THE GREEK AGE
[Sidenote: THE GREEKS]
The influence of Greece, which afterwards became so important a feature
of Hebrew history, began to be felt in Palestine after the rough
he-goat of Macedon had smitten the ram with two horns--the Medes and
Persians--“in the fury of his power,” and when the four “notable” horns
had sprung up after Alexander died. Hitherto we have seen Israel under
the power of Semitic Assyrians and Babylonians, and of Egyptians. The
first Aryan race with which the Hebrews came in contact was that of
the Persians, but Persian civilisation also was founded on that of
Babylon, and for long ages the Greeks in the West had been the pupils
of Hittites and Semitic Lydians, in Asia Minor, before they developed
an art and culture of their own superior to that of Asia. It is true
that the enthusiasm of classical scholars has led them to over-estimate
the antiquity and importance of Hellenic influence,[174] but the
first appearance of Greeks near the shores of Syria is in the time
of Sargon (about 710 B. C.), when the names of Greek and of Phœnician
kings in Cyprus are noticed. It is of course possible that Cypriote
pottery reached Palestine in this age, and it is known that wild Aryans
attacked North Syria in the fourteenth century B. C., and even invaded
Egypt about 1265 B. C. These fair-haired and blue-eyed peoples are
represented on an Egyptian picture about 1200 B. C., but they were
defeated on each occasion by the Pharaohs, and were driven back to Asia
Minor. Thus they never formed an element of population in Palestine,
nor is Greek influence discernible in the monumental remains before
about 300 B. C. at earliest.
Alexander won the empire of Western Asia in three great battles, at
Issos, at Arbela, and on the Indus; battles which are well worth study,
on account of the tactical skill of his arrangements, which--at Issos
especially--nullified the numerical superiority of the Persians. After
he had entrapped them in the valley east of Tarsus, and after the
fall of Tyre and the capture of Damascus, his march on Egypt met with
resistance only at Gaza. The statesmanship of Aristotle’s pupil and
the generous tolerance of his character rendered him acceptable to
Semitic races which had long groaned under the tyranny of the later
degenerate Persian monarchs. It is doubtful, perhaps, whether his
visit to Jerusalem can be regarded as historical,[175] though there is
nothing very inconsistent with Alexander’s method in the accounts; but
it is clear that the Hebrews submitted to him without any struggle, and
that he favoured the Jews in Egypt, who had a quarter in his new city
Alexandria.
[Sidenote: TYRUS]
Alexander died at Babylon in 324 or 323 B. C., and Laomedon became
ruler of Syria and Phœnicia; but Palestine became part of the
dominions of Ptolemy I. of Egypt, who took Jerusalem on the sabbath
day--the year, however, not being stated.[176] Seleucus, another of
these generals, conquered Babylon in 312 B. C., and the “era of the
Seleucidæ” dates from October 1 of that year. After the battle of Ipsos
in 301 B. C., when the number of independent rulers in West Asia and
Greece and Egypt was reduced to four, Seleucus built Antioch as the
new trading capital of Syria. Ptolemy II.[177] was a very cultivated
ruler, who caused the Law of Moses to be translated into Greek at
Alexandria, and sent splendid gifts to the Temple at Jerusalem. The
city remained under the Egyptians during the wars between Seleucidæ and
Ptolemies, till after the great victory of Antiochus III. (at Baniâs
in 198 B. C.) over Scopas, the general of Ptolemy V.[178] Antiochus
marched into Gilead, and occupied Samaria. He brought elephants with
him even to Jerusalem, where he besieged the citadel and expelled
the Egyptian garrison, being apparently received with favour by the
Jews. He presented costly gifts to the Temple, including salt (for
the sacrifices), which was probably a royal monopoly, and caused the
cloisters to be rebuilt, permitting the inhabitants to live according
to their own law. He afterwards made a league with Ptolemy V., and
Palestine was surrendered as the dower of Cleopatra--daughter of this
Ptolemy--whom Antiochus married.[179] During this period the influence
of Greek art begins to be notable in extant buildings in Palestine, and
not much later a gymnasium was built even at Jerusalem, introducing
ideas which were very repugnant to the Jews, but natural to the
Greeks.[180] Onias, the high-priest, was the son of Simon the Just,
and held office under Ptolemy III. (247–22 B. C.), whom he angered in
the matter of taxes. A Levite named Joseph successfully settled the
dispute--which was no doubt due to religious scruples. After his death,
apparently in 187 B. C., Hyrcanus, a son of this Levite, retired to
Gilead--driven out by his elder brothers--and there established himself
at Tyrus, making war on the Arabs. His fortress with rocky caves and
stables, and his palace of huge masonry, still exist at the place
called _’Araḳ el Emîr_, or “the Prince’s Cavern”; and the ruins are of
great importance as showing that Greek ideas and Greek architectural
style dominated the work even of Hebrew priests before 175 B. C. For
in that year Hyrcanus, fearing punishment by the new tyrant, Antiochus
