek sling bullet may have been used against Jews in Hanukkah story. Found in Yavne and bearing inscription ‘Victory for Heracles and Hauron,’ ,this efficient weapon, apart from its evident use in the battlefield,could also have been a tool for psychological warfare against Hasmonean soldiers during revolt.

Some 2,200 years ago, a Greek soldier stood in battle in what is now the Israeli city of Yavne, aimed his sling at Jewish Hasmonean troops, and launched a projectile at them during battles that would later become part of the story of Hanukkah.

At least, that is one option suggested following the discovery in Yavne of a sling bullet made of lead and bearing a Greek inscription reading “Victory for Heracles and Hauron” — a possible attempt at psychological warfare against enemies.

The Israel Antiquities Authority, which revealed the finding, told The Times of Israel that the sling bullet was discovered about a year ago and has been studied since then. It timed the announcement for Wednesday, 10 days before Hanukkah.

The IAA said in a statement that the sling bullet found in Yavne’s major archaeological site is 4.4 centimeters (1.7 inches) long and around 2,200 years old. Its age places it around the time of the battles between the Seleucid army against the Hasmoneans, who were seeking to prevent the Hellenization of the Jews.

The researchers, however, acknowledged that it isn’t known in what context the slingshot was used, and that there was no conclusive evidence that it even belonged to a Greek soldier.

“It seems that we will not be able to know for sure if the sling bullet belonged to a Greek soldier, but it is not impossible that it is related to the conflict between the Greeks and the Hasmoneans,” said Pablo Betzer and Dr. Daniel Varga, who directed the excavation on behalf of the IAA, in the statement.

“The tiny lead sling bullets, announcing the imminent victory of the Gods of pagan Yavne, is tangible evidence of a fierce battle that took place in Yavne at that time,” they added.

According to Prof. Yulia Ustinova of Ben Gurion University, who deciphered the inscription, “the pair of Gods Hauron and Heracles were considered the divine patrons of Yavne during the Hellenistic period. The inscription on a sling bullet is the first archaeological evidence of the two guardians of Yavne, discovered inside Yavne itself. Until today, the pair was only known from an inscription on the Greek island of Delos.”

Ustinova said the inscription wasn’t a simple call for the deities’ help, but “a threat directed towards adversaries.

“Lead sling bullets are known in the ancient world, beginning in the 5th century BCE, but few individual sling bullets with inscriptions have been found in Israel,” she added. “The inscriptions convey a message of unifying the warriors with the aim of raising their spirits, scaring the enemy, or a call intended to magically energize the sling bullet itself. These inscriptions were part of psychological warfare, the main purpose of which is to terrorize the opponent, and in addition, to unite the warriors and raise their spirits.”

“One can only imagine what that warrior who held the sling bullet 2,200 years ago thought and felt, as he held on to the hope of divine salvation,” said IAA director Eli Escusido.

“In the 2nd century BCE, pagan Yavne – which was an ally of the Seleucids (the Greeks who ruled Eretz-Israel), were subject to attacks by the Hasmonean armies,” the directors explained. “The Hasmoneans sought to subjugate the other nations and create a homogeneous and ‘pure state’ from a religious-ritualistic point of view.”

The IAA said the excavations in Yavne are carried out as part of an Israel Land Authority initiative to expand the city, in cooperation with the municipality. The excavations themselves are an ongoing large-scale project.

Edited from  the Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post

GREEK PTOLEMAIC COINS IN ISRAEL

Silver Tetradrachms with the vessel in which they were found at Tel Dor, Israel. Dating from the Ptolemaic Period, 3rd century BCE.

Ptolemy I Soter (367-283 BCE) Greek General of Alexander the Great and Pharaoh of Egypt and Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309-246 BCE) King of Egypt. Now in the Mizgaga Museum, Nahsholim, Israel. Photo: Zev Radovan

SOURCE : egyptblog

DECAPOLIS ~ HELLENISM IN ANCIENT JUDEA AND PALESTINE

In c.333 BCE, the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great defeated his opponent Darius III Codomannus at Issus. The main consequence of his victory was that all land west of the river Euphrates, already part of a gradually intensifying trade network surrounding the eastern Mediterranean, become increasingly exposed to Greek civilization. However, Hellenism could also meet with resistance. The Maccabaean Revolt in Judaea is the best-known example, although it did not prevent the rise of two Hellenistic dynasties (the Hasmonaeans and the Herodians). The Nabataean Arabs, who lived in the south of modern Jordan, were more efficient. In c.312 BCE, they managed to survive two attacks by Greek armies, and in 64-62, when the Roman general Pompey the Great reorganized the Near East, they managed to stay outside the Roman system: recognized as allies, they retained some independence.

Raphana ( identified with the site of Abila )

Damascus

Yet, west of the Euphrates, the spread of Hellenism was an irreversible process, and the most remarkable form of expression was urbanism. The descendants of Alexander's generals, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, founded many cities.


When Pompey reorganized the Near East and made an end to the Seleucid Empire, he also awarded some kind of independence to a group of Hellenized cities, which was called the Decapolis. They were not as independent as the Nabataeans, but were not a province either, although they had to deal with an official, a prefect, who was responsible to the governor of Syria. The date on the coins of these towns was based on an era that started in 64/63, but in other aspects, they had almost nothing in common: the Decapolis appears not to have been a league of cities with institutions of its own. Urban autonomy was left intact, and the non-demanding nature of its membership can also be deduced from the fact that the number of members varied.


Writing in c. 75 CE, Pliny the Elder offers a list of precisely ten member cities. He visited the land during the Jewish Revolt (66-70), so he knows what he's talking about: 

Next to Judaea is the Decapolis, which is so named after the number of its cities, but not all authorities agree about their names. Most writers, however, agree that Damascus is one of the ten. This town is on the banks of the river Chrysorroös, which is eagerly used to irrigate its meadows; the cities of Philadelphia and Rhaphana are in the direction of Arabia; Scythopolis - which Father Liber (Dionysus) used to call Nysa, after he had buried his nurse on this place - owes, its present name from a Scythian colony that was once established there; Gadara, on the banks of the river Hieromix; Hippo; Dion; Pella, rich with its waters; and finally Galasa and Canatha. 

-Pliny the Elder, Natural History 

Gerasa 

"Galasa" is better known as Gerasa. Other cities that have been reckoned among the Decapolis are Abila and Capitolias. Writing a century later, Ptolemy names no less than eighteen cities.note
Most of these cities were new foundations, others were ancient towns with new names. For example, the capital of the Ammonites was renamed Philadelphia, and although there were many new monuments, it retained older characteristics.

Pella

City of Hippos 

Philadelphia ( modern-day Amman )

 Yet, whatever their origins, the cities shared an important sentimental tie: they were Greek towns, not Jewish or Nabataean. During the Jewish War, they were loyal supporters of Rome. Their Greekness was shown with elaborate foundation myths, like Scythopolis' claim to have been founded by Dionysus. This Greekness, on the other hand, did not exclude the possibility of religious syncretism. Ancient Semitic deities could survive under new names; for instance, yahweh could be renamed Dionysos or Zeus - much to the horror of pious Jews of course.

Scythopolis 

Capitolias 

Canatha 

If there had been any political significance to the lose confederation, it was finally abandoned in 106 CE, when the Roman emperor Trajan annexed Nabataea. The provinces were reorganized, and the towns of the Decapolis were divided: some became part of Judaea, others of Nabataea, still others were added to Syria. Yet, there may have remained shared cultural activities, sentiments, and ties, and the name did not immediately vanish, as we can deduce from the use of the word "Decapolis" by Ptolemy.


SOURCE:  Livius