The Hasmoneans: Ideology, Archaeology, Identity

342 Pages·2013·8.592 MB·English

by  Regev Eyal

Journal of Ancient Judaism
Supplements
Editedby
ArminLange,BernardM.Levinson
andVeredNoam
AdvisoryBoard
KatellBerthelot(UniversityofAix-Marseille),GeorgeBrooke(Univer-
sityofManchester),JonathanBenDov(UniversityofHaifa),BeateEgo
ü
(UniversityofOsnabr ck),EsterEshel(Bar-IlanUniversity),Heinz-Josef
FabryUniversityofBonn),StevenFraade(YaleUniversity),MaxineL.
Grossman(UniversityofMaryland),ChristineHayes(YaleUniversity),
CatherineHezser(UniversityofLondon),AlexJassen(Universityof
Minnesota),JamesL.Kugel(Bar-IlanUniversity),JodiMagness(Uni-
versityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill),CarolMeyers,(DukeUniver-
sity),EricMeyers(DukeUniversity),HillelNewman(Universityof
Haifa),ChristopheNihan(UniversityofLausanne),LawrenceH.
Schiffman(NewYorkUniversity),KonradSchmid(UniversityofZu-
rich),AdielSchremer(Bar-IlanUniversity),MichaelSegal(Hebrew
UniversityofJerusalem),AharonShemesh(Bar-IlanUniversity),Günter
Stemberger(UniversityofVienna),KristinDeTroyer(UniversityofSt
Andrews),AzzanYadin(RutgersUniversity)
Volume10
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Eyal Regev
The Hasmoneans
Ideology, Archaeology, Identity
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
To my five sons Nadav, Tomer, Ori, Yotam and Amit
AN9L975 9MF LM4 N954 =MFB 9L?:
” ” (1 Macc 2:51)
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Preface
ThisbookemergedfromthestudyoftheHasmoneanpalacesasawindowto
theideologyandself-identityoftheHasmoneansthemselves.Inthecourseof
theanalysisoftheevidenceIrealizedthatpreviousscholarsdidnotattemptto
examinefundamentalquestionsregardingthewaysinwhichtheHasmoneans
ruled,aswellastheirself-identityandpoliticalandreligiousagenda.Myaim
hereistointegratehistoricalandarchaeologicalevidenceinordertoseemore
clearlywhotheHasmoneansactuallywere.
Scholarship on the Hasmoneans risks falling into the traps of both the
criticaloutlookofancientGreco-Romanauthorsontheserulerswhoshattered
Greek cities and sanctuaries, and the modern nationalistic Jewish-Israeli
admiration of such acts. Yet, the thin line between Hellenistic culture and
Jewish identity characterizes the Hasmoneans’ rule. I suggest that the
maintenanceofthisdichotomybetweenJudaismandHellenisminthestudyof
theHasmoneansandtheirethosissimplisticandanachronistic.Accordingto
myinterpretationoftheideologicalandsymbolicworldoftheHasmoneans,
andtocertainextentthatoftheirJewishsubjects,theycreatedanewsenseof
JewishidentityusingcertainfeaturesofHellenisticculture.
Several colleagues have read earlier drafts of the entire manuscript,
chapters, or previous studies on which they were based. My thanks to
Professors Eric Gruen, Bezalel Bar-Kochva, Joshua Schwartz, Albert Baum-
garten,BoazZissu,andtotheanonymousreviewersofmyarticlespublished
inBASOR,JSQ,Zion,andTarbiz.Iwouldalsoliketothanktheeditorsofthese
journalsforthepermissiontousethecontentsofthesearticles.Iamespecially
gratefultoHananEshelz”l,fromwhomIfirstlearnedabouttheHasmonean
state,andEhudNetzerz”lforhissupportandadviceconcerningmystudyof
the Hasmoneanpalaces. I hope thatthisbook willbeafitting memorial for
thesetwogreatandkindscholars.
I would like to thank Devroah Netzer for the permission to use Ehud
Netzer’splansoftheHasmoneanpalaces,Mr.MichaelKruppforthepictures
oftheHasmoneancoins,andMr.ZeevRadovanforthepermissiontousethe
picturesoftheHasmonenanpalaces.
Mysincerethankstomydearmother-in-law,AndiArmon,andtoDr.Ruth
Clements for editing the manuscripts, and to my student Esther Cohen-
Shadmi, for her assistance. Special thanks are due to Armin Lange and the
editorialboardof theJournal ofAncientJudaismSupplementsforaccepting
thisbookintotheseries,andChristophSpillandtheVandenhoeck&Ruprecht
staffforhandlingthepublishingprocess.
The publication of this book was supported by research grants from the
6 Preface
KoschitzkyChairoftheDepartmentofLandofIsraelandArchaeologyatBar-
Ilan University, the Dr. Simon Krauthammer Chair in Archaeology, the Dr.
Irving andCherna Moskowitz Chair in Land of IsraelStudies, the Jeselsohn
Epigraphic Center of Jewish History, and the Bar-Ilan University Rector’s
researchfund.
Iwouldliketothankmyparents,ZviandHannahRegev,andmybrother
andsisterYoavandOfrafor theirencouragement.Thisbookisdedicatedto
mylovingwifeTanya,andmyfivesons,Nadav,Tomer,Ori,YotamandAmit.
EyalRegev
NeveDaniel,GushEtzion,Israel Sivan5972/June2012
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1. HasmoneanIdeology:PreviousScholarshipandMethodology . 12
2. TheMaccabeanRevolution:
TheTransformationofJewishIdentity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3. ThePursuitofHellenism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4. TheSources:PanegyricandHostileHistoriographies . . . . . . 25
1 Maccabees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2 Maccabees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5. Ideology,Legitimization,andPower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6. ANoteonTermsandTranslations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ChapterOne
