=Evidence That There Was No General Return of Exiles in 536 B.C.= The overthrow of the Chaldean Empire by Cyrus in 538 B.C. gave the Jews of Babylon an opportunity to return, for the Persian king reversed the policy of the a.s.syrians and the Babylonians and aimed to develop the resources and loyalty of each of the many peoples in his great empire.
There is no evidence, however, that more than a handful of the Jews in the east improved this opportunity. Cyrus also adopted the policy of appointing native princes as local governors. A scion of the royal house of David was placed over the little sub-province of Judah. This appointment gave the Jews a local government that undoubtedly attracted to the homeland many refugees from Ammon and Moab and especially from the land of Egypt. But the sermons of the contemporary prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, indicate clearly that those who const.i.tuted the rank and file of the Judean community and rebuilt the temple were the people of the land and that a general return of the exiles was an event, still in the future, for which they ardently longed.
=The Rebuilding of the Temple.= Even during the Babylonian period sacrifices were offered at the great altar of native rock that had stood in front of Solomon"s temple. Perhaps even before Cyrus gave full permission to the native peoples to rebuild their cities and temples a few had come back to find homes among the desolate ruins of Jerusalem. It was a small, struggling, and discouraged community to whom Haggai in 520 B.C. addressed his stirring message. His call to rise and rebuild the temple met with an immediate response. He was also seconded by the encouraging words of his contemporary, Zechariah. The rebellions that were then shaking the great Persian Empire to its foundations encouraged the Jews to hope that the opportune moment had arrived to reinstate Zerubbabel. Inspired by these hopes, the temple-building progressed rapidly. The stones for the repair of the walls were apparently found on the temple hill. The timbers for the gates were cut from the hills about Jerusalem, which at this time were, at least in part, covered with trees. By 516 B.C.
the work was completed and the Jewish race again had a common religious sanctuary at which to worship.
=Discouragement and Hopes of the Jews.= The hopes of re-establishing the Hebrew kingdom under a Davidic ruler were, however, completely dashed to the ground. Darius succeeded in putting down the many rebellions and in thoroughly reorganizing the Persian Empire. At this time the descendants of David disappear from Israel"s history. For a generation or two the Judean community was overwhelmed with discouragement, for it was the victim of foes from without and of its corrupt and greedy rulers within, who enslaved the people and seized their land. It is not clear what aroused the spirit of the discouraged Judean community. Possibly it was the divinely inspired vision of the great prophet, whose immortal songs are preserved in the fortieth and following chapters of the book of Isaiah. He appears to have been a citizen of Jerusalem, and to the ancient capital city his message is primarily addressed. It was a call, however, to all the scattered remnants of the race to return and do their part in realizing Israel"s n.o.ble destiny. It was a summons to voluntary, self-sacrificing service. It interprets the discouragements, the calamities, and the ignominies which were then the lot of his race, not as the result of Jehovah"s disfavor, but as a supreme opportunity, if n.o.bly improved, to demonstrate to the world the character of the G.o.d whom they worshipped and the saving power of the faith which they cherished.
=Nehemiah"s Response to the Call to Service.= Before there could be a general return of the exiles it was necessary that the walls of Jerusalem be rebuilt, and this required resources, influence at the Persian court, and, above all, an energetic, able leader. In sending a deputation to Nehemiah, the royal cupbearer of Artaxerxes, the Palestinian Jews showed great wisdom. At the head of this deputation was Hanani, a kinsman of Nehemiah. The scene of this memorable interview was in the royal palace at Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire. The huge ruins of the ancient city, fully eight miles in circ.u.mference, have revealed to the modern excavator its magnificence and beauty. It is possible that the unknown author of the immortal chapters in the latter part of the book of Isaiah was a member of the deputation from Jerusalem. Nehemiah records how profoundly he was moved by the recital of the misfortunes that had overtaken the city of his forefathers. The spirit and message of Isaiah 40-55 pervade the prayer of Nehemiah, recorded in the first chapter of his memoirs. One Jew, at least, was found responsive to the divine call to service.
