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Mattathias
Mattathias ben Johanan (, ''Mattīṯyāhū haKōhēn ben Yōḥānān''; died 166–165 BCE) was a Kohen (Jewish priest) who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees and in the writings of Josephus. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) and the Amidah during the festival's eight days. History In all extant accounts from the Second Temple Period, Mattathias was a resident of the rural village of Modi'in, though it is not clear if he was a native. The account of 1 Maccabees states that he moved away from Jerusalem and settled in Modi'in,1 Maccabees 2:1. and while the account of Josephus in Antiquities matches this, the account in Wars simply states that Mattathias (or his father) was a "priest of a village called Modi'in", implying that it w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanukkah
Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from November 28 to December 27 in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabra, candelabrum with nine Branch, branches, commonly called a Hanukkah menorah, menorah or hanukkiah. One branch is placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the ''gabbai, shammash'' (, "attendant"). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the ''shammash'' until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival. Other Hanukkah festivities include singing Hanukkah musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hasmonean Dynasty
The Hasmonean dynasty (; ''Ḥašmōnāʾīm''; ) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity), from BC to 37 BC. Between and BC the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously within the Seleucid Empire, and from roughly 110 BC, with the empire disintegrating, gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea. The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title ''basileus'' ("king") and the kingdom attained regional power status for several decades. Forces of the Roman Republic intervened in the Hasmonean Civil War in 63 BC, turning the kingdom into a client state and marking an irreversible decline of Hasmonean power; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BC. Simon Thassi established the dynasty in 141 BC, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus ( ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') had defeated the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maccabean Revolt
The Maccabean Revolt () 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 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of Judea, but conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence. Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes launched a massive campaign of repression against the Jewish religion in 168 BCE. The reason he did so is not entirely clear, but it seems to have been related to the King mistaking an internal conflict among the Jewish priesthood as a full-scale rebellion. Jewish practices were banned, Jerusalem was placed under direct Seleucid control, and the Second Temple in Jerusalem was made the site of a syncretic Pagan-Jewish cult. This repression triggered the revolt that Antiochus IV had feared, with a group of Jewish fighters led by Judas Maccabeus (J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maccabees
The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (, or , ; or ; , ), were a group of Jews, Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 BCE (after the Maccabean Revolt) to 37 BCE, being a fully independent kingdom from 104 to 63 BCE. They reasserted the Judaism, Jewish religion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest, and reduced the influence of Hellenization, Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism. Etymology The name Maccabee is often used as a synonym for the entire Hasmonean dynasty, but the Maccabees proper comprised Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic ''maqqəḇa'', "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditional Jewish explan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judas Maccabeus
Judas Maccabaeus or Maccabeus ( ), also known as Judah Maccabee (), was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE after Judah Maccabee removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses and purified it. Life Early life Judah was the third son of Mattathias, the Hasmonean, a Kohen, Jewish priest from the village of Modi'in (ancient city), Modi'in. In 167 BCE, Mattathias, together with his sons Judah, Eleazar Avaran, Eleazar, Simon Thassi, Simon, John Gaddi, John, and Jonathan Apphus, Jonathan, started a revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who since 169/8 BCE had issued decrees that forbade Judaism, Jewish religious practices. After Mattathias died in 166 BCE, Judah assumed leadership of the revolt per the deathbed d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1 Maccabees
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from arou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Apphus