IV., committed suicide at his palace,[181] which remained apparently
unfinished, and is thus the earliest absolutely dated monument of
Jewish art under Greek influence.[182]
Josephus mentions the lions that adorned this palace, in defiance of
the law, which Hyrcanus broke as Solomon had done, and as even the
rabbis of our second century did later, by the representation of living
beasts. But the ruins furnish yet more remarkable evidence of Greek
influence. The cliff has a gallery excavated more than half-way up its
height, and various chambers run in from it, while below are the rock
stables with their mangers, and the guard-house with its Aramaic text
carved beside the door, proving that we are not dealing with a Greek
site. These were planned by Lieut. Mantell, R.E., in 1881, when he also
photographed the inscription, which I studied at the same time. It is
in Aramaic characters, similar to those of other texts, and to those of
the Jewish coins about half a century later. The comparison with these
shows very clearly that the earlier copyists mistranslated the text,
which reads _’Aûryah_, from a root meaning “to be watchful.” It is thus
either a direction to the “watch-house,” or an exhortation to the guard
to be alert. The palace itself, on the flat ground above the stream,
is surrounded on three sides by a broad court having boundary walls
10 feet high. The building itself measures 70 yards north and south,
by 50 yards east and west, with a pillared entrance on the north. The
unfinished capitals of huge pillars lie amid the ruins inside. On the
east wall the top course at each angle is carved with lions, two facing
north and two facing south respectively towards the corners. These
also were unfinished. The total height of the building is 21 feet, and
the lowest course is 8 feet high. The corner-stone is over 17 feet in
length, and this fine masonry thus rivals that of Herod at Jerusalem
and of the Romans at Ba’albek.
[Sidenote: DRAFTED STONES]
The reason for thus detailing the characteristics of this building is
that it furnishes us with a dated example of Hebrew architecture in the
Greek age, in a style which continued in fashion till the last days of
ancient Jerusalem. We here find the gigantic ashlar finished with a
sunk draft round each block, in imitation of the Greek masonry which
characterises the Acropolis at Athens. Earlier explorers, who had a
very imperfect acquaintance with Palestine architecture, have spoken of
this finish as a “Phœnician bevel,” which is doubly incorrect, since
there is no bevel, but a sunken border or draft, while there is no
evidence that in Palestine--or in Phœnicia either--such masonry was in
use before the Greek age. It never occurs in the older ruins as yet
excavated in Judæa, though some writers have attributed to Hebrews
and Phœnicians the masonry of later ages, including that of Herod and
of the Romans, which they have failed to distinguish from inferior
Byzantine imitations found in the walls of churches and monasteries,
and even from the drafted masonry of the Franks in the twelfth century,
which is distinguishable by the rude projecting bosses, the peculiar
tooling of the smooth drafts, and the mason’s marks on stones used in
interiors. That Solomon or Hiram ever used drafted masonry there is no
evidence at all to prove.
Not only is this masonry Greek in style, but other details are equally
classic, such as those of the Corinthian capitals at the north
gate, the frieze with triglyphs, and the details of ornament with
conventional honeysuckles and ovulæ of a cornice. We have just that
combination of Greek and Asiatic ideals which we find in the Herodian
architecture, and in the rock tombs of the Herodian age at Jerusalem,
as will be noticed later. The palace of Hyrcanus is evidence of the
rapid Hellenising of the Jews, which might have gone on without a check
had not the intolerance of Antiochus IV. roused the patriotism of the
Hasmonæans, and the puritanism of the Ḥasidim, or “pious,” whom they
led in the great struggle for civil and religious liberty.
The Romans, who had defeated Antiochus III. at Magnesia in 190 B. C.,
forbade Antiochus IV. to make war on their protégé Ptolemy VII. in
Egypt. Whether in wrath and disappointment he revenged himself on his
Jewish subjects, or whether he regarded the consolidation of power as
best effected by Hellenising them--as Russian Tsars have regarded the
Russianising of Germans, Finns, and Jews in our own times--may be
doubtful. But whatever the object with which Antiochus IV. deserted
the tolerant policy of his predecessors, it is recorded that, on his
return from Egypt in 170 B. C., he entered Jerusalem and plundered the
city[183]; and two years later, on Cisleu 25, 168 B. C., he placed a
Greek altar on that of Jehovah, and offered swine upon it, as also
on other altars in every city and village of the country. Swine were
offered to Aphrodite among Greeks in connection with the legend of
Adonis, and to Osiris in Egypt.[184] Their bones have been found--as
sacrifices to Demeter--in the ruins of the temple at Cnidus; but the
pig was an unclean animal to Semitic peoples, and we can hardly doubt
that the desecration was wilful, especially as the Semitic custom of
circumcision was then also forbidden.
