In this essay I aim to examine the roots of Hasmonean rule and observe the relationship between the regime and `Hellenism' (mainly in the political context), and ascertain to what extent Hellenism became an integrated part of the Hasmonean dynasty's mode of governing its state. It is noteworthy to point out that many scholars explain the process of Hellenization as a long and drawn out one, as Lester Grabbe concisely states; "Hellenization was a centuries-long process of synthesis and diversification. It was not the simple imposition of Greek culture on the natives; indeed, the Greeks on the whole did not impose their culture but rather jealously preserved their `superior' political and cultural position in the Near Eastern society." Another aspect to bear in mind is that Greek coinage was used throughout the land of Palestine during the Persian period and Greek pottery found in the area has been dated as early as the fourteenth century B.C.E. So to suggest that the Greeks and their culture were totally alien to the peoples of Palestine until the arrival of Alexander (and subsequently the Ptolemies and Seleucids) would be to ignore this evidence. This being the case, why was it not until Antiochus IV of the Seleucids that open revolt (and the beginning of the Maccabee's rise to power) in opposition to `Hellenism' occurred? I will attempt to answer this complex question in the course of this essay. The background to the Maccabean revolt provides some insight into why it took so long for an overt and aggressive resistance to `Hellenism', or perhaps more correctly: resistance to foreign rule and not on the grounds of an anti-Hellenistic faction. As Lester Grabbe notes in "Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian" the Ptolemaic and S... ... middle of paper ... ... a conscious way and were followed in some cases because they had been there long enough for them to appear traditional. Bibliography Freyne, Seán. The World of the New Testament Dublin: Veritas Publications, 1980. Grabbe, Lester. An Introduction to First Century Judaism Edinburgh: T&T Clark Ltd, 1996. Grabbe, Lester. From Cyrus to Hadrian Kent: SCM Press, 1994. Gruen, Enrich. Heritage and Hellenism London: University of California Press, 1998. Rajak, Tessa. "The Hasmoneans and the uses of Hellenism" in A Tribute to Geza Vermes: Essays on Jewish And Christian Literature and History, Ed. Pr. Davies, R.T White, JSOTS 1990. Schiffman, Lawrence H. From Text to Tradition New Jersey, USA: Ktav Publishing House, 1991. Weitzman, Steven. "Forced Circumcision and the shifting role of Gentiles in Hasmonean Ideology" HTR, 91:1.
Demosthenes began his series of orations, known to history as The Philippics, against Philip following the conquest by Philip of the Illyrians to the west of Macedonia and the Thracians to the north and east of Macedonia. The continued agitation of Demosthenes and the speed with which Philip was acquiring his empire spurred Athens, finally, into a disastrous alliance with Thebes in an uprising against Philip in 338 B.C.E., the result of which was the destruction of Thebes by Philip as example of consequence to all who would potentially rise against him. Athens, however, receiving treatment as ally and friend, was spared the consequence o...
Anson Rainey and R. Steven Notley are the authors of The Sacred Land Bridge, which is an Atlas of the biblical world and includes maps, pictures, and historical cementation as to the significance of this region. The biblical world that this atlas focuses on is defined as the eastern Mediterranean littoral, or more commonly called the Levant in modern archeological discussions. In my critique of this book I will be focusing on pages 30-34 which will define the boundaries and explain the importance of the Levant.
The empire is considered as “history’s more creative experiment in rule by tolerance” (Daisy Moore). Herodotus accounts that Xerxes burnt temples in Athens “everywhere they went, there was devastation by fire and sword and towns and temples were burnt”. However, this wasn’t because the Athenians followed different religions, but rather because of their actions “I am a friend of right, I am not a friend to wrong… who does harm, him according to do the damage thus I punish” (Naqsh-I Rustam inscription). Daisy Moore states that many different cultures of the empire were “respected by the Persians – they were free to compile their own histories, speak their own language and worship their own gods providing they paid taxes to the officials of the king, used the king’s coin and housed the king’s soldiers”. This highlights the method in which Xerxes’ ruled his empire, and his religious
It is a common misconception of the historically uneducated that the age of the medieval Mediterranean consisted of innumerable clashing conflicts of these three “radically incompatible” civilizations. They were, for the most part, accepting and understanding towards one another as free will is valued highly in each of the Abrahamic religions; it was immoral to force conversion upon one another. Whereas the overall approach
If Athens and Melos went to battle against each other, the gods, if they favored anyone, would favor Athens. We have now examined Thucydides' strongest arguments for Athenian rule. It is clear that Athens had a stronger claim to rule than the Melians had to remain sovereign. We also know that Athens' claims hold up when we examine them for validity. Thucydides beliefs in Athens' claims were therefore well founded.
...es.” Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. New York: Macmilla Reference USA, 2005. 2845-8. Print.
Edward, Jonathan. The Eternity of Hell’s Torments: Puritan’s Minds, copyright 1995. Roman numerals II and IV
In “The Lottery”, the villagers followed the tradition without thinking about the origin of it. They even forgot the rituals and the chants for this tradition. Similarly, in Fineman’s article, the citizens of Pandhurn followed the tradition and it became all about bravery and looks in front of the camera. They did not think about what they were doing. Also in Milgram’s experiment, the idea was about how people follow orders from people of authority
From 167-164 BCE, a series of conflicts between the Jewish people and the Seleucid's occurred that are referred to as the Maccabean Revolt. Two books of the Jewish bible, 1st and 2nd Maccabees, offer slightly different depictions of the events of the Revolt. However, as sources that are nearly two millennia old, it is important to consider their historical reliability. When trying to discern fact from fiction and gain a better understanding of the Maccabean Revolt, it is useful to consider who the authors of 1st and 2nd Maccabees were and what emotions these authors hoped to invoke in readers.
Hick, John. "The Irenaean Theodicy." Classical and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Religion. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970. N. pag. Print.
For most of it’s history, ancient Greece was composed of small city-states, that had little economic opportunity and prosperity, and could barely sustain a functioning government. Additionally, many Greek people were not confined to one region, and were spread out all across the western world(Ionian-Greeks, Mycenaeans). In spite of this, many city-states and Greek people had a great sense of identity, pride and communality. The binding force between these unrelated city-states was the belief in Hellenic culture/Greek customs. All Greeks believed in Hellenism, and it is one of the things that defined them as Greeks. In small Greek communities and City-states, Greek customs were the biggest legislative force. The most notable Greek city-states
Faustino, Mara. Heaven and Hell: A Compulsively Readable Compendium of Myth, Legend, Wisdom and Wit for Saints and Sinners. New York: Grove/Atlantic Inc., 2004. Print.
Burkert, Walter. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence On Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age. Cambridge, MA ; London: Harvard University Press, 1992.
It is crucial to consider the objectives of the author owing to the reality that these objectives will elucidate on the publication’s main argument. Hence, the first objective from the author was to focus on the narrative accounts of the campaign against Judah according to history. It should be noted that another objective was to focus on Israelite history exclusively. Therefore, the main goal of the publication was to analyze the subject of malleability and its limits in a particular set of accounts (Zvi, n.d: 77). These accounts could claim to refer to one historical event or be an integral part of extensive historical...
In Irenaeus’ Against the Heresies his principal attack is against the Valentinian Gnostics, whose myths shifted away from “creation” to Epist...