3. The Maccabean Revolt | Digitaler Ausstellungskatalog

Showcase 3: Palestine at the Time of John Hyrcanus I (135/134 - 104 BCE)

There had been repeated disputes over Palestine between the Ptolemies, the kings of Egypt, and the Seleucids, who ruled Syria, Mesopotamia, and Iran bordering to the north. After the 5th Syrian War (202 – 195 BCE), Judaea finally came under Seleucid rule (Polybius, Hist. 28.1.2-3).

When the Seleucid king Antiochus III (223-187 BCE) took possession of Jerusalem after the battle of Paneas around 200 BCE (Josephus, AJ 12131-133), tension within the ruling class of Jewish society grew. A main cause for this Jewish internal conflict was the growing power struggle for the office of high priest between the Jewish aristocratic families of the Tobiads and the Oniads. The first decades under Seleucid rule proceeded otherwise relatively quietly. This changed radically when king Antiochus IV (175-164 BCE) began to interfere in the internal affairs of Jerusalem (Fig. A.).

The conflict was exacerbated by the increasing Hellenization of the Jewish community, which was promoted by the reform efforts of Antiochus IV. At the beginning of his reign, Antiochus IV instated the Oniad Jason in the office of high priest, who – with the support of the pro-Seleucid fraction – was attempting to transform Jerusalem along the lines of a Greek polis. Whether this Hellenization process was deliberately initiated and carried out by Antiochus IV is unclear, in any case he provoked the so-called Maccabean revolt, which led to the establishment of a Jewish kingdom. The events, however, are difficult to reconstruct, and the accuracy of tradition is often contested. Both a possible ban on Jewish religious practices by the Seleucid ruler (1 Maccabees 1:44-50), as well as the conversion of the Jewish temple into a place for the worship of Zeus on the 6th of December in 167 BCE (2 Maccabees 5:62) have been seen as the immediate causes for the uprising.

According to the written tradition, the Jewish priest Mattathias ben Joḥanan of Modi'in stood at the head of the revolt against the Seleucids. When he was about to be forced to offer sacrifices on the altar of the Olympian gods, he killed his tormentor, including an officer of Antiochus IV. Mattathias’ fight was continued by his sons, the later Hasmonaean rulers, after his death in 166/65 BCE (Fig. C.). The uprising received its name from Mattathias’ son Judas, nicknamed the Maccabee (Aramaic: makkaba = hammer).

With the Maccabean revolt and the defeat of the Hellenized Jewish fraction, the foundation of the Hasmonean dynasty was laid. This very day, the feast of Hanukkah, which is celebrated in the month of Kislev (November/December), commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, which followed the successful revolt in 164 BCE. In the following decades, the Jews succeeded in expanding their autonomy.

According to the literary sources (1 Maccabees 13: 27-30; Josephus, AJ 13210-11) Simon the Maccabee (142-135/134 BCE) erected a monument to commemorate the victory over the Seleucids in Modi'in – the hometown of the Maccabees, which also served as the tomb of the royal Hasmonaean family. According to written accounts, this monument consisted of a high podium surrounded by columns and covered by a roof. The roof was made of seven pyramids, each of which represented a family member (Fig. B.).

Simon Maccabaeus was killed in 135 BCE by his son-in-law Ptolemy in the fortress Dok (Dagon), near Jericho (1 Maccabees 16:11-16; Josephus, AJ 13.228.). A power struggle subsequently erupted between his son John Hyrcanus I (135/134-104 BCE) and Ptolemy, which made it possible for the Seleucid ruler Antiochus VII (138-129 BCE) to intervene actively in Judaea. This led to the siege of Jerusalem in 135/134 BCE, which did not end until a peace agreement was reached between Antiochus VII and John Hyrcanus I. Hyrcanus I was the first ruler of the new Jewish kingdom, which was henceforth ruled by the Hasmonean priest-kings and which maintained its independence until the arrival of the Romans.

The Beginning of Hasmonaean Coinage

In the 130s BCE, Antiochus VII granted the Jewish leader Simon Maccabaeus the privilege to mint coins, but this right was not put to use during his lifetime. The passage in the first Book of Maccabees (15: 5-8) is the only reference to the official bestowal of the right to mint coinage to the Jews. For this reason, early scholars of ancient Jewish coinage believed the Jewish shekels of the First Jewish War had actually been struck by Simon Maccabaeus. The reason for this erroneous attribution was based on the appearance of the letter shin in the Paleo-Hebrew script above the chalice, and abbreviation of “šnh” (= year) and not Simon.

Hasmonean coinage begins with John Hyrcanus I and ends with the death of Mattathias Antigonus in 37 BCE. Except for Alexandra Salome (76-67 BCE) – who possibly minted on behalf of her late husband Alexander Jannaeus or her son John Hyrcanus II – all rulers are named on the coins. Bronze coins were minted exclusively. For larger sums, it was necessary to resort to the precious metal coins produced by neighboring kingdoms.

The name perutah used for the Hasmonaean coins comes from later Rabbinic sources, but is traditionally used for earlier coins where no names of the nominal have survived. The Hasmoneans had to consider the Jewish image prohibition in their coin motifs, which explains the complete absence of ruler portraits on the Hasmonaean coins. In the coinage of the surrounding Hellenistic kingdoms (Seleucids, Ptolemies) the ruler portrait was usually placed on the obverse. In place of these, the Hasmoneans used insignia of power such as the wreath, or fertility symbols such as the cornucopia (No.1B; cf. No.5B).

Hyrcanus I modeled his coinage according to Seleucid example but adapted the designs to his own ideas, and they consequently differed markedly from contemporary Seleucid coins, which were issued elsewhere in Palestine (example No.4B). Additionally, motifs were added from the Jewish tradition, such as the representation of palm fronds (No.2A).

Among the rare coin designs of Hyrcanus I is the helmet (No.3A). These coins should possibly be dated to the early phase of his reign, as Antiochus VII also used this motif (No.6B).

A coin type minted by Antiochus VII shows on one side the Seleucid anchor and on the other side the lily, the symbol of Jerusalem (No.8A and No.9A). This coin type, which according to inscriptions dates to 132/31 and 131/30 BCE, potentially refers to the “peacetime”, when Antiochus VII had strengthened his position of power over Hyrcanus I and Hyrcanus was forced to accompany Antiochus on his campaign against the Iranian Parthians in 131 BCE. This coin type is the only example of the use of a Jewish image in Seleucid coinage. It also bears witness to the importance attributed by the Seleucid ruler to the relationship with the Jews.

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