[Sidenote: THE AKRA]
At the same time Antiochus IV., having--according to Josephus--burned
the principal buildings and thrown down the city walls, “built a
citadel in the lower part of the city; for the place was high and
overlooked the Temple, on which account he fortified it with high walls
and towers, and put into it a garrison of Macedonians.” This was the
famous _Akra_ (or “citadel”) which played so important a part in the
history of the struggle between Judas Maccabæus and his brothers on the
one part, and the Greek kings of Syria on the other, and concerning
which so many mistaken views survive from pre-scientific days.[185]
The statements in the First Book of Maccabees are not very definite,
though it is clear that this Akra was in the city of David, and that
it was “alongside” the “hill of the Temple.” The Greek translators of
the Old Testament, as already noticed, identified this Akra with the
Millo of Solomon’s time. Josephus is more definite, and his evidence
should not be lightly set aside because it contradicts the theories
of modern literary critics, who have no hesitation in saying that the
Jewish historian is wrong when his words cannot be reconciled with
their understanding of the topography. Some writers[186] have placed
the Akra south of the Temple, supposing the existence of an intervening
valley (which, it may be said with certainty, never existed, since
the levels of the rock forbid the supposition) and the existence of
a summit on Ophel which was afterwards cleared away, and which would
have had to be 150 feet high. They crowd all the nomenclature--city
of David, Zion, Akra, Millo, Ophel, lower city, and the _m’ṣudah_
or “hill-top”--into the narrow area of 15 acres (including also the
supposed valley), leaving the city generally without any names for its
quarters; and they reject the measurements and statements of the Bible
and Josephus, except when these are misunderstood as confirming an
unpractical theory. Others, on the contrary, would have us believe that
the Akra destroyed by Simon the Hasmonæan was the same as the citadel
Baris, which he or one of his family built soon after. They have been
misled by Whiston’s translation “adjoined the Temple,” where the Greek
really reads “lay over against the Temple.” If the Akra was levelled
that it might not overlook the Holy House, it could not afterwards
have been that rock which defended the Temple in later times, and
which still rises with a high scarp above the inner courts. Both views
are impracticable, and American scholars[187] seem always to have
understood the topography better than some scholars in England, perhaps
because they are not unconsciously influenced by the desire to save
the traditional site of Calvary, which was the original cause of these
attempts to twist the literary evidence from its natural explanation.
The first school are involved in the dilemma that the city of David was
first lower than the Temple, then--about 800 years later--was higher,
and then lower again; while the supposed peak, 150 feet high, is
geologically a very improbable feature, and the supposed valley never
existed. The second school would make the Hasmonæans first cut down a
hill as being a danger to the Temple, and then--later--build on the
same hill a fortress overlooking and defending the Temple. Disregarding
these dilemmas, we may inquire into the actual statements of ancient
writers concerning the position of the _Akra_ or “citadel,” though
these have again and again been explained, without any answer having
been given to the argument by those who are otherwise convinced.
[Sidenote: THE AKRA]
The word _akra_ is Greek, and means “a citadel.” Josephus never applies
the term to the fortress north of the Temple, which he calls the
_phrourion_. In the First Book of Maccabees we read that the Greeks
“built up the city of David with a great and strong wall and mighty
towers, and it became a citadel (_akra_) for them.”[188] In another
passage[189] we learn that this “city of David” was Jerusalem; and
again[190] that this citadel was “in Jerusalem.” Jonathan, the brother
of Judas Maccabæus, “piled up a great mound between the Akra and the
city, to separate it from the city”[191]; and, as already noted, the
“hill of the temple” lay “alongside the Akra,” which was finally taken
by Simon, the elder brother of Judas.[192] The statements of Josephus
are very clear on this subject. He says that this citadel was in
the “lower part of the city,”[193] yet was “high and overlooked the
Temple.” It moreover “lay over against the Temple,” and commanded the
approach to it. Jonathan, he says, “built another wall to exclude
the market from the Akra,” and this wall was “in the midst of the
city.”[194] Simon took the “Akra of Jerusalem” and destroyed it, and
the Jews then “levelled the mountain, and in that work spent both day
and night without intermission, which cost them three whole years
before it was removed, and brought quite to a level with the plain of
the rest of the city. After which the Temple was the highest of all
the buildings, now that the Akra, as well as the mountain on which
it stood, was demolished.” Again he says that Simon “demolished the
Akra,” and that the “hill which was called Akra and defended the lower
city was gibbous” in shape; “and over against this was a third ridge,
naturally lower than the Akra, and at first divided from the other by
a flat valley. But in the times when the Hasmonæans ruled, they filled
up the valley, deciding to join the Temple to the city; and, having
levelled the mound of the Akra, they made it flatter, so that the
Temple might be above the same.”[195]
There does not seem to be any difficulty in understanding these notices
when taken together, nor do they contradict one another. The city lay
over against the Temple “like a theatre,”[196] the upper city being
on the south, and the lower city in the broad Tyropœon to the north;
the horseshoe head of the valley gave the theatre form, and the hill
defending the lower city was that “gibbous” spur--resembling the moon
in the third quarter--which bulges out eastwards near the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre. At its highest point--the rock of the traditional
Calvary--it is 2,497 feet above sea-level, or more than 60 feet higher
naturally than the rock site of the Temple. Originally the high ground
stretched farther east, not far from the Temple, but separated from it
by a flat valley 40 feet deep, which is the confluent of the Tyropœon,
having its head near the present Damascus Gate on the north side of
the city. By digging down this ridge, and filling the valley east of
it, the surface in this part of Jerusalem became much what it now is;
for the rock in the confluent valley--usually known as the Hasmonæan
Valley--is now 40 feet under the street, and the visitor who follows
the Via Dolorosa from the cathedral to Antonia (the Turkish barracks)
is unaware of the original depth of this valley, though the street is
not quite level throughout. East of this valley the present street
rises towards Antonia, running over the fosse north of that citadel,
which was filled in in 70 A. D., and over the Byzantine roof vaults
of the Twin Pools, which were cut in that fosse. It is thus 40 feet
higher than it was in the Hasmonæan age when the fosse was visible, and
the road nearly level. There was plenty of room on the Akra spur for a
citadel with towers, and the keep of the fortress was probably at the
rock of the orthodox Calvary. The valley has been filled in at some
period of history, and there is no reason to doubt that this was done
by Simon the Hasmonæan. Josephus does not say that the rock was cut
away, but merely that the “mound” on which the Akra stood was “worked
down.”
