Things Are Lookin' Up

This lecture focused on Jerusalem as a Hellenistic nation.  And, eventually, after Hellenism dies down, the emergence of the Hasmonean Rule.  Hellenism was started by Alexander the Great, a greek ruler that ruled from 336-323 BCE.  During his reign, Alexander the Great conquers a great majority of what is modern day Middle East, including Palestine in 332 BCE.  He also used coins as propaganda for his rule.  After the Battle of Issas at 333 BCE, when Alexander the Great defeats Persia, Jerusalem capitulates to Alexander, and was under Greek, or Hellenistic, rule.  After Alexander the Great dies, his kingdom was divided into two groups: Prolemies (Egyptians) and Seleucias (Syrians).  The Prolemies ruled from 300-201.  In addition Seleucias imposed Greek tradition on Jewish lifestyle.  They Hellenized Jews to speak greek, making it the universal language.  They claimed that achieved linguistic unity would yield imperial unity.  Hellenism attracted social and economic expansion.  And, with the assimilation of new ideas into old ideas,   the religion of Jerusalem became affected.  More specifically, aspects concerning Hellenistic linguistic and literature were brought into Jewish culture, causing even the Hebrew Bible to be Hellenized.  And, conservative Jews failed to sit well with this idea, and ultimately the Jewish people revolted against Serucias, overthrowing their power.  This revolt was called the "Maccabean Revolt," and it was led by Judas Maccabeaus in 165 BCE.  This regaining of self-control called for the creation of Hanukkah to commemorate the victory, and birthed the Hasmonean dynasty.  The Hasmonean dynasty restored the Golden Age, greatly expanding Jewish territory.  It governed by Jewish self-rule for around 100 years.  The rulers kept saying that they were temporarily ruling until a self-righteous ruler came along.  Eventually, though, Hasmonean rule became hellenized, secular, and corrupt.  They were insensitive to Jewish religious tradition and were based primarily on nationalistic motives.  It is said that although their reign was successful, it mirrored the same issues as David and Solomon's reigns.  Eventually, the Hasmonean rule came to an end, and the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 63 BCE.