The Battle of Beth Zechariah was a battle around May 162 BC during the
Maccabean revolt
The Maccabean Revolt ( he, מרד החשמונאים) 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 167–160 BCE and ended ...
fought between Jewish rebels under the leadership of
Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) against an army of the
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
, the Greek successor state (
diadochi
The Diadochi (; singular: Diadochus; from grc-gre, Διάδοχοι, Diádochoi, Successors, ) were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The War ...
) to the Macedonian conquests that controlled Syria and Babylonia. The battle was fought at Beth Zechariah (modern
Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah
Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah (variants: Beit Iskâria, Khirbet Zakariah, Beit Skâria) is a small Palestinian village in the West Bank, perched on a hill that rises about above sea level. It is located in between the larger Israeli settlements of Al ...
) and was a Seleucid victory, with the rebels driven from the field in retreat. Judas's brother
Eleazar Avaran
Eleazar Avaran, also known as Eleazar Maccabeus, Eleazar Hachorani/Chorani (Hebrew: אלעזר המכבי ''Eleazar HaMakabi'', אלעזר החורני ''Eleazar HaChorani''; died 162 BC) was the fourth son of Mattathias and the younger brother o ...
died in combat with a
war elephant
A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...
. The defeat allowed the Seleucids to continue their campaign and besiege the Jewish holy city of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
Primary sources
The Battle of Beth Zechariah is recorded in the book of
1 Maccabees
The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...
() and in two of
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
's histories: ''
Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the re ...
'' Book 12, Chapter 9 and ''
The War of the Jews
''The Jewish War'' or ''Judean War'' (in full ''Flavius Josephus' Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans'', el, Φλαυίου Ἰωσήπου ἱστορία Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ...
'' Book 1.1.41–46.
1 Maccabees is considered the main source on the battle; its detailed description of the Seleucid forces suggests that the author either was an eyewitness, or was able to interview an eyewitness in detail. ''Antiquities'' largely echoes 1 Maccabees, Josephus's main source, although he adds additional details based on his first-hand knowledge of Judean topography and geography; ''War of the Jews'' contains new material that is absent from and sometimes contradicts 1 Maccabees, however, suggesting other Greek sources were used by Josephus in its composition, such as
Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek language, Greek: , ''Nikolāos Damaskēnos''; Latin: ''Nicolaus Damascenus'') was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustus, Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his b ...
. Additionally,
2 Maccabees describes Lysias's expedition in very general terms (), although it focuses on a raid undertaken by Judas at night as well as a Jewish traitor Rhodocus who was caught passing secrets to the Seleucids. It seems the author knew the truth of the battle as 2 Maccabees describes Lysias's eventual retreat as due to political concerns and not the result of a military defeat, and did not want to linger on an embarrassing setback for the rebellion.
[Bar-Kochva 1989, p.291–296]
Background
In autumn 164 BC, Regent
Lysias
Lysias (; el, Λυσίας; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace i ...
launched an expedition to Judea to defeat the Maccabean rebellion. The Maccabees under
Judas Maccabeus fought the Greeks at the
Battle of Beth Zur
The Battle of Beth Zur was fought between the Maccabees led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and a Seleucid Greek army led by Regent Lysias in October 164 BC at Beth Zur. According to the books of Maccabees, the rebels won the battle, alt ...
. Whether from losses in the battle or from news of the death of King Antiochus IV reaching Judea, Lysias left Judea and negotiated a compromise. He returned to the Seleucid capital of
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
to fend off a political challenge for leadership from Philip (Greek: Philippus), a prominent Seleucid official from
Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
in the eastern half of the Empire who claimed Antiochus IV had appointed him regent before his death. The Maccabees captured
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, cleansed the temple, and rededicated the altar for Jewish worship. However, Seleucid forces still controlled the
Acra, a strong fortress within the city that faced the
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compoun ...