[Sidenote: THE HASMONÆANS]
Considering the site to be thus settled, we may briefly sum up the
history of the fortress. It was built as the Macedonian citadel in 170
B. C., the rest of the city being more or less destroyed; and--after
the persecution of 168 B. C. and the setting up of “the abomination
that maketh desolate” on the altar--the Temple itself was deserted.
The revolt of the Hasmonæans (commonly known as “Maccabees”[197]) began
at Modin, a little village in the low hills, 6 miles east of Lydda and
17 miles from Jerusalem, overlooking the plains, with a view of the
sea. Here Mattathias the Hasmonæan and his five sons were successively
buried, and their monument perhaps still awaits excavation under the
_tell_ south of the village of Medyeh. Mattathias died in 166 B. C.,
and the heroic Judas about five years later. The energy and ability of
the brothers brought about final independence, in spite of occasional
checks and misfortunes. The relief of the Akra garrison was the
objective of the various Greek generals, and the Macedonian resistance
in this citadel continued for thirty years, until the weakness of the
Seleucidæ, due to internecine disputes in Antioch, rendered Antiochus
VII. willing to accept Simon, the surviving brother of Judas, as
ethnarch of Palestine, under a suzerainty which soon became nominal.
The first great victory of Judas Maccabæus was won over the Greeks near
Emmaus Nicopolis, not far from Modin, in 165 B. C.; he subsequently
defeated Lysias at Bethzur, south of Jerusalem, in an attempt to reach
the city by the southern pass. After this second victory Judas and
his men went up to Mount Sion--that is, to Jerusalem--to cleanse the
Temple[198]: “And when they saw the sanctuary desolate and the altar
profaned, and the gates burned up, and shrubs growing in the courts as
in a forest or in one of the mountains, and the chambers pulled down,
they rent their clothes, and made great lamentation, and cast ashes on
their heads.” The defiled stones were carried out to an unclean place,
but those of the Altar of Jehovah were laid up in the “Mountain of the
Temple,” “until there should come a prophet to show what should be done
with them.” They appear to have remained in the north-east chamber of
the great gate-house called Moḳed (on the north side of the priests’
court), until the final destruction of the city.[199] The Temple was
rebuilt, with a new altar of white stones, and was reconsecrated on
Cisleu 25, 164 B. C. The Feast of Dedication has been commemorated ever
since on that day. But hardly had this work been accomplished when
Jerusalem was retaken by Lysias, and the Macedonian garrison relieved.
The year 163 B. C. was a sabbatic year, and no resistance appears to
have been made by the majority of the nation. Judas was defeated at
Beth-zachariah, south of Jerusalem, and his brother Eleazar perished
under one of the elephants of the enemy. The Hasmonæans shut themselves
up in the Temple courts, but fortunately--at the moment of their
greatest need--bad news from the north reached Lysias, and he hastily
made peace, and conceded the main demand that the Jews should be at
liberty to follow the law. The young king Antiochus V. appears to have
been with the army, and when he entered Sion and saw the strength of
the place, he commanded the destruction of the walls.[200]
[Sidenote: DEATH OF JUDAS]
Judas took occasion of the troubles that arose in Syria next year
to expel the Hellenisers from the city. Alcimus (the high-priest
recognised by this party) came back with a force sent by Demetrius
Soter[201] under the command of Bacchides, and the Ḥasidim admitted
the Greeks because they were accompanied by “a priest of the seed of
Aaron.”[202] Bacchides removed his camp to a place called Bezeth, which
has been supposed to be the later Bezetha north of the Temple, not
yet within the city. His successor, Nicanor, was attacked by Judas at
Caphar-salama--perhaps the modern Selmeh near Jaffa--and forced to flee
back to the “city of David”--that is, to Jerusalem. The priests came
out of the temple to “Mount Sion,” but were wrathfully received by the
defeated general, and in the cold winter month of Adar he went forth to
meet the advance of Judas, and was slain at Adasa, north of the city.
