History
Greek Rule -- The Ptolemies & Seleucids
(332 - 168 BC) by Al Maxey. Covers:
(Alexander) (The Diadochoi) (Ptolemy I) (Ptolemy II) (Ptolemy III) (Ptolemy IV) (Ptolemy V) (Antiochus III) (Seleucus IV) (Antiochus IV)...
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The Maccabee Rebellion. Devastating Desecraton. "The period of Alexander, who took possession of Israel in 332 [B.C.E.], passed off fairly quietly for the Hebrews. Their troubles came during the struggle between the Diadochi, since both the Seleucids and the Ptolemies coveted southern Syria and it only finally became a possession of the former in 1...
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Overview: Hanukkah History Hanukkah is one of the few Jewish holidays not mentioned in the Bible. The story of how Hanukkah came to be is contained in the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are not part of the Jewish canon of the Hebrew Bible. These books tell the story of the Maccabees, a small band of Jewish fighters who liberated the Land of Isra...
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After the death of Alexander the Great in the afternoon of 11 June 323 BCE, his empire was divided by his generals, the Diadochi. One of them was his friend Seleucus, who became king of the eastern provinces - more or less modern Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, together with parts of Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajik...
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Jerusalem: In Search of the Maccabees by By Jacqueline Schaalje. As is well known, the Jewish holiday of Chanukah is based on historic events. From the year 180 BCE until 161 BCE the Maccabees rebelled against the Syrian king Antiochus IV who persecuted the Jews. At the end of the period, after the rebels had conquered Judah and Jerusalem, the Temp...
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After the death of Alexander the Great, his half-witted brother Philip Arridaeus became king; a general named Perdiccas was made regent (323-320), and later succeeded by Antipater (320-319) and Polyperchon. King Philip was married to Eurydice, who tried to prevent that he was used by his regents, and played an important role to replace Polyperchon ...
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The holiday originated when Judah the Maccabee and his followers reclaimed the temple in the village of Modi'in from Syrian King Antiochus IV. The temple was cleansed and prepared for rededication. The Hebrew word Hanukkah means "dedication." When the sacred temple Menorah (candelabra) was relit, there was only enough sacred oil to burn for one day...
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Towards Pompey the Roman people must have had, from the very beginning, the feeling which the Prometheus of Aeschylus has towards Heracles, when, having been saved by him, he says: "I hate the sire, but dearly love this child of his."1 For never have the Romans manifested so strong and fierce a hatred towards a general as they did towards Strabo, t...
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In the autumn of 319, Antipater died, the regent of the brother of Alexander the Great and his baby son Alexander. A year before, he had divided Alexander's empire: Ptolemy was recognized as the ruler of a virtually independent Egypt, Antigonus Monophthalmus was made supreme commander of the Macedonian forces in Asia, and Antipater was sole ruler o...
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According to the account of 1 Maccabees, the High Priests at Jerusalem appointed by Antiochus were involved in systematically changing the traditions of the Jews that were based on the laws of Moses, to make them conform to Greek beliefs. A gymnasium was constructed in Jerusalem, and instead of learning their ancient law, the priests engaged in wre...
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