Beautiful Egypt 139 – «A Time of Bondage» January 17, 2016

   In the previous articles, we spoke about the Roman Emperors and the proconsuls of Judea who were contemporary to Christ. We shed light on the cruel Roman tenure, for it was full of injustice, corruption, and bloodshed. Moreover, we tackled the ideologies and philosophies that spread at that time, such as, Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism. Thus, Christ’s lifetime was full of conflicting ideologies and philosophies, apart from the profanity that was furthered by idolatry. So much so that humans were slaughtered to please the gods. Today, we shall speak of the Jews’ conditions.

   Judea was then under the Romans, for their sovereignty had spread throughout Asia, Africa and Europe. We have already given a full account of the Caesars and proconsuls who preceded and were contemporary to Christ.

The Jews till Christ’s Birth

   After Antiochus the Great had overcome Ptolemy V, the king of Egypt, Judea succumbed to him. This was in 198 B.C. Antiochus treated the Jews kindly, exempting them from taxes for three years, which is why his was a peaceful tenure. Yet, this did not last: for during the tenure of his son, Antiochus, who took over in 175 B.C., he was unkind to the Jews. He sold the post of high priest to his brother Joshua in return of an annual amount of money. Joshua called himself Jason. Being fond of Greek habits, he brought them over to Judea. Among those habits was establishing an arena where naked youth used to wrestle, in like manner the Greeks did. The priests and the people became quite corrupt during his tenure.

   After that, a brother of his, an Onias, called himself Menelaus. He bought high priesthood from Antiochus, having sold the temple’s vessels, which caused tumult and sadness amongst the people. While Antiochus was in Egypt, in 170 A.D., false news of his death spread. So, Jason usurped authority from his brother Menelaus. Yet, he could not overwhelm the city, for Antiochus returned. Getting to know that the Jews rejoiced for the news of his death, he attacked Jerusalem, killing about forty thousand of its inhabitants and selling the rest slaves.

   Moreover, Antiochus insisted that Greek creed be official. So, he sent the Jews a message telling them this, and compelling them to worship idols and desecrate the Sabbath. He also prohibited circumcision, torturing and killing whoever disobeyed. Matters remained thus until Metathia the priest and his five siblings fled to Modi’in, Palestine, rejecting the worship of idols. They started crushing them and called for abiding by the law. In effect, a huge number of Jews joined them and escaped to the mountains. This took place in 168 B.C. Metathia’s family was called the Hasmonean dynasty. Yet, his son Judah was given the title Maccabeus for his bravery. So, his people were called the Maccabeans.

   Metathia gathered the Jews. They returned to their country in 167 B.C. where they crushed the idols’ altars, restored circumcision and called for abiding by the law. In 165 B.C., despite their fewness, the Jews were able to overwhelm Gilead fortresses, then Jerusalem. Judah purged the temple and restored religious service for three years. Antiochus died in 164 B.C. So, conflicts on sovereignty restarted whereby Judah the Maccabean was killed in 161 B.C.

   Judah’s brother, Jonathan, succeeded him. Wars with the Syrians continued, as they failed to subjugate him. In effect, they made a peace treaty with him in 158 B.C., after which Jonathan took both religious and political authority. This took place in 150 B.C. He was killed after his enemies had conspired against him in 144 B.C. during the clashes on sovereignty in Syria.

   His brother Simon took over after him. He was the only one to remain. He overwhelmed Jerusalem and fortified it. He was a wise politician, and thanks to him, the Jews became independent, which is why they started assigning the dates to this dynasty from 143 B.C. as Simon started his reign. Peace prevailed. Yet, Simon was killed by Ptolemy, the ruler of Jericho who wanted to exterminate the entirety of his family. Yet, his son John fled. He took over after his father’s death in 135 B.C. He was given the title Hercanus.

   Though Antiochus VII tried to succumb the Jews by besieging Jerusalem, he failed. Yet, he showed great respect to the Jewish law, which is why the Jews agreed to accredit him king and pay him taxes. Hercanus, however, defeated Antiochus in 128 B.C. He declared independence and refused to succumb to Syrian kings. Upon settling down, he subjugated the neighboring tribes, as well as the Adomites and Samaritans. He annexed Galilee, took care of Jerusalem and fortified her. The Hamsonean kingdom was established by Aristobulus, the son of Hercanus who was followed by his brother Alexander Jannaeus. Yet, both of them were despots.

   After Alexander Jannaeus, his sons Hercanus II and Aristobulus II conflicted, which led to the return to the Syrian reign on Judea in 63 B.C. by Icarus Pompeous, the Roman commander. After that, Pompeous proceeded to Judea, entered Jerusalem and overwhelmed it. The priests sought shelter in the temple which was well fortified. Thus, the siege lasted for three months, after which the Romans raided the temple and killed the priests while serving the altar. Thus, Judea succumbed to the Roman Empire in 63 B.C. Though there were rebellions, the Romans prevailed. This ended in the rule of Antipater, viceroy of Caesar Augustus, in 48 B.C. He was succeeded by his son Herod the Great who ordered the killing of Bethlehem’s children. He died after a severe illness in 4 A.D.

Archelaus

   After Herod the Great had died, the kingdom was divided among his three sons, namely, Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Phillip. Archelaus ruled Judea, Samaria, and Adomia. He was not a wise politician, which caused riot. Likewise, he mistreated the Jews and persecuted them, which made them complain to Caesar, casting doubts on the legitimacy of his reign. Thus, the Emperor deposed him.

   During his tenure, the Lord’s angel appeared in dream to Joseph (in Egypt) telling him to return after Herod, who wanted to kill the child, had died. Thus, the Holy Family embarked on their return journey to Israel. But, St. Joseph got to know that Archelaus mistreated the Jews. So, he got worried. Thus, we read, “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee.” Here starts another story. Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center