The new usurper, Demetrius Soter, had fled from Rome to Antioch, and to
the Romans Judas turned for help, little foreseeing the future results
of this policy, to which his successors also adhered. But Roman armies
were still far away, and in the year 161 B. C. Demetrius sent Bacchides
once more by the north road through Samaria, and Judas was outflanked
and slain at Beth-zetho--apparently the present Bîr ez Zeit, commanding
a pass four miles north-west of Bethel.[203] The Akra garrison was thus
once more relieved.[204]
After this disaster the Hasmonæan party under Jonathan were hunted to
the Jordan marshes, and the Greeks maintained order for two years,
and then made peace with Jonathan, who took up his residence at
Michmash. In the year 152 B. C. another revolution in Syria placed
Alexander Balas on the throne of Antioch.[205] The new ursurper made
Jonathan high-priest, and the only garrisons maintained by the Greeks
were those of Bethzur, and of the Akra in Jerusalem. Yet another
revolution occurred in 147 B. C., when Demetrius Nicator became king
of Syria.[206] Jonathan then struck for freedom once more, capturing
Joppa and Ascalon, and returning to Jerusalem, where he besieged the
Akra. Demetrius granted to him an extension of Judæa at the expense
of Samaria, and the next usurper, Trypho, confirmed his position as
ruler. In 144 B. C. Jonathan and Simon built the wall, or mound, in the
midst of Jerusalem, to separate the Akra from the market-place. They
also repaired the city walls, especially at a place called Caphenatha,
on the east near the brook Kidron. The word “Caphenatha” is Aramaic
for a “heap,” and is thus probably equivalent to the Hebrew ’Ophel, or
“mound.” As regards the wall or mound in the middle of the city, it
should be observed that the only market-place in Jerusalem mentioned
by Josephus is that in the upper city. It is possible, therefore, that
the wall to which he refers was that which defended the upper city on
the north side, running through the middle of the town to the Temple.
But in the history which he follows it was called a “mound,” and not a
wall. It may therefore have been raised as a covered way on the narrow
neck of land near the Jaffa Gate. This would serve to protect those who
came in to the upper market from any attack by the Akra garrison. No
wall on the Ophel spur nor any north of the Temple could be described,
in this age, as being in the “midst of the city,” and this allusion
serves therefore to confirm the supposition that the Akra lay north of
the upper city.[207]
[Sidenote: JEWISH COINS]
The aim of Jonathan, who combined the offices of high-priest and
civil governor, was to restore Hebrew freedom not only in Judæa, but
throughout Palestine, and even to restore the empire of Solomon, to
the Eleutherus River or “entering in to Hamath.” But the usurping
general Trypho enticed him into the city of Accho, and led him prisoner
to Gilead, where he was put to death, in 143 B. C. Thus Simon alone
survived of the five famous brethren. He fortified Jerusalem, against
which Trypho intended to advance, but the city was saved by a heavy
fall of snow, which blocked the roads.[208] The year 142 B. C. was
called--in the commercial contracts of Israel--the “first year of
Simon the high-priest, general and governor of the Jews.”[209] A
bronze tablet recording his treaty with Rome was set up, two years
later, on Mount Sion, in which he was called “high-priest to the army
of God [Ṣaramel],” the great congregation of the priests, the people,
and the chiefs ratifying his action.[210] This term, taken from the
Aramaic original of the First Book of Maccabees, is left untranslated
in our Greek version. Antiochus VII., in 139 B. C., bestowed on Simon
the right to strike a silver coinage,[211] and these coins appear to
have borne the name “Simon” on one side, and the legend “Deliverance
of Jerusalem” on the other, in letters of the old alphabet of Israel,
the forms of which were but slightly modified from those of the
Siloam text, though manifestly later.[212] Simon was thus the most
successful of the Hasmonæan brothers, and his greatest triumph was
the final conquest of the Akra citadel. The garrison was at length
withdrawn from the “city of David in Jerusalem,”[213] and the fortress
was at first occupied by Jews, and--as we have already seen--finally
demolished, about 140 B. C.