Improving a favorable opportunity, he secured permission to go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. A royal escort and letters to the governor of the province beyond the river prepared the way. His journey from Susa lay along the southern side of the Elamite mountains and thence beside the Tigris, through Mesopotamia by one of the great highways which led from northern Syria to Palestine.
=Conditions in the Jewish Community.= Nehemiah has given a vivid description of conditions as he found them in Judah. The active foes of the community were Sanballat, the Horonite, whose native town was apparently either Upper or Lower Beth-horon, a certain Tobiah, who had intermarried with the high-priestly family of Jerusalem, and Geshem, an Arabian. Sanballat appears to have been at the head of the Samaritans, Tobiah of the Ammonites, and Geshem of certain Arabian tribes, that probably had already gained a foothold in Palestine. The Judean community had been so long preyed upon by its greedy rulers, led by the high priest and his followers, that Nehemiah found it necessary, as a preliminary, to inst.i.tute certain drastic social reforms. Like an ancient prophet he preached to the rulers and, by his own example and authority, succeeded in influencing them to set free their countrymen whom they had enslaved, to restore to them their ancestral fields and vineyards, and to promise never again to seize them unjustly.
=Preparations for Rebuilding the Walls.= Nehemiah"s chief work, however, was the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. In accordance with the royal grant, he was allowed to cut timber for the gates in the king"s park, which was probably the so-called Gardens of Solomon, south of Jerusalem, near Etam. Under Nehemiah"s direction the working forces were carefully organized. Work was begun on all parts of the wall at once and different groups of workmen were a.s.signed to definite sections of the wall. While half of the people worked, the other half stood by with their weapons, ready to repulse an attack. Inspired by Nehemiah"s energetic personality and by the constant danger of attack, the work progressed so rapidly that at the end of fifty-two days the walls were restored.
=Character of the Data.= The detailed account of the building of the walls and of their solemn rededication furnishes the clearest picture extant of ancient Jerusalem. This account is supplemented at almost every point by the thorough excavations carried on along the line of the western, southern, and eastern walls, chiefly under the direction of the Palestine Exploration Fund. The reconstruction thus rendered possible is especially valuable, for Nehemiah simply restored the walls of the pre-exilic city. With the exception of the northern wall, which is covered by the buildings of the modern city, the reconstruction is reasonably certain at every point.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE JERUSALEM OF NEHEMIAH.]
=The Walls and Towers on the North.= The account begins with the rebuilding of the Sheep Gate, which apparently stood immediately north of the temple (see map opposite p. 203) and was the way by which the sacrificial animals were brought to the sanctuary. Immediately to the west of this gate the native rock extends northward almost on a level.^{(56)} Hence at this point were built two strong guarding towers, standing apparently on the site occupied in Roman times by the famous Tower of Antonia. In the days of the divided Hebrew kingdoms, the upper end of the Tyropon Valley, immediately west of the temple area, had been enclosed within the city walls. In Zephaniah 1:11 it was called, because of its peculiar shape, The Mortar. Elsewhere it bears the name of The Second Quarter (II Kings, 22:14, Zeph. 1:10).
Through this low depression of the Tyropon Valley ran the main street of the city. It pa.s.sed through the Fish Gate which opens in the north to the great highway leading to Samaria. The Fish Gate was probably so named because in the adjoining market quarter the fishmongers sold their fish, which were doubtless brought in early times, as in the Roman period, from the Sea of Galilee. The exact course of the northern wall from this point is not entirely clear, for the ground over which it runs is nearly level and is to-day covered with buildings. The importance of this wall and the difficulty of completely restoring it is shown by the proportionately large number of workmen detailed by Nehemiah to repair it. It probably ran in a southwesterly direction to the Corner Gate, which was also called the Gate of the Old Wall. From this point it would seem that Nehemiah constructed a straight wall to the Ephraim Gate, which corresponds to the western Jaffa Gate of modern Jerusalem.
