Reign of the Ptolemies and Seleucids

Egyptian king Ptolemy I Soter subjugated Judea to himself, although at the death of Alexander of Macedon, Celesirius and Judea went to Laomedon . In 320 BC e. Ptolemy Ι appeared at the walls of Jerusalem and, claiming that he wanted to make a sacrifice, used the Sabbath day to take possession of the city. This fact Josephus leads from the words of the Greek author Agatharchis of Cnidus . In this regard, it is known about олемTolemy that he captured many prisoners, who were sold to him as slavery. On the other hand, trusting the Jews and their oaths, he entrusted them with strong fortresses. Flavius ​​reports that due to the supportive attitude of Ptolemy, many Jews moved to Egypt. Flavius ​​data does not deserve absolute trust, since Jews began to settle in Alexandria even under Alexander, and he, perhaps, exaggerates their military prowess for the purpose of apology. According to Aristey, about 30 thousand Jews were stationed garrisons in the fortresses of Egypt. Something similar did indeed take place later, and many clear indications speak of the "Jewish camp," as well as their exploits. The historical fact is the organization of the Jews of Egypt, as well as the whole country of Ptolemy I. There can hardly be any doubt that the Jews received the same rights as the Macedonians. By order of Ptolemy Ι the fortifications of Jerusalem, Acre, Jaffa, Gaza and Samaria were torn down. It was difficult for Egypt to keep Palestine, naturally gravitating towards Syria, although the Ptolemies never abandoned their claims to Gaza, Jaffa and Jerusalem, which is why there were eternal wars between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus , continuing the struggle for Celesiria and Palestine, he finally conquered them in 274 BC. e. Like other dyadochi, he liked to found new cities; in Palestine, he founded Philadelphia, Philotherium and Ptolemaida. To put an end to the wars with Syria, he married his sister to Antiochus II , but the death of the queen gave only reason to resume hostilities. According to Aristeus, the translation of 70 interpreters dates back to the time of the Ptolemies. Of course, taking into account that the words of Aristeus must be treated with utmost care, one would doubt in this case if we were not aware of other literary attempts of this king.

Under Ptolemy III Everget, the Egyptians made a successful trip to Syria, from where they returned with rich gold mining, capturing many idols. The marble monument in Aduli fully confirms the biblical data and says that Ptolemy removed from Syria 40 thousand talents of silver and 2500 gold statues of the gods, between whom were once taken Cambyses from Egypt. This event served as the occasion to call Ptolemy III Evergett (“lucky”). Ptolemy treated the Jews very favorably. According to Flavius, he brought sacrifices in Jerusalem after going to Syria, etc. In his reign, the number of Jews settled in Nomos Arsinoe (now El Fayyum ) increased.

The greed of High Priest Onias III nearly endangered the whole of Palestine, and only young Joseph, the high priest’s nephew, managed to avert the danger. A very interesting inscription from the time of the Ptolemies, brought from Lower Egypt, is stored in the Berlin Museum. The inscription says that at the behest of the “king and queen” (who was the last, it was not established) this table was erected in the synagogue: Βασιλεύς Πτολεμαΐος Ευεργέτης την προσευχην άσυλον. This means that the synagogue is granted asylum, and this, apparently, served as a special insignia. It should be noted that the king is not named out of respect for the Jews as a god (θεός). It is very likely that another inscription discovered in Lower Egypt dates back to the time of Everget. It reads: “This synagogue was erected in honor of Tsar Ptolemy and Tsarina Berenice, his sister and wife, and their children.”

Ptolemy IV Philopator waged bloody wars with Antiochus the Great, during which he won a brilliant victory for Ptolemy at the city of Rafa in 217 BC. e. Ο Two episodes of this battle are also mentioned in the III book of the Maccabees (I, 1-7): about the attempt of a certain Dosipheus to kill Ptolemy IV during his sleep and how the last sister, Arsinoe, inspired the soldiers before the battle. Both events were conveyed by Polybius, why they should be considered reliable. Apparently, the rest of the story of III book. The Maccabees are not fiction, with the exception of some details with a clear tendency for the author to announce a great miracle. Returning home after victory, Ptolemy IV wants to enter the temple, but an unknown force overturns him, and then Ptolemy IV decided to vent his anger on the Jews of Alexandria. On his orders, they were tied up and thrown into the circus arena, where the royal elephants were released, but the latter rushed to the royal army. Jews commemorated this salvation with an annual holiday. This holiday was really observed by the Jews of Alexandria, and Flavius ​​speaks of it, although he relates this event to the reign of Ptolemy VII of Fiscon, without associating it with any miracle.

Under Ptolemy V Epiphanes, a long-standing dispute over the possession of Celesiria and Palestine was settled in favor of Syria. Antiochus the Great defeated the Egyptian troops near Jordan, and the Jerusalem garrison of Ptolemy V was besieged by the Jews who avenged the persecution of his father during the reign.

Ptolemy VII Philometor was defeated by the Syrian king Antiochus in 170 BC. e. The defeated Potlemey fled, and the inhabitants of Alexandria elevated his younger brother, later known as Everget, to the throne. Then Antiochus changed his policy, and he continued the hostilities under the pretext of protecting the rights of Ptolemy VII, and only thanks to pressure from Rome did he have to abandon his conquests. In the ensuing quarrels over the possession of the throne of Syria, Ptolemy took an active part, counting on the help of the Jews persecuted in Syria and then rebelled in Palestine under the leadership of the Maccabees brothers.