When Simon was murdered near Jericho in 135 B. C., his son John
Hyrcanus succeeded him, and manifested the same courage and ability
which distinguished his father. He was unfortunate, however, at first,
for Antiochus VII. attacked Jerusalem in 134 B. C. Josephus relates
that the Greeks established seven camps round the city, and raised
an hundred siege-towers (probably an exaggeration) “about the north
part of the wall, where it happened that it was upon a level with the
outer ground.”[214] This agrees with the supposition that the wall ran
on the spur north of the Tyropœon. It was the time of the Feast of
Tabernacles--in autumn--and the granting of a truce for seven days,
that the festival might be held, produced so favourable an impression
on the Jews that peace was soon made on fair terms. It was on this
occasion that Hyrcanus opened David’s sepulchre, whence--as rumour
said--he took 3,000 talents. Some ten years later he became more
powerful, and destroyed the Samaritan temple on Gerizim. He died in 106
B. C., and the decadence of the race began in the next generation.
[Sidenote: TOMB OF JANNÆUS]
Aristobulus, his eldest son, ruled for one year only. His coins are
still inscribed in Hebrew, but on those of his brother, Alexander
Jannæus, the Greek language for the first time appears on Jewish money.
The more peaceful relations with the later Seleucidæ apparently led to
a revival of Greek influence, and the grandchildren of Simon followed
Greek fashions, Aristobulus being the first of these rulers to set a
diadem on his head,[215] though he retained the old title “High-priest
and Uniter of the Jews,” as is known from his bronze coins. Alexander
Jannæus went further and called himself in Hebrew “Jehonathan the
King,” while the reverse of the coin bears in Greek the words “of
Alexander the King.”[216] His reign (105 to 78 B. C.) was one of very
chequered fortune, and he appears to have been a very ordinary tyrant.
The events immediately connected with Jerusalem include the building
of a wooden partition wall round the Temple and Altar; the riot in
which--at the Feast of Tabernacles--he was pelted with the lemons which
were already carried as sacred emblems by the worshippers; and the
crucifixion of eight hundred Jewish rebels at Jerusalem, which shows us
that he adopted a punishment then in use among Greeks and Romans, as it
had been yet earlier among Carthaginians.[217]
In a later passage[218] Josephus speaks of the defenders of the Temple,
in 70 A. D., as fighting the Romans “from the tower Antonia, and from
the north cloister of the Temple, and ... before the monument of King
Alexander”--an allusion which raises a very interesting question as
to existing antiquities: for the attack on the Temple walls thus met
was evidently that of the tenth legion from Olivet, and the tomb
or monument in question may have been that now called the “Tomb of
Absalom,” belonging to a group of four conspicuous Greco-Jewish tombs
on the east bank of the Kidron, opposite the south part of the eastern
wall of the Ḥaram. The style of the palace of Hyrcanus in Gilead shows
us that these tombs might well be as old as 78 B. C. They resemble the
rock sepulchres of Petra, though the latter may be somewhat later.
“Absalom’s Tomb”[219] is a chamber with two _loculi_, or rock coffins,
one in each side. The block of rock has been cut out from the cliff,
and is 20 feet square. It is adorned with Ionic pillars, and a Greek
frieze, over which is a bold corbelled cornice, and above the cornice
a square masonry base, and a drum supporting a peculiar dome which has
a finial 55 feet above the ground. The dome is a feature of Herodian
architecture half a century later, and may well have been known in
Palestine in the time of Alexander Jannæus, for domes are represented
on Assyrian bas-reliefs even in the seventh century B. C.
South of this monument is the tomb of the Bene Hezir priests,[220]
which has _kokîm_ graves in the Hebrew style, but a porch supported
by two Doric pillars cut out of the rock. The inscription above them,
recording the names of these priests, is in characters which are
practically square Hebrew, but such characters are found in Aramaic
papyri even as early as 200 B. C. It is evident that a monument
to Jewish priests, of such importance, must have been made in the
prosperous times either of the Hasmonæans or of the Herodians, and
could not have been hewn after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. The
characters are not like those of the coinage of Alexander Jannæus,
though the lettering on these is much less antique than that of
Simon’s coinage. But in this age there were many variations of the
old Aramean alphabet in use, and (according to the Talmud) the square
characters were used for sacred writings in the Hebrew tongue, side
by side with the older script, which was used for Aramaic texts and
civil documents.[221] It thus seems possible that the characters on
a priests’ tomb might differ from those of the contemporary civil
coinage. It may, on the other hand, be thought that this tomb is
somewhat later than 78 B. C.
[Illustration: HEBREW INSCRIPTION.
Tomb of Beni Ḥezir.]
[Sidenote: THE KIDRON TOMBS]
The third monument of this group is yet farther south, and is now
called the “Tomb of Zechariah.” It is entirely rock cut, and similar
to “Absalom’s Tomb” except in having a pyramidal roof. It has also the
same bold corbelled cornice. The fourth tomb is north of the village of
Silwân, and is rarely noticed in early accounts. It was called by de
Vogüé the “Egyptian Tomb,” because it has a corbelled cornice--like the
others--which he regarded as Egyptian. This kind of cornice is not only
found with Greek pillars in the other instances, but it also occurs in
the Ḥaram at Hebron, in connection with Herodian masonry. The tomb has
no other adornment outside; on the inside it has a ridge ceiling.[222]
There is no reason to suppose that it is any older than the other
three. To the left of the door there are two marks cut in the rock. M.