=On the West.= Immediately south of the Ephraim Gate the city was especially liable to a.s.sault. Here a broad, or double wall was constructed. The remainder of the western wall^{(57)} has been traced by excavations. It ran due south along the brow of the western hill to a corner tower which measured forty-five feet each way and rose twenty feet from an outer ledge of rock. At this point the wall turned obliquely to the southeast, running to the Valley Gate, where it turned due east. The ancient Valley Gate was only eight feet ten inches wide on the outside. Its lower sockets are still in position.
The wall on the east was nine feet thick. To the west of the Valley Gate was a tower the base of which measured about forty-five feet in each direction. This was probably the Tower of the Furnaces, so named because near by the potters baked their jars (_cf._ Jer. 18:2-4, 19:1-6).
=On the South.= From the Valley Gate to the Tyropon Valley the wall is built along the rapidly descending slope.^{(55)} The comparatively few men a.s.signed to this section indicated that it was practically intact. Where it crossed the lower Tyropon Valley it was flanked on the outside with six b.u.t.tresses, resting on a foundation wall about twenty feet thick. The main street, leading down the Tyropon Valley, has been traced from the southern end of the city to a point opposite the temple area. It varied from twenty-five to fifty feet in width and was paved and provided with a curb. Where it ascended the hill there were broad, low, rock-cut steps, adapted to use by beasts of burden as well as by foot-pa.s.sengers. Opposite the southern end of the present temple area the main street branched eastward toward the Ephraim Gate.
On the east side of the Pool of Siloam were rock-cut steps, probably the stairs referred to in Nehemiah 3:15 and 12:37, which led up to Ophel. The King"s Pool was in the extreme southeastern part of the city, south of the Pool of Siloam, from which it received its waters, but enclosed within the ancient city wall. To the north of this was apparently the King"s Garden.
=On the East.= Along the eastern side of Ophel the wall runs on the brow of the steeply descending hill above the Virgin"s Fount in the Kidron Valley. There is no gate in this long section of the wall until the tower is reached which is described in Nehemiah as the "Tower that Stands Out." Just above this was the Water Gate, the most important western exit from the city. From this the road led down into the Kidron Valley and on to the Virgin"s Fount, whose waters probably gave the gate its name. This gate and the Horse Gate, a little farther to the north, led into the official part of the city. Here on the upper part of Ophel, to the south of the original temple area, were the palace and armory. At the northeastern corner of the city was the Gate of the Guard, where one of the companies that took part in the dedication of the walls, in the days of Nehemiah, stopped before entering the sanctuary. Here excavations have disclosed ma.s.sive masonry and the course of the original wall, which at this point turns to the northwest. It follows the slope of the native rock, which descends suddenly on the north to the ravine leading up from the Kidron Valley. Inside the walls, between the Gate of the Guard and the Sheep Gate, were the bazaars where the people could purchase those things which were needful for their offerings.^{(112)}
=Significance of Nehemiah"s Work.= In rebuilding the walls, Nehemiah prepared the way for that general return of the Jews, which is implied in the seventh chapter of Nehemiah and confirmed by the later facts of history. The story of Ezra is a late tradition regarding one of these return movements. Nehemiah, in reorganizing the method of distributing the temple dues to the priests and Levites, in discountenancing foreign marriages, in enforcing the Sabbath law, and in providing for the support of the temple, laid the foundations for the inst.i.tution of the new priestly law and the reorganization of the ceremonial service, which is a.s.sociated with his name. Nehemiah was thus the restorer of that new Jewish state which rose on the ruins of the old.