In 150 BC e. Ptolemy VII married his daughter Cleopatra to Alexander Balas, and in Ptolemais he was introduced to Jonathan Maccabeus, who was awarded royal honors. The second meeting of Ptolemy with Jonathan took place at Jaffa. Apparently, in Jerusalem at one time the Egyptian party was strong, grateful to P. for his attitude towards the Jews. According to Flavius, Ptolemy entrusted the entire government to the Jews, and the troops were led by the Jews Onias and Dositheus. Under him, the temple of Onias was erected, at his very insistence Aristobulus undertook the interpretation of the Pentateuch of Moses. The Greek postscript in the book of Esther proves that this book was brought to Egypt in the 4th year of his reign, since it refers to the place talking about Ptolemy and his wife Cleopatra. Apparently, he also has in mind the inscription in Athribis. Grets is inclined to attribute the translation of the Septuagint to the reign of Ptolemy, which, however, is disputed by Fredental. However, undoubtedly, during the reign of Ptolemy, polemic literature arose against the Jews, caused by the brilliant position they occupied at that time.

Ptolemy IX Everget (aka Ptolemy VII Fiscon), to achieve the throne, he eliminated Cleopatra, the widow of Ptolemy Philometor, whose army was headed by Onias. Due to the fact that the persecution of the Jews in this case was caused by purely political considerations, there is no need to dwell on them for a long time, all the more so after the reassurance of the country, everything has returned to its former track. Some evidence suggests that Ptolemy IX was a friend of the Jews. Apparently, the Sybillins of the book are referring to Ptolemy IX, speaking of the seventh king of Egypt from the Hellenistic dynasty. Since 117 BC e., the throne was occupied by Cleopatra III together with his sons Philometor (Soter II, aka Latirus) and Ptolemy Alexander (117–81).

The Hellenization of the East, the beginning of which was laid by Alexander the Great, continued even more strongly under the Seleucids, which did not remain without consequences for the Jews. Like the other dyadochs, the Seleucids also built cities in areas subject to them. Some Greek cities in Palestine, such as Abila, Gadar, Seleucius, and others, were most likely founded during the time of the first Seleucids, although Palestine was still under the Ptolemaic rule. In the cities founded by Seleucus I in Asia Minor and Syria, not excluding the capital of the latter, Antioch, he granted the Jews all citizenship rights, which they retained right up to Joseph Flavius, who, however, pays little attention to the merits of Seleucus I. According to Josephus Flavius, Antiochus II gave the right to citizenship to Jews along with the Ionians who lived in the cities of Asia Minor. With the spread of Christianity, the acquisition of Jewish citizenship rights became possible only in cases where their number in the cities was so significant as to form a separate community; then, by an act of special royal mercy, they equalized her rights with the Greek community.

Seleucus I already looked at Celesiria and Judea as part of his possessions, but did not dare to completely take them away y Ptolemies. Only Antiochus III the Great (223-187) openly declared his claims. From 218 to 198 BC e. Judea was the scene of wars between representatives of two dynasties. Antiochus was defeated at Rafia in Judea (218), but then defeated Panead on the Jordan (198), which resulted in the annexation of Judea to the kingdom of the Seleucids, under whose rule she was under 142 BC. e., when Simon Maccabee became her independent prince. Many preferred the calmer and milder rule of the Ptolemies; in Jerusalem for a long time there was a Ptolemy party, working in the interests of the Tobias.

Politically, the rulers of Judea were subordinate to the governor of Celesiria. Joseph points out that Antiochus VI Eupator and Lysias were the first to intervene in the religious life of the Jews and decided to remove the high priest (i.e. Menelaus). It follows that the Seleucids were kind to the Jews, who, however, were exhausted in this era under the weight of overwhelming taxes. Some indication of these taxes can be deduced from the forged decree of Antiochus on the exemption of priests, scribes (scholars) and temple singers from paying the capitation and some other taxes. During the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator (187-175), Heliodor burst into the Jerusalem temple in order to steal the treasures. In addition to the high priest Onias III, then, apparently, a certain Simon also enjoyed some power; he drew the king's attention to temple treasures.

Jason paid 360 talents and an additional amount of 80 talents to Antiochus IV Epiphanes for using the dignity of the high priest. Sources praise Seleucus IV for his respect for the temple and his personal cost of sacrifice. On the contrary, Antiochus IV is known for his inhuman treatment of Jews, contempt for their temple and religion, which ultimately led to the liberation of Judea from the rule of the Seleucids.

The opinion attributed to Joseph that after the death of Antiochus VII Sidet the Seleucids no longer caused concern to Hyrcanus I , is not entirely true, since they did not cease to state their claims to Judea. Antiochus IX of Kiziksky invaded Judea with his troops, but then he had to abandon hostile actions against Judea. Alexander Yannai was defeated by the forces of Demetrius III under Shechem during the civil war caused by the Pharisees . Antiochus XII Dionysus in a campaign against the Arabs passed through Judea.

The Seleucids gradually degenerated: these landless rulers could now find their former military glory only when they were invited as Greek troops by Greek cities. Such an incident presented itself in the war against the Jews, which threatened the very existence of Greek cities. Civil war broke out around 112 BC. e., finally erased the Seleucid dynasty.

Seleucids are rarely mentioned in rabbinical literature.

• Antique period in the history of Israel
• Palestine in the antique period

• Reign of the Ptolemies and Seleucids // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron . - SPb. , 1908-1913.