Last article talked about the return of the Jews to Jerusalem (Al-Quds) from captivity in the days of King Cyrus of Persia, who issued a decree granting the captured Jews the right to return to their country and to build the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. The first return (538 BC) was led by Sheshbazzar (Zerubbabel). No sooner had they laid foundation for the temple, than they were challenged with conspiracies and tricks, but the construction of the temple was completed after nearly twenty years. Then came the second return (458 BC) led by Ezra the Priest, who was interested in teaching the Law to the people returning after a 70-year-period of captivity, he collected and arranged the books of the Bible. As for the third return (445/444 BC), it was led by Nehemiah the prophet – in the days of King Artaxerxes – and he built the collapsed wall of Jerusalem in 52 days. Palestine then is mentioned in the era of Alexander the Great, then during the era of the Ptolemies, at which Palestine was under Egyptian rule.
In 198 BC, Antiochus III- nicknamed Antiochus the Great- defeated Ptolemy’s army in the Battle of Banias, after frequently attempting to seize control of Palestine to rule it instead of the Ptolemies, yet he was defeated by the Romans in 190 BC “Now Judas heard of the fame of the Romans, that they were very strong and were well-disposed toward all who made an alliance with them, that they pledged friendship to those who came to them… They also had defeated Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who went to fight against them with one hundred twenty elephants and with cavalry and chariots and a very large army. He was crushed by them; they took him alive and decreed that he and those who would reign after him should pay a heavy tribute and give hostages and surrender some of their best provinces, the countries of India, Media, and Lydia. These they took from him and gave to King Eumenes.” (1 Maccabees 8:1, 6-8). As for the conditions of Jerusalem at that time, the Jewish historian Josephus mentioned: “Then his rule grew stronger and his prestige grew greater until he took control of many nations… arrogance and pride entered within him, he was tyrannical and arrogant, and he ordered that idols be made in his image, and directed them to all his kingdom, and he commanded the people to worship them and prostrate to them, and all the nations responded to that, except for the Jews who refrained from that and did not accept it.” Some wicked people complained against the Jews before King Antiochus, so his anger rose against them and moved towards Jerusalem, where he killed and taken many as captives, driving the city’s inhabitants to flee to the countryside, wilderness and mountains and resided there. Those who remained there were subjected to persecutions and many of them were murdered. King Antiochus ordered the high priest to participate in the ceremonies of offering impure sacrifices, and tried to prevent the practice of circumcision, in an attempt to imbue the city of Jerusalem with a Greek character. The Maccabean Jewish revolution came in response to these events.
After the death of Antiochus III, a change occurred in the days of Antiochus V, which allowed worship to be restored in the temple as before. In that era, Judas Maccabee managed to defeat a number of Syrian commanders, then he returned to Jerusalem, where he demolished all the altars that had been established by Antiochus III, removed the idols, and ordered the temple to be cleansed, then the altar was built and services were restored in the temple. This day became Jewish feast; the “Feast of Renewal.” Judas Maccabee built high walls and fortified towers on Mount Zion and set up an army there to guard it. In 163 BC, King Antiochus V, accompanied by the leader Lysias, marched towards Jerusalem to regain it. They managed to defeat Judas Maccabee and Jerusalem returned under Seleucid rule. Battles continued to suppress the Maccabee revolt until Judas Maccabee was killed in 161 BC. In 152 BC, Jonathan, the brother of Judas, became the high priest and viceroy of Judea. Thus, he renovated the city of Jerusalem, rebuilt the temple citadel, and raised the walls. Wars continued to be raged in the city until the Romans intervened! And… Stories about Jerusalem are to be continued… and stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
العربية