=Extension of Jewish Territory to the Northwest.= Shut in on the south by the Edomites and on the east by the Dead Sea and Jordan valley, the Jewish community naturally expanded toward the northwest. In doing so it followed the great highways, which ran northwestward from Jerusalem out upon the Philistine Plain. By virtue of the new life and strength infused into the Judean community by Nehemiah, it was able to cope with the Samaritan community and to push its boundaries northward.
Within two or three centuries the arable Jewish territory was nearly doubled and included such important cities as Ai, Bethel, and Timnath in the north, and Ajalon, the Horons, Modein, as well as Ono and Lod, the later Lydda, far out on the Philistine Plain.
=Development of Judaism During the Latter Part of the Persian Period.= The Babylonian and Persian age as a whole was for the Jews a period of overwhelming calamity and discouragement, and yet during the latter part of this era scattered remnants of the race began again to restore the temple and capital city. During this era the foundations of Judaism were laid along the lines first outlined by Ezekiel. The priests and scribes succeeded to the earlier authority of the kings and prophets. Loyalty to the law and ritual took the place of the ancient loyalty to the king and state. Judaism, helpless and exposed to the attacks of its powerful foes, stood apart from the rest of the world, finding its joy more and more in worship, in trust in Jehovah, and in the n.o.ble ideals and hopes that are voiced in the psalms and wisdom writings of this period.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP OF PALESTINE, CONTAINING PLACES FOR MACCABEAN PERIOD.
THE M.-N. CO., BUFFALO, N. Y.
XXI
THE SCENES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE
=Alexander"s Conquests.= The Persian Empire, founded as a result of the conquests of Cyrus and the organizing ability of Darius, after two centuries had become weak, corrupt, and ready for conquest. On the other hand, the Greek civilization, which had been developing for centuries in the little land of h.e.l.las and the coast lands of the aegean, demanded an outlet that it might expand naturally (_cf._ p.
10). At this critical moment in the world"s history, Alexander, the Macedonian, animated by the l.u.s.t for adventure and by an ambition to make the world more glorious by disseminating Greek art and culture, set out on his eastern campaigns. Within less than a decade he carried the standards and culture of Greece across southwestern Asia beyond the banks of the Indus. After a year of active campaigning in Asia Minor, he completed its conquest in 333 _B.C._ at the great battle of Issus at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean. With the exception of the cities of Tyre and Gaza, which were captured only after prolonged sieges, the people of Palestine readily submitted to the new conqueror. Egypt likewise proved a comparatively easy conquest. By 331 B.C. Alexander was able to turn eastward, and at the great battle of Arbela, which was fought that year on the plains near the Tigris, he broke the power of Persia and advanced to seize its eastern possessions.
=The Impression Upon Southwestern Asia.= Although Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C., before he was able thoroughly to consolidate and organize his great empire, his conquests made a permanent impression upon southwestern Asia. This lasting impression was due in part to the attractiveness and superiority of Greek art and culture, and to the valor and military skill of the Greek soldiers, but above all to Alexander"s desire to h.e.l.lenize the peoples and lands that he conquered. To accomplish this end he rebuilt many of the captured cities on a magnificent scale and established Greek colonies throughout his empire.
=The City of Alexandria.= The city of Alexandria in northern Egypt was the n.o.blest fruit of Alexander"s ambition. Selecting the level strip of land which lay between the Mediterranean and the lagoon of Mareotis, he transformed it into a magnificent city which diverted the trade from Tyre and in time rivalled Rome itself. The site was well chosen, for in front of the city, one mile away, lay the island of Pharos. This he connected with the city by a long causeway, thus providing two large harbors, the eastern, used chiefly in the Greek and Roman periods, and the western, through which the city is approached by modern ships. A ca.n.a.l connected Alexandria with the Canopic or western branch of the Nile and brought to this new metropolis the vast trade of upper Egypt as well as the products of Arabia and India. The city itself was divided into three distinct parts. The Egyptian and native quarter was on the west, while the Greek and official quarter was in the centre opposite the eastern harbor. The Jewish quarter was in the northeastern part of the city.