Clermont-Ganneau regards them as letters, and thinks that the height
of the door was increased, cutting off the rest of the text. The marks
are much weathered, and it is doubtful if they are letters at all. Nor
could I find (after careful examination) any sign of the door having
been altered. They are certainly not Egyptian signs, and if accepted
would still prove nothing towards the improbable theory of Egyptian
origin.
A brief account of the Roman conquest of the holy city will close
this narrative of the Greek age in Jerusalem. The power of Rome was
constantly increasing in the north, as she successively defeated
Mithridates of Pontus and Tigranes of Armenia; and Pompey in 65
B. C. deposed Antiochus Asiaticus, last of the Seleucidæ, and set up
Antiochus of Commagene in north-eastern Syria--a ruler half Greek,
half Persian, whose remarkable tomb, with its valuable Greek texts, has
been found on the Taurus north of Samosata.
[Sidenote: POMPEY]
Judea had been wisely ruled for nearly ten years by Salome Alexandra,
the widow of Alexander Jannæus, supported by the Pharisees, who are
first noticed as a Jewish sect in the time of Jonathan, but who now
became the leaders of the nation, adding many traditions--which often
seem to be of Persian rather than of Hebrew origin--to the law of
Moses. The quarrels of the degenerate sons of Alexander Jannæus, after
the death of their mother in 69 B. C., gave a pretext to Pompey for
interference in Jewish affairs. They at first agreed that Aristobulus
the elder should be high-priest, and Hyrcanus the younger king. But
the latter called to his aid the powerful Arab king Aretas (or Ḥârith)
from Petra, and Aristobulus offered Pompey a bribe of 400 talents for
his support. So Scaurus was sent by the great conqueror of Armenia to
settle the affairs of the Jews.[223]
Hyrcanus had been persuaded by Antipater the Idumæan, whom his father
had made commander in Edom,[224] to flee to Petra, and he thence
returned with his Arab allies to besiege his brother in Jerusalem.
Scaurus commanded them to depart, and leaving Aristobulus in the
city, he returned to Damascus. Pompey, having subdued Tigranes, soon
followed and marched to Jericho.[225] Aristobulus was ready to submit
to Pompey’s demand that he should surrender his strongholds, but the
Jerusalem Jews refused to admit the Roman envoy Gabinius within the
walls of Jerusalem. The city at this time is described as having
strong walls, and was only weak on the north, where there was no deep
outer valley. The patriotic party and the unhappy Aristobulus held the
Temple, defended on the north by the citadel afterwards called Antonia,
which had a deep ditch dug beneath great towers, and was also protected
by a natural valley. The ditch still exists, and will be noticed again.
The valley is to the east, and is an affluent of the Kidron, the
existence of which was unknown before the excavations of Sir Charles
Warren on the north and north-east sides of the Ḥaram enclosure. The
defenders also broke down the bridge leading from the upper city to the
Temple hill, and--though the natural slopes of the ridge of Moriah were
still visible on the west side--it is possible that there was already
a wall between the city and the Temple. The voussoirs of this bridge
lie jammed in the rock-cut aqueduct, 20 feet below the later Herodian
pavement.
Pompey attacked on the north, and, having broken in, besieged the
Antonia citadel, partly filling in the fosse. Banks were raised,
and battering-rams and catapults from Tyre battered the wall. On
the fatal day of the fast or 27th of the 3rd month of the year 63
B. C. the Temple fell. But Pompey--unlike the rapacious Crassus, who
plundered its riches in 55 B. C., when on his way to meet his fate in
Parthia--refrained from pillaging it, though he entered the Holy of
Holies, and saw in the holy place, the golden table, golden altar, and
seven-branched lamp, with many other treasures. Jerusalem was made
tributary to Rome; Hyrcanus was set up in the stead of Aristobulus as
high-priest; and five local councils were established in Palestine
under Gabinius, one of these being in the Holy City.
FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER V
[174] The _Keft_ people, represented in an Egyptian tomb, were
Phœnicians, according to the bilingual “Decree of Canopus,” and not
Cretans. Their art is identical with that of Phœnicians, clearly of
Semitic race in another painting. They were connected with islanders
who were probably the inhabitants of Cyprus. The _Pûrstau_ of a picture
of the time of Rameses III. (about 1200 B. C.) have no connection with
the Philistines, who came from Cappadocia, according to the LXX. The
frescoes and tablets of the palace of Knossos in Crete are probably not
older than about 500 (not 1500) B. C., and the “geometrical” pottery
appears to be Phœnician. The evidence of the Amarna tablets, and of
the Bible alike, shows that the Philistines were a Semitic race akin
to the Babylonians. It is to be preferred to the fancies of Tacitus,
who thought that the Jews must have come from Crete (“Hist.,” v. ii.),
because the words _Idæi_ (people of Mount Ida) and _Ioudaioi_ (Jews)
were similar. The Ionians are not noticed in any of the Amarna tablets.
