Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Transliteration of Hebrew
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- PART I HISTORICAL EVALUATION
- PART II ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLES: INTRODUCTION, TEXT AND COMMENTARY
- PART III APPENDICES
- A The infantry Royal Guard in the Seleucid army
- B ma'arāḵā (= formation) and fālanḵs in the Hebrew original of I Maccabees
- C Was a Seleucid military settlement established in Jerusalem?
- D The location and history of the Seleucid citadel (the Akra) in Jerusalem
- E The chronology of Antiochus Epiphanes' expedition to the eastern satrapies
- F Defensive war on the Sabbath according to the Books of the Maccabees
- G The ceremony at Mizpah and the chapter on ‘(the Priest) Anointed for Battle’ in the mishnaic tractate Sotah
- H The Babylonian Jews and the Galatians
- I The geographical background and chronological sequence of the clashes with Timotheus in the Second Book of the Maccabees
- J The negotiations between the Jews and the Seleucid authorities in the reigns of Antiochus Epiphanes and Antiochus Eupator
- K The chronology of Lysias' second expedition
- L The route of Bacchides' second expedition to Judaea
- EXCURSUS
- Plates
- Abbreviations
- References
- Indexe locorum
- General index
- Index of Greek terms
- Index of Hebrew words and phrases
E - The chronology of Antiochus Epiphanes' expedition to the eastern satrapies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Transliteration of Hebrew
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- PART I HISTORICAL EVALUATION
- PART II ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLES: INTRODUCTION, TEXT AND COMMENTARY
- PART III APPENDICES
- A The infantry Royal Guard in the Seleucid army
- B ma'arāḵā (= formation) and fālanḵs in the Hebrew original of I Maccabees
- C Was a Seleucid military settlement established in Jerusalem?
- D The location and history of the Seleucid citadel (the Akra) in Jerusalem
- E The chronology of Antiochus Epiphanes' expedition to the eastern satrapies
- F Defensive war on the Sabbath according to the Books of the Maccabees
- G The ceremony at Mizpah and the chapter on ‘(the Priest) Anointed for Battle’ in the mishnaic tractate Sotah
- H The Babylonian Jews and the Galatians
- I The geographical background and chronological sequence of the clashes with Timotheus in the Second Book of the Maccabees
- J The negotiations between the Jews and the Seleucid authorities in the reigns of Antiochus Epiphanes and Antiochus Eupator
- K The chronology of Lysias' second expedition
- L The route of Bacchides' second expedition to Judaea
- EXCURSUS
- Plates
- Abbreviations
- References
- Indexe locorum
- General index
- Index of Greek terms
- Index of Hebrew words and phrases
Summary
In order to determine the exact date of the battle of Ammaus, it is necessary to clarify the time of the start of Antiochus Epiphanes’ great expedition to the eastern satrapies which preceded it. The exact chronology is vital for the reconstruction of the timetable of the various phases of the campaign conducted at Ammaus and its environs, and in its wake for the dating of the Beth Zur battle and the evaluation of its outcome.
In the primary sources the only direct data on the date of the expedition is the statement in I Maccabees that Antiochus Epiphanes set out in the year 147, on the eve of the battle of Ammaus, en route from Antioch to the Upper Satrapies (3.37). As the date relates to an external event, the Macedonian-Syrian version of the Seleucid calendar was the one applied. Thus that year began in autumn 166 b.c. and ended at the beginning of October 165.
The season when the expedition to the Upper Satrapies took place must be postponed to the second half of that year, that is, between the spring and autumn of 165 b.c., and probably to the last quarter, i.e. the summer of 165:
(a) Porphyry, quoted by Eusebius, states that Antiochus V served as co-regent together with his father for ‘one year and six months’ (FGrH 260, F32, para. 13).
[…]
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Judas MaccabaeusThe Jewish Struggle Against the Seleucids, pp. 466 - 473Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989