|
Alexander the
Great (from his recognition in Babylonia) [331-323]
|
1st |
331 |
|
|
|
|
323 |
Alexander dies in Babylon. Ptolemy, the later king of
Egypt, transferred Alexander's body to Alexandria in Egypt where he entombed
him. |
| |
|
323-301 |
These turbulent years included constant conflicts among
Alexander's former generals ending in the parceling out of the Alexander's
empire and the creation of the first Hellenistic kingdoms—Ptolemy Lagus,
Alexander's half bother (Egypt and Palestine); Seleucus Nicator
(Mesopotamia and Syria); Cassander (Macedonia and Greece); Antigonus (Asia
Minor); and Lysimachus (Thrace). |
|
|
|
312 |
At the battle of Gaza Seleucus I Nicator defeated
Demetrius Poliorketes. The battle took place in the spring or
summer. The exact date is unknown.
Jews and the Syrians began the Seleucidan Era with
1 SE in autumn 312, on October 24th (Frank
1956:30). Frank states: "The counting of years to this era was
continued into the Middle Ages and is at present still done by the
Yemenite Jews (and some Christian sects in Syria" (Frank
1956:77). |
|
Seleucus I Nicator [311−280] |
1st |
311 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Antiochus I Soter [280−261] |
1st |
280 |
|
|
Antiochus II Theos [261−246] |
1st |
261 |
|
|
Seleucus II Callinicus [246−225] |
1st |
246 |
|
|
Seleucus III Soter [225−223] |
1st |
225 |
|
|
Antiochus III Megas [the Great] [223−187] |
1st |
223 |
|
|
Seleucus IV
Philopator [187−175] |
1st |
187 |
|
|
|
|
180 |
The High Priest
Onias III accused of hoarding a large sum of money in the temple
treasury. |
|
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
[175−164] |
1st |
175 |
Heliodorus murdered Seleucus IV, the brother of
Antiochus Epiphanes, in a failed attempt to size the Syrian crown.
Yeshua, a.k.a. Jason, the brother of Onias, bribed
Antiochus IV to be appointed high priest at Jerusalem and arranged for the
conversion of
Jerusalem into a polis.
|
|
|
|
173 |
Antiochus IV visits Jerusalem amidst an enthusiastic welcome. |
|
|
|
172 |
When Jason sent the priest Menelaus to Antiochus on
official business, Menelaus offered
Antiochus IV a bribe higher than that lf Jason in order to secure the priesthood for himself.
Menelaus returned to Jerusalem and deposed Jason who fled for his
life. |
|
|
|
171 |
Menelaus, who plundered gold vessels from the
Temple, arranged for the execution of the
high priest Onias III, a "messiah" or an
"anointed one" for resisting the Hellenization
of Judea (beginning of the third phase, 7 years [171−164
BCE], of Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy).
Antiochus IV maintained a
relationship with Jewish Hellenizers, led by Menelaus, for seven years. |
|
|
|
169 |
When a false rumor
arose that Antiochus had been killed in battle in Egypt, Jason
attempted unsuccessfully to regain control of Jerusalem. Antiochus
came to Jerusalem and quelled the uprising. At Menelaus'
invitation he looted the Temple. |
|
|
|
167 |
Following his forced retreat
from Egypt, Antiochus sent his general Apollonius to Jerusalem
with a large force to consolidate his control over Judea.
Apollonius killed large numbers of Menelaus' opponents in a attack
on
Shabbat (Sabbath). The Seleucids "built up the
City of David with its high, massive wall and strong towers, and it
became their Citadel" (I Maccabees 1:31-33). In the Citadel (or
Akra), Apollonius garrisoned a Seleucid military unit.
The Akra and the Temple were so close that Aristeas could
observe, from the Akra, the priests performing their
ceremonial functions within the Temple precincts. The Akra
"was the special protection of the temple and its founder had
fortified it so strongly that it might efficiently protect it" (Thackeray
2003).
The Seleucids outlawed temple sacrifices,
circumcision, Sabbath and festival observance, and the reading of
the Scriptures.
Antiochus IV instituted idolatrous pagan worship at
the Temple and there converted the altar of burnt offering to an altar
of sacrifice to Zeus. This "desolating sacrilege on the altar of
burnt offering" (I Maccabees 1:54) identifies Antiochus'
blasphemous sacrifices as the "abomination of desolation"
prophesied in
Daniel 11:31. |
|
|
|
166 |
The Maccabean revolt began when Mattathias, an aged
Jewish priest of the Hasmonean family who had taken refuge
in the village of Modein about seventeen miles northwest of Jerusalem,
refused to obey the order of Antiochus IV's envoy to sacrifice to
the heathen gods, and instead slew the envoy and a Jew who was about to
comply. He led his five sons into the hills where they organized
bands of rebels for war against the Seleucids. After the slaughter of a
thousand Jews on Sabbath by Antiochus' forces, Mattathias proclaims that
battle on Shabbat is permissible and necessary in order to protect and save
lives.
Before his death, Mattathias placed Judas in
command of the army and instructed his sons to heed the wise
counsel of their brother Simeon. |
|
|
|
164 |
Judas Maccabeus gained control of Jerusalem (marking the end of Daniel's
Seventy Weeks Prophecy). He destroyed the altar of
Zeus but he could not dislodge the Seleucids from the Akra.