. The Maccabees participated in a number of
campaigns across greater Palestine while the Seleucid government was concerned with internal politics in the capital. Around April 162 BC (Year 150 of the
Ancient Macedonian calendar
The Ancient Macedonian calendar is a lunisolar calendar that was in use in ancient Macedon in the It consisted of 12 synodic lunar months (i.e. 354 days per year), which needed intercalary months to stay in step with the seasons. By ...
), Judas laid siege to the Acra, attempting to eradicate the most prominent symbol of Seleucid power in Judea.
This drew a strong Seleucid response: Lysias left Antioch and made a second expedition to Judea to relieve the Acra.
An issue both sides would struggle with was food shortages. The sources say that it was a
fallow
Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycl ...
year previously; the exact implications of that statement are unclear, but it appears food supplies were thin if not at famine level. The problem had been exacerbated by a wave of Jewish refugees from outlying regions that had been brought to Judea for their own safety as the outlying regions descended into disorder with raids and civilian violence and murders between the Jewish and Gentile populations. Lysias's expeditionary force was quite large, and armies acquired a substantial amount of their provisions from local foraging and requisitions in antiquity.
[Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 341–342]
According to Josephus, the Seleucids had an army of about 50,000
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
, about 5,000 cavalry, and approximately 80
war elephant
A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...
s.
1 Maccabees describes an even larger infantry army but only 32 elephants; historians generally take the lesser and assume Josephus was more accurate on his infantry estimate, and 1 Maccabees was more accurate on the number of elephants. The size of the Jewish army is unknown, but they appear to have trained a
Hellenistic-style army in the year and a half since taking Jerusalem, as Josephus mentions a Jewish
phalanx
The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...
.
Historians speculate that the Jews may have had anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers.
Lysias's expedition
![Death of Eleazer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Death_of_Eleazer.jpg)
Lysias and the Seleucid army of Syrian Greeks approached Judea from the southwest through
Mount Hebron
The Hebron Hills, also known as Mount Hebron ( ar, جبل الخليل, translit=Jabal al-Khalīl, he, הר חברון, translit=Har Hevron), are a mountain ridge, geographic region, and geologic formation, comprising the southern part of the J ...
and besieged
Beth-zur. After Beth-zur surrendered, they continued northward toward Jerusalem, about away. Judas declined to revert to the
guerrilla tactics
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ta ...
of earlier in the revolt, as this would likely mean ceding southern Judea and Jerusalem without contest. Instead, he rallied an army to intercept the expedition and positioned his troops on the high ground on the main road to Jerusalem.
The Seleucids would be required to enter via a valley approach, restricting their numeral advantage. Near the end of May 162 BC, the two armies clashed at a narrow pass near Beth Zechariah.
Lysias sent a force to take the nearby ridges to cover his main force's advance and their flanks, likely his cavalry and possibly skirmishers. The high ground there would also provide scouting and better visibility to the battle's progress. The bulk of the troops marched through the valley path with light infantry at the front, and war elephants and the heavy infantry, a Greek
phalanx
The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...
armed with
sarissa
The sarisa or sarissa ( el, σάρισα) was a long spear or pike about in length. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in his Macedonian phalanxes as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. Thes ...
s, behind. The light infantry could remove any obstacles found in the elephant's path, and slow any surprise attack on the formation.
The war elephants unnerved Judas's troops. As the Jews began to break for the rear, Judas's brother,
Eleazar Avaran
Eleazar Avaran, also known as Eleazar Maccabeus, Eleazar Hachorani/Chorani (Hebrew: אלעזר המכבי ''Eleazar HaMakabi'', אלעזר החורני ''Eleazar HaChorani''; died 162 BC) was the fourth son of Mattathias and the younger brother o ...
, attempted to show his fellow soldiers that the elephants were vulnerable. Charging into the mouth of the Syrian forces, he attacked a large elephant. Eleazar cast himself under the animal and thrust his sword into its belly. The elephant crushed Eleazar, killing him, although the elephant eventually perished as well. This show of bravery was not enough to rally the Jewish forces, which collapsed under the heavy pressure of the Greek phalanx. The Maccabees retreated to mountainous and defensible Aphairema, near the original center of the revolt.