[175] See Josephus (“Ant.,” XI. viii. 5). The high-priest’s name in 332
B. C. was Jaddua (Neh. xii. 22; “Ant.,” XI. vii. 2). The later rabbis
incorrectly suppose him to have been Simon the Just (Tal. Bab., _Yoma_,
69, _a_; _Megillah Taanith_, ch. ix.).
[176] Josephus, “Ant.,” XII. i. 1. Ptolemy I. reigned from 323 to 285
B. C.
[177] “Ant.,” XII. ii. 1–15. Ptolemy II., 285–47 B. C.
[178] “Ant.,” XII. iii. 3, 4.
[179] _Ibid._, XII. iv. 1.
[180] 1 Macc. i. 14.
[181] “Ant.,” XII. iv. 6, 11. Seleucus IV., 187–75 B. C.
[182] For full details and photographic views, with one of the Aramaic
inscription, see my report in “Mem. East Pal. Survey,” 1889, pp. 65–87.
[183] “Ant.,” XII. v. 3, 4.
[184] Herodotus, ii. 47, 48.
[185] See “Ant.,” XII. v. 4, ix. 3, xi. 1, 2, XIII. v. 11, vi. 7, XV.
xi. 4; “Wars,” I. ii. 2, iii. 2; 1 Macc. i. 33, x. 9, xi. 41, 51, xii.
36, xiii. 52, xiv. 36, 37.
[186] For instance, Dr. G. A. Smith, “Jerusalem,” 1908, i. p. 155, ii.
p. 448, though he only follows earlier writers, with no more than an
occasional passing allusion to the facts due to exploration.
[187] Rev. Selah Merrill follows his distinguished countryman Dr. E.
Robinson; see “Later Bib. Researches,” 1852, p. 216.
[188] i. 33.
[189] ii. 31.
[190] vi. 26.
[191] xii. 36.
[192] xiii. 49.
[193] See the passages already cited, p. 92.
[194] “Ant.,” XIII. v. 11.
[195] _Ibid._, XIII. vi. 7; “Wars,” I. ii. 2, V. iv. 1.
[196] “Ant.,” XV. xi. 5.
[197] The name _Makkabi_ (“hammerer”), applied to the third brother
Judas. His ancestor Ḥasmon (“Ant.,” XII. vi. 1) was of the priestly
family of Johoiarib, the first of the twenty-four courses (1 Chron.
xxiv. 7).
[198] 1 Macc. iv. 38.
[199] Mishnah, _Middoth_, i. 6.
[200] 1 Macc. vi. 48, 49, 53, 62.
[201] 1 Macc. vii. 1–47.
[202] Alcimus, however, is said (1 Macc. ix. 54) to have pulled
down the inner wall of the sanctuary, and the “works of the
prophets”--probably the walls of the courts erected by Zerubbabel in
the days of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
[203] 1 Macc. ix. 15; “Ant.,” XII. x. 2, xi. 1.
[204] 1 Macc. ix. 52.
[205] 1 Macc. ix. 64, x. 1, 21; “Ant.,” XIII. i. 4–6, ii. 1.
[206] 1 Macc. x. 67; “Ant.,” XIII. iv. 9.
[207] “Ant.,” XIII. v. 11.; 1 Macc. xii. 36–7. The Akra garrison had
given hostages in 152 B. C. (1 Mace. x. 9), and made peace in 147 B. C.
(xi. 51.)
[208] 1 Macc. xiii. 24; “Ant.,” XIII. vi. 4, 5, 6.
[209] 1 Macc. xiii. 42. Simon’s son, John Hyrcanus, is called
“High-priest and Uniter [_ḥabbar_] of the Jews” on his coins.
[210] 1 Macc. xiv. 28.
[211] 1 Macc. xv. 6.
[212] A copper coin reads “Simon, Prince of Israel,” with “First year
of redemption of Israel.”
[213] 1 Macc. xiv. 36, 37.
[214] “Ant.,” XIII. viii. 2–4.
[215] _Ibid._, XIII. xi. 1.
[216] See De Saulcy, “Numismatique Judaïque,” 1854, pp. 64–74; Madden,
“Jewish Coinage,” 1864, pp. 61–70.
[217] Josephus, “Ant.,” XIII. xiii. 5, xiv. 2. In Mishnah, _Sukkah_,
iv. 9, the same story is told of a priest who was pelted to death.
[218] “Wars,” V. vii 3.
[219] “Mem. West Pal. Survey,” Jerusalem vol., pp. 413–16.
[220] See 1 Chron. xxiv. 15.
[221] Tal. Bab., _Sanhed._, 21 _b_, 22 _a_.
[222] Sir C. Wilson, “Ord. Survey Notes,” 1865, p. 64, plate xxiv. fig.
4.
[223] Josephus, “Ant.,” XIII. v. 9, xvi. 1.
[224] _Ibid._, XIV. i. 3, ii. 1, 2.
[225] _Ibid._, XIV. iv. 1–2.