Many Hebrews were attracted here by the privileges which Alexander granted them, especially the opportunity of living under their own laws and local rulers.
=Greek Influence in Palestine.= Alexander and his successors also transformed the cities of Phnicia and Philistia and the important towns east of the Jordan into centres of Greek culture and civilization. Large numbers of Greek colonists were settled at Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Joppa, and the ancient Accho, which was renamed Ptolemais. In the same way Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Gerasa, and the ancient Rabbath-Ammon, under the name of Philadelphia, became the homes of many of Alexander"s veterans and were largely rebuilt after the manner of Greek cities. Thus, from the beginning of the Greek period, the Jewish community in Palestine was encircled by a ring of cities from which emanated the ideas and culture of ancient h.e.l.las.
The history of the next few centuries is a record of the great conflict between Semitic and h.e.l.lenic ideas and culture and of the ultimate fusion which resulted from this close and protracted contact.
=The Ptolemaic Rule.= In 320 B.C. Ptolemy Soter, who became the ruler of Egypt after the death of Alexander, conquered the territory of Judea and Samaria. At this time many Jews and Samaritans were transported to Egypt. They were granted special privileges, for the Greek rulers recognized in them valuable allies in the difficult task of ruling the large native population. During the next century Palestine was subject to the Ptolemies. It was the victim of many invasions. By virtue of its position it was the bone of contention between the rulers of Egypt and her rival in the east and north.
=Situation of Antioch.= About 300 B.C. Seleucus I built the city of Antioch and transferred his capital from the Tigris-Euphrates Valley to this important strategic centre. The city was situated at the point where the Lebanon mountains on the south were separated from the Taurus on the north by the Orontes River. The city lay at the northern end of the great valley between the Lebanons, near the point where the Orontes bends abruptly to the southwest. It was sixteen miles from the sea and not far from the borders of the eastern desert. Here meet the great highways from the Euphrates and from central Syria and Palestine. It was, therefore, an important commercial and political centre. The city itself lay on the broad, fertile plain, which ran northward from the river up the sides of Mount Silpius. Aside from the river and the mountain, it possessed no natural defences, but was dependent upon the huge wall which surrounded it.
=Causes of the Maccabean Struggle.= In 198 B.C. Antiochus the Great, in a battle near Paneion, the modern Banias, at the foot of Mount Hennon, defeated the Egyptian army and annexed Palestine to the Seleucid kingdom. The Jews gained little by this change of rulers. In 175 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes mounted the Syrian throne. He had been brought up in the midst of the profligate and imperious young n.o.bles of Rome, and soon proved an unprincipled tyrant. He was a great admirer of Greek art and culture and his two chief ambitions were to adorn his capital and kingdom with magnificent buildings and thoroughly to h.e.l.lenize his subjects. Many of the Jews, including certain degenerate high priests at Jerusalem, readily gave up the inst.i.tutions and traditions of their race and adopted Greek costumes and customs. Through their representatives they led Antiochus to believe that the other Jews would renounce the religion of their fathers. The rank and file of the Jewish nation, however, bitterly opposed Antiochus"s policy. Returning from an expedition to Egypt, he found Jerusalem in the hands of a rebel and made this an excuse to turn over the citizens of the city to his bloodthirsty soldiers and to rob the temple of its treasures. Soon after, he set about systematically to root out the worship of Jehovah and completely to h.e.l.lenize the Jews. In this endeavor he was aided by the renegade Jews, who const.i.tuted a strong Greek party in Jerusalem. In 168 B.C.
he sent Apollonius, one of his generals, to put to death all who refused to worship the Olympian Zeus or who preserved copies of the Scriptures. All Jewish religious rites were prohibited, the temple was desecrated, and on its great altar sacrifices were offered to Zeus.