Lysias marched north to Jerusalem and laid siege to the rebel forces there. However, Lysias was limited by time: he could not spend too long away from the capital without risking his position as leader. Both sides were running short on food. The siege eventually ended with a peace deal: Lysias agreed to end his siege of Jerusalem, and the Maccabees ended their siege of the Acra. Lysias confirmed the repeal of Antiochus IV's anti-Jewish decrees. The Greeks also tore down a defensive wall at "
Mount Zion", possibly referring to the
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compoun ...
. With the peace deal in place, Lysias was able to return to Antioch to fend off a renewed challenge from Philip for leadership of the Seleucid empire and guardianship of the young
Antiochus V Eupator
Antiochus V Eupator (Greek: ''Αντίοχος Ε' Ευπάτωρ''), whose epithet means "of a good father" (c. 172 BC – 161 BC) was a ruler of the Greek Seleucid Empire who reigned from late 164 to 161 BC (based on dates from 1 Maccabees 6:1 ...
. He left around June or July 162 BC, although he may have sent some of his forces back earlier. According to Josephus, Philip was captured and executed; it is unknown whether Josephus had some unknown and lost source for Philip's eventual fate, or this was simply a conjecture based on the fact that Philip never did attain leadership of the Empire.
[Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 343–346]
Analysis
writes that 300
scythed chariots were deployed as part of the expedition. As scythed chariots were generally used for lowland combat on flat plains, this information is doubtful; the ground in Judea is not very level, and it would be difficult to accelerate the chariots to the speed needed to make them effective. It is uncertain that the Seleucids even had so many chariots to send even if they wanted to. Neither 1 Maccabees nor Josephus mention chariots, both sources more interested in military details than 2 Maccabees is.
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
describes 140 chariots at the
military parade at Daphne in 166–165 BC, but does not indicate scythes on them; it is possible that these were merely ceremonial and utilitarian chariots meant for normal transportation rather than warfare.
1 Maccabees describes a larger army than Josephus does, saying that the expedition consisted of one hundred thousand foot-soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants. Scholars believe these numbers grossly exaggerated - such manpower likely exceeds the entire Seleucid army, and if actually sent, would have been even more of a logistics nightmare to feed and supply than Josephus's suggestion of 50,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The number of elephants is more unclear; Josephus writes that eighty elephants were with the expedition, although historian
Bezalel Bar-Kochva
Bezalel Bar-Kochva (born January 1, 1941) is a professor emeritus in the Department of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University. He is a historian of the Hellenistic period, the three centuries after the conquests of Alexander the Great, and the Sec ...
argues for a lower figure. He suggests that Josephus might have misread an "8" (, an
Eta
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
) as an "80" (, a
Pi) and notes that only 36–42 elephants were recorded by Polybius at the Daphne parade. Since elephants do not reproduce while in captivity and new elephants were likely difficult to procure due to losses in Seleucid territories closest to India, it is unlikely the Seleucids would have sent nearly all of those elephants that survived to 162 BCE to Judea, making a lower estimate more reasonable.
[Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 306–309]
A point of uncertainty on the conflict between Eleazar and the elephant is that 1 Maccabees writes that "the king" was on the elephant that Eleazar attacked. The ten-year old king is not described as accompanying the expedition, though. It is possible that king really referred to regent, and Eleazar somehow thought that Lysias or some other important commander must have been on the elephant, perhaps due to some impressive royal seal or decoration; if he did, this belief was likely incorrect, as Hellenistic commanders almost always rode on horses in the style of Alexander the Great.
[Bar-Kochva 1989, p. 334–337] 1 Maccabees also describes the elephant as dying "instantly"; this is likely an exaggeration from the fog of war. The elephant may have eventually died, but as elephant hunters can attest to, they do not die quickly or easily. With the technology of the era, only an arrow fired nearly point-blank from a powerful bow to the brain or heart could instantly fell an elephant, and even a grave abdominal wound could take a few hours to bleed the elephant to death.