H.anukkahandtheTempleoftheMaccabees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1. H.anukkahasDaysofMillu’im . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2. H.anukkahasthe“FestivalofTabernacles”in2Maccabees . . . . 38
3. ConsecrationCeremonies,RitualLegends,andTempleIdeology
intheSecondLetterof2Maccabees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4. H.anukkahasaPoliticalFestival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
ChapterTwo
TheCentralityoftheTempleinHasmoneanIdeology . . . . . . . . . . 58
1. TheIdeologyoftheTemplein1Maccabees . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2. Eupolemus,Solomon’sTemple,andtheMaccabeanIdeology . . 66
3. TheTempleandHasmoneanPoliticalPower
accordingtoJosephus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4. TemplePractices:theHalf-ShekelTributeandPilgrimage . . . . 73
5. DiasporaAcquiescence:2MaccabeesandAristeas . . . . . . . . 82
6. MoralOppositiontotheHasmoneanTemple:Qumranandthe
PsalmsofSolomon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
7. Conclusions:WhenPoliticsMeetsReligion . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
ChapterThree
LeadingthePeople:EstablishingHasmoneanAuthority . . . . . . . . . 103
1. HighPriesthoodandAuthorityinthePersian
andHellenisticPeriods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
2. MattathiastheZealot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3. JudahtheSavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4. JonathantheJudge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
8 Contents
5. SimontheElectedHighPriest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
6. JohnHyrcanustheProphet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7. TheHasmoneansasReligiousLeaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
8. PriestlyDescentandtheZadokiteProblem . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
9. BecomingMonarchs:HellenisticHonors
andtheAccumulationofWealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10. Conclusions:Hasmonean“National”Monarchy . . . . . . . . . 127
ChapterFour
HasmoneanKingshipinHellenisticandJewishContexts . . . . . . . . 129
1. Introduction:WeretheHasmoneansLegitimateKings? . . . . . 129
2. HellenisticRoyalIdeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
3. TheIdeaofKingshipintheHebrewBible . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
4. TheQuestforKingshipinAncientJudaism . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5. TheProsandConsofHasmoneanKingship. . . . . . . . . . . . 154
6. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
ChapterFive
HasmoneanCoinageasPoliticalDiscourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
1. Introduction:BackgroundandMethod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
2. HasmoneanAuthority:HighPriestsorKings? . . . . . . . . . . 182
3. H.eberha-yehudimandtheHasmoneans’CollectiveJewish
Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
4. TheSymbols:Political,Religious,or“National”? . . . . . . . . . 199
5. ReadingPoliticalHistoryintheHasmoneanCoins . . . . . . . . 214
6. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
ChapterSix
RoyalIdeologyintheHasmoneanPalacesinJericho . . . . . . . . . . 224
1. Introduction:AimsandMethods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
2. PlainCourts:TheSizeandFunctionoftheHasmoneanPalaces . 225
3. TheInternalStructureoftheHasmoneanPalaces:
AccessAnalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
4. RoyalWater:SwimmingPoolsandGardens . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
5. TheHasmoneanBathhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
6. JewishRoyal-PriestlyPurity:RitualBaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
7. Excursus:IdentifyingthePalacesofAristobulusII
andHyrcanusII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
8. UnembellishedPottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
9. RoyalFeasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
10. DisposalofVesselsandPriestlyPurity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
11. Conclusions:InternalModestyandExternalPropaganda . . . . 263
Contents 9
ChapterSeven
HasmoneanConstructionoftheJewishCollectiveIdentity . . . . . . . 266
1. PopularSupportfortheHasmoneans’TerritorialConquests. . . 267
2. Wars,Judaization,andHasmoneanTransformations
ofJewishIdentity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
3. NovelFeaturesofHasmoneanJewishCollectiveIdentity . . . . . 278
4. SocialIdentityandtheSymbolicConstruction
ofJewishCollectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
5. InsightsfromModernNationalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Conclusions:PowerthroughPiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
ListofPlates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
GeneralIndex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331