The Hasmoneans

The first two chapters discuss the religious practices of the Hasmoneans. Chapter 1 explores why the Maccabees regarded Hanukkah as a festival of renewal, specifically of those traditions related to the Temple cult. Chapter 2 examines the manner in which the Hasmoneans used the protection and maintenance of the Jewish Temple to legitimize their rule-and how they worked to place the Temple at the center of the Jewish religion. Chapters 3-5 deal with different perspectives in the Hellenistic world on the role of government and royal ideologies. Specifically, chapter 3 explores both the Hellenistic and Jewish contexts for Hasmonean government and kingship. Regev shows how the Hasmonean dynasty built up its religious (in contrast to political) authority, suggesting that the Hasmonean state was not a conventionally Hellenistic one, but rather a 'national' monarchy, closer to Macedonian in type. Chapter 4 attempts to decipher the meaning of the symbols and epigraphs on Hasmonean coins, and examines how both Hellenistic symbols and Jewish concepts were employed to reinforce the dynasty's authority and introduce Jewish 'national' ideas into the populace. Chapter 5 then undertakes a comparative social-archaeological analysis of the Hasmonean palaces in Jericho in an effort to gain insight into their royal ideology. The author compares the Hasmonean palaces to other Hellenistic palaces - especially the Herodian palaces. Finally, the concluding chapter integrates the previous findings into a new understanding of and appreciation for the Hasmoneans' creation of an innovative Jewish corporal identity, one whose echoes we can still hear today.

1;Cover ;1 2;Title Page ;4 3;Copyright ;5 4;Preface ;6 5;Table of Contents ;8 6;Body ;12 7;Introduction;12 7.1;1. Hasmonean Ideology : Previous Scholarship and Methodology;13 7.2;2. The Maccabean Revolution: The Transformation of Jewish Identity;16 7.3;3. The Pursuit of Hellenism;19 7.4;4. The Sources: Panegyric and Hostile Historiographies;26 7.4.1;1 Maccabees;26 7.4.2;2 Maccabees;28 7.5;5. Ideology, Legitimization, and Power;32 7.6;6. A Note on Terms and Translations;36 8;Chapter One: .anukkah and the Temple of the Maccabees;37 8.1;1. .anukkah as Days of Milluim;37 8.2;2. .anukkah as the Festival of Tabernacles in 2 Maccabees;39 8.3;3. Consecration Ceremonies, Ritual Legends, and Temple Ideology in the Second Letter of 2 Maccabees;48 8.4;4. .anukkah as a Political Festival;55 9;Chapter Two: The Centrality of the Temple in Hasmonean Ideology;59 9.1;1. The Ideology of the Temple in 1 Maccabees;60 9.2;2. Eupolemus, Solomons Temple, and the Maccabean Ideology;67 9.3;3. The Temple and Hasmonean Political Power according to Josephus;70 9.4;4. Temple Practices: the Half-Shekel Tribute and Pilgrimage;74 9.5;5. Diaspora Acquiescence: 2 Maccabees and Aristeas;83 9.6;6. Moral Opposition to the Hasmonean Temple: Qumran and the Psalms of Solomon;94 9.7;7. Conclusions: When Politics Meets Religion;99 10;Chapter Three: Leading the People: Establishing Hasmonean Authority;104 10.1;1. High Priesthood and Authority in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods;105 10.2;2. Mattathias the Zealot;108 10.3;3. Judah the Savior;109 10.4;4. Jonathan the Judge ;112 10.5;5. Simon the Elected High Priest;114 10.6;6. John Hyrcanus the Prophet;118 10.7;7. The Hasmoneans as Religious Leaders;119 10.8;8. Priestly Descent and the Zadokite Problem;121 10.9;9. Becoming Monarchs: Hellenistic Honors and the Accumulation of Wealth;125 10.10;10. Conclusions: Hasmonean National Monarchy;128 11;Chapter Four: Hasmonean Kingship in Hellenistic and Jewish Contexts;130 11.1;1. Introduction: Were the Hasmoneans Legi
timate Kings?;130 11.2;2. Hellenistic Royal Ideology;132 11.3;3. The Idea of Kingship in the Hebrew Bible;143 11.4;4. The Quest for Kingship in Ancient Judaism;148 11.5;5. The Pros and Cons of Hasmonean Kingship;155 11.6;6. Conclusions;174 12;Chapter Five: Hasmonean Coinage as Political Discourse;176 12.1;1. Introduction: Background and Method;176 12.2;2. Hasmonean Authority: High Priests or Kings?;183 12.3;3. .eber ha-yehudim and the Hasmoneans Collective Jewish Identity;187 12.4;4. The Symbols: Political, Religious, or National?;200 12.5;5. Reading Political History in the Hasmonean Coins;215 12.6;6. Conclusions;222 13;Chapter Six: Royal Ideology in the Hasmonean Palaces in Jericho;225 13.1;1. Introduction: Aims and Methods;225 13.2;2. Plain Courts: The Size and Function of the Hasmonean Palaces;226 13.3;3. The Internal Structure of the Hasmonean Palaces: Access Analysis;233 13.4;4. Royal Water: Swimming Pools and Gardens;247 13.5;5. The Hasmonean Bathhouses;252 13.6;6. Jewish Royal-Priestly Purity : Ritual Baths;254 13.7;7. Excursus: Identifying the Palaces of Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II;256 13.8;8. Unembellished Pottery;258 13.9;9. Royal Feasts;261 13.10;10. Disposal of Vessels and Priestly Purity;262 13.11;11. Conclusions: Internal Modesty and External Propaganda ;264 14;Chapter Seven: Hasmonean Construction of the Jewish Collective Identity;267 14.1;1. Popular Support for the Hasmoneans Territorial Conquests;268 14.2;2. Wars, Judaization, and Hasmonean Transformations of JewishIdentity;274 14.3;3. Novel Features of Hasmonean Jewish Collective Identity;279 14.4;4. Social Identity and the Symbolic Construction of Jewish Collectivity;285 14.5;5. Insights from Modern Nationalism;289 15;Conclusions: Power through Piety;294 16;References;298 17;List of Plates;325 18;General Index ;332 19;Back Cover ;342