Jonathan Apphus (Hebrew: ''Yōnāṯān ʾApfūs''; Ancient Greek: Ἰωνάθαν Ἀπφοῦς, ''Iōnáthan Apphoûs'') was one of the sons of Mattathias and the leader of the Hasmonean dynasty of Judea from 161 to 143 BCE. Name H J Wolf notes that all of Mattathias' sons listed in had double names: John is said to have been called Gaddis; Simon, Thassi; Judas, Maccabeus; Eleazar, Avaran; and Jonathan, Apphus.Wolf, H. J.APPHUS in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Jewish historian Uriel Rappaport writes that "we do not have an explanation for the nicknames of Mattathias' sons". Wolf suggests that the name was given to him by Mattathias and that the common explanation of the word "Apphus" relates it to the Syriac ''choppus'', "the dissembler". The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia's article on the Maccabees suggests the meaning is "the wary", but Torrey (in the ''Encyclopedia Biblica'' article, "Maccabees") points out that we have no means of ascer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Thassi
Simon Thassi ( ''Šīməʿōn haTassī''; died 135) was the second son of Mattathias and thus a member of the Hasmonean family. Names The name "Thassi" has a connotation of "the Wise", a title which can also mean "the Director", "the Guide", "the Man of Counsel", and "the Zealous". This Simon is also sometimes distinguished as , , or (from Latin) . History Simon took a prominent part in the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire led by his brothers, Judas Maccabaeus and Jonathan Apphus. The successes of the Jews rendered it expedient for the Seleucid leaders in Syria to show them special favour. Therefore, Antiochus VI appointed Simon ''strategos'', or military commander, of the coastal region stretching from the Ladder of Tyre to Egypt. As ''strategos'', Simon gained control of the cities of Beth-zur and Joppa, garrisoning them with Jewish troops, and built the fortress of Adida. After the capture of Jonathan by the Seleucid general Diodotus Tryphon, Simon was e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gaddi
John Gaddi (Hebrew: Johanan or Yohanan) (d. ) was a son of Mattathias the Hasmonean and brother of Judas Maccabeus. The Hasmonean family lead the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire which ruled Judea in the 160s BCE. John's activities are not as well-documented as his other brothers. He is usually considered to have been the eldest of Mattathias's five sons. He died around 160 or 159 BCE. Alternative forms of his cognomen "Gaddi" include "Gaddis" and "Gaddim". Primary sources 1 Maccabees 2 Almost everything that is known of John comes from the book 1 Maccabees, a dynastic history of the Hasmoneans written after the Maccabean Revolt was successful and the Hasmoneans had established an independent kingdom. The historian Josephus's work '' Jewish Antiquities'' Books 12 and 13 also mention John, but it appears to be largely paraphrasing 1 Maccabees, Josephus's main source for the period. 1 Maccabees introduces Mattathias and his sons in chapter 2: It is usually assum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem. In 587/586 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Judah; the Judeans lost their independence upon the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, during which the First Temple was destroyed. After the Babylonians annexed Judah as a province, part of the subjugated populace was exiled to Babylon. This exilic period lasted for nearly five decades, ending after the Neo-Babylonian Empire itself was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which annexed Babylonian territorial possessions after the fall of Babylon. Soon after the conquest, Persian king Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation known as the Edict of Cyrus, encoura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modi'in (ancient City)
Modi’in (, ''Mōdīʿīn''; also transliterated as Modein), also Modi’im (, ''Mōdīʿīm''), and later, Moditha (), was an ancient Jews, Jewish city located in Judea, near the modern city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Modi'in, Israel. First mentioned in the Books of the Maccabees, Books of Maccabees, it was the hometown of the priestly Hasmonean dynasty, Hasmonean family, who assumed leadership over Judea following the victorious Maccabean Revolt, Maccabean uprising. Modi’in was known in ancient times for housing the mausoleum of the Hasmonean family, commonly referred to as the Tomb of the Maccabees. This monumental structure, erected in the 2nd century BC by Simon Thassi, is described in both the Book of Maccabees and the writings of Josephus. During the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine period, Eusebius noted its continued existence. However, its remains were lost over time. The precise geographical location of Modi’in remains a subject of scholarly dispute, with various propos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 of Judas Maccabeus. He was killed at the Battle of Beth-zechariah () during the Maccabean revolt. Little is known about Eleazar, except his heroic death as was told. According to the scroll of Antiochus, his father saw in him a Zealot among zealots, like Pinhas. In it is told that Eleazar read from the Tanakh in front of the people just before the last battle began in . Death and legacy According to , during the Battle of Beit Zechariah, Eleazar identified a war elephant that he believed to carry the Seleucid King Antiochus V, due to the special armor the elephant wore. He decided to endanger his life by attacking the elephant and thrusting a spear into its belly. The dead elephant then collapsed upon Eleazar, killing him as well. Des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