A final point of uncertainty is when
Alcimus
Alcimus (from grc-gre, Ἄλκιμος ''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 Hel ...
would come to power as High Priest. According to 1 Maccabees, it is only after
Demetrius I Soter
Demetrius I (Greek: ''Δημήτριος Α`'', 185 – June 150 BC), surnamed Soter (Greek: ''Σωτήρ'' - "Savior"), reigned as king (basileus) of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire from November 162 – June 150 BC. Demetrius grew up in Rome a ...
comes to power, suggesting a later date of 162–161 BC. However, 2 Maccabees suggests Alcimus was appointed during Antiochus V's reign. If the version in 2 Maccabees is trusted, then it is possible that Lysias arranged for Alcimus to be High Priest as part of the peace deal that concluded his expedition.
Legacy
The use of war elephants was possibly banned by the
Treaty of Apamea
The Treaty of Apamea was a peace treaty conducted in 188 BC between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It ended the Roman–Seleucid War. The treaty took place after Roman victories at the Battle of Thermopylae ( ...
, the peace treaty that ended the
Roman–Seleucid War
The Seleucid War (192–188 BC), also known as the War of Antiochos or the Syrian War, was a military conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire. The fighting took place in modern day southern Greece, the A ...
in 188 BC which had required the Seleucids to give up their war elephants. The Seleucids generally considered the Treaty to only apply to the elephants they handed over at the time, however. The Romans sent a delegation in 162 BC a few months after the battle, and interpreting the treaty in the harshest possible way, they
hamstrung the remaining elephants they could find and burnt some Seleucid warships.
[Polybius.]
Histories, Book 31
As a result, this battle was one of the last ones where the Seleucids could deploy a major force of war elephants; their use afterward was rarer.
The Maccabees were a more common topic in Christian art and literature than Jewish works from the Roman era to the Industrial age, as the Hasmoneans were not well-regarded by the Jewish rabbis and sages who compiled the Jewish canon after the fall of the
Hasmonean kingdom
The Hasmonean dynasty (; he, ''Ḥašmōnaʾīm'') was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity, from BCE to 37 BCE. Between and BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, an ...
for a number of reasons. Eleazar was seen in Christian works as prefiguring
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
for his selfless sacrifice. European Christian artists also made works at least partially due to the opportunity to draw an elephant, an exotic and exciting subject in the medieval and Renaissance era.
Jews did eventually return to the topic of the Maccabean Revolt, but largely in the 19th and 20th centuries. Eleazar's heroism was commemorated in a
Hanukkah
or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem)
, nickname =
, observedby = Jews
, begins = 25 Kislev
, ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet
, celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...
coin issued by the
Bank of Israel
The Bank of Israel ( he, בנק ישראל, ar, بنك إسرائيل) is the central bank of Israel. The bank's headquarters is located in Kiryat HaMemshala in Jerusalem with a branch office in Tel Aviv. The current governor is Amir Yaron.
T ...
in 1961.
The town of
Elazar
Eleazar (; ) or Elʽazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He was a nephew of Moses.
Biblical narrative
Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, fro ...
in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
was named after the son of Mattathias, since it is on the road to Beit Zur (near present-day
Karmei Tzur
Karmei Tzur, or Carmei Tzur ( he, כַּרְמֵי צוּר) is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank located north of Hebron in the Judean hills between the Palestinian towns of Beit Ummar and Halhul. The ...
and the Arab town of
Halhul
Halhul ( ar, حلحول, transliteration: ''Ḥalḥūl'') is a Palestinian city located in the southern West Bank, north of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine. The town, bordered by Sa'ir and Ash-Shuyukh to the east, ...
). The small Arab hamlet of
Hirbeit Zakariya (sitting on an ancient Byzantine site), and the large single oak tree of
Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut ( he, אַלּוֹן שְׁבוּת) is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the ...
, are the location of ancient Zechariah / Zakariya.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Beth Zechariah
Beth-zechariah
162 BC
2nd century BC in the Seleucid Empire