He had the Temple
purified and rededicated as best he could. He had the Altar of Burnt
Offerings torn down and the old stones stored away. He then had a new
Altar built in its place (I Maccabeus 4:42-50). The first call for celebration
of greater Hanukkah on Kislev 25 (December 14) made by Judas Maccabeus upon
the renewal of sacrificial services. |
|
Antiochus V Eupator [163−162] |
1st |
163 |
|
|
Demetrius I Soter [162−150] |
1st |
162 |
Judas placed the Akra, where the garrison at the
continued to harass those who guarded the Temple, under siege. He
abandoned the effort when Antiochus V came against Judea with an army of
120,000. A Sabbatical year [163-162 BCE]. |
|
|
|
160 |
Judas Maccabeus killed
in battle at Eleasa. |
|
|
|
159 |
|
|
Jonathan [152−142]
(The Hasmoneans appear in blue to distinguish them from the Seleucids.) |
1st |
152 |
|
|
|
|
152 |
The Hasmoneans received official
recognition when Alexander Balas, one of the Seleucid pretenders, made Jonathan [152-142], Judas'
brother and successor, governor of the ethnos. His rival Demetrius appointed Jonathan high priest. On Sukkoth
Jonathan wore the vestments for the first time. |
|
Alexander Balas [150−145] |
1st |
150 |
Alexander defeated Demetrius and became the new Seleucid
king. Jonathan made general and governor of Judea. |
|
Demetrius II Nicator [145−140] |
1st |
145 |
|
|
Antiochus VI Epiphanes [145−142] |
1st |
145 |
|
|
|
|
143 |
Jonathan taken prisoner by another
pretender to the Seleucid throne. |
|
Tryphon [142−138] |
1st |
142 |
Tryphon captures Jonathan at Ptolemais and has him put to
death. |
|
Simon the Hasmonean
[142-134] |
1st |
142 |
Demetrius II, the new Seleucid king,
appoints Simon the Hasmonean ruler of the ethnos and high priest. |
|
|
|
142 |
Simon the Hasmonean defeated the Syrians holding the
Akra and set about to destroy it (I Maccabees 13:49-51). Judea became independent of the Seleucids
and free of pagan control.
The second call for dedication by Simon the Hasmonean who
orders the razing of the old "Mount
Zion" and the "Ophel" and the desolate remains of the Temple (which had
been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes and the high priest
Alcimus) and the rebuilding of a new sanctified Temple in the same
spot on the Ophel, but with the area more leveled and enlarged. Josephus
records that the razing of the Akra and leveling the hill on which
it stood took three years (Josephus,
Ant. 13.6.7;
Whiston
1957:390). |
|
Antiochus VII Sidetes [138−129] |
1st |
138 |
|
|
|
|
135-134 |
A Sabbatical year [135-134 BCE] (Josephus,
Ant. 13.8.1;
Whiston
1957:392). |
|
John Hyrcanus
[134-104] |
1st |
134 |
At a feast of the Jews, Simon murdered by his
son-in-law Ptolemy (Josephus,
Ant. 13.7.4;
Whiston
1957:392). |
|
Demetrius II Nicator [129−125]
(restored) |
1st |
129 |
|
|
|
|
129 |
Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim destroyed
by John Hyrcanus. |
|
Alexander Zebinas [128−122] |
1st |
128 |
|
|
Cleopatra Thea [126] |
1st |
126 |
|
|
Cleopatra Thea and Antiochus VIII Grypus [125−121] |
1st |
125 |
|
|
Seleucus V [125] |
1st |
125 |
|
|
|
|
124 |
The third and final call to mark the
greater Hanukkah, during the reign of John Hyrcanus, celebrating the
dedication of the completely renewed Temple (a brand new Temple). |
|
Antiochus VIII Grypus [121−113,
111−96] |
1st |
121 |
|
|
Antiochus IX Cyzicenus [113−95] |
1st |
113 |
|
|
Aristobulus I [104-103] |
1st |
104 |
Aristobulus
I took the
title king replacing ethnarch. |
|
Alexander Jannaeus
[103-76] |
1st |
103 |
|
|
Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator [96−95] |
1st |
96 |
|
|
Demetrius III Philopator [95−88] |
1st |
95 |
|
|
Antiochus X Eusebes [95−83] |
1st |
95 |
|
|
Antiochus XI Philadelphus [94] |
1st |
94 |
|
|
Philip I Philadelphus [94−83] |
1st |
94 |
|
|
Antiochus XII Dionysus [87−84] |
1st |
87 |
|
|
Salome Alexandra
[76-63] |
1st |
76 |
|
|
Antiochus XIII Asiaticus [69−64] |
1st |
69 |
|
|
Philip II [67−65] |
1st |
67 |
|
|
Aristobulus II [67-63] |
1st |
67 |
|
|
Hyrcanus II [63-40] |
1st |
63 |
Pompey invaded Jerusalem. The Roman takeover of Jerusalem
ended Hasmonean rule. Pompey profanes the Hasmonean Temple and he is the
first gentile to enter into the inner parts (Josephus,
Ant. 14.4.4;
Whiston
1957:414). Pompey ordered the cleansing of the Temple the next day
after its desecration. |
|
|
|
55 |
Licinius Crassus came to Jerusalem and took gold and monies
from the Temple treasury. |
|
Matthias Antigonus [40-370 |
1st |
40 |
|
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