The houses and walls of Jerusalem were torn down. The citadel of Acra, which stood either on the hill of Ophel to the south of the temple (_cf._ p. 66), or else immediately to the north on the site of the later Tower of Antonia, was garrisoned with Syrian soldiers and apostate Jews.
=The Town of Modein.= In the face of this cruel persecution the true character of Judaism a.s.serted itself. Rather than submit to the tyrant"s demands, the thousands preferred to die or else succeeded in finding refuge in the caves and deserted places on the borders of Judah. Antiochus"s agents, however, met with little opposition until they reached the town of Modein,^{(113)} northeast of the Beth-horons on the borders of the coast plain. Its deserted ruins are to-day one of the most picturesque and impressive mounds in all Palestine. Over it all is flung a luxuriant growth of grain and olive trees. It is surrounded by deep valleys; on the south and west the Wady Malakeh swings in a broad semicircle about the mound, which is nearly a complete circle, one-third of a mile in diameter. To the northwest, connected by a shoulder of land, was the lower town, which was a little larger in area than the acropolis. On the north lay a deep encircling valley which made its defence easy. The sides of the main acropolis rose rapidly in three or four large terraces. It stood apart from the surrounding foot-hills like an emerald set in the midst of black and gray limestone.
=The First Flame of Revolt.= Modein was a fitting altar of Jewish freedom and patriotism. Here the Syrian official set up a heathen altar. By promises of royal favor he sought to induce an aged priest by the name of Mattathias to sacrifice upon it in accordance with the king"s command. To this demand the priest replied that if they alone of all their race remained faithful, he and his family would never forsake the law and ordinances. At the sight of an apostate Jew advancing to sacrifice at the heathen altar the indignation of the stern old priest was kindled. He slew both the offender and the royal official and tore down the altar. He then fled to the mountains with his five stalwart sons. Recognizing in him a leader, the Jews who were faithful to their law soon rallied about him. At first they devoted themselves to tearing down the heathen altars, to enforcing the law of circ.u.mcision wherever it had been neglected, and to putting to death all apostates whom they captured. At this critical moment in the life of Judaism they strengthened the courage of those who were wavering and raised a standard about which the faithful rallied in ever-increasing numbers.
=Character and Work of Judas.= In a few months the aged Mattathias died and was succeeded by his son, Judas, who was known by the distinctive t.i.tle of Maccabeus. He soon proved himself an unselfish patriot, a devoted champion of the law, and a military leader of rare enthusiasm, energy, and strategic skill. The odds against which he had to contend were seemingly overwhelming. With a few unarmed peasants he was called to meet large armies of well-equipped and well-trained Greek mercenaries. But again, as in the days of David, the rugged physical contour of Palestine was the chief advantage possessed by the Israelites. Selecting a favorable point along the road which led from Samaria to Jerusalem, Judas made a sudden attack upon the Syrian general, Apollonius, and succeeded not only in putting to flight the Syrian soldiers, but also in slaying the leader of the persecution.
Henceforth Judas wielded effectively the sword of Apollonius, and his followers armed themselves likewise with the weapons of the slain.
=The Pa.s.s of Beth-horon.= Judas"s first open engagement was fought near his home at Modein. Seron was sent with a Syrian army to put down the rebellion. He advanced against Jerusalem by the main northern highway, which led up through the pa.s.s of the Beth-horons. At this point the road ascends very rapidly. On the Plain of Ajalon it is but eight hundred and forty feet above the ocean level. At the lower Beth-horon it is one thousand two hundred and forty feet. Thence a steep, rocky road leads to the upper Beth-boron,^{(84)} less than two miles away at the height of two thousand and twenty-two feet above the sea. Four miles farther on it reaches the top of the ascent, which is about two thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea. The difficult pa.s.s, often ascending by rock-cut steps, was the scene of this memorable battle. Here it was impossible for an army to deploy or maintain a regular formation. A few determined men on the heights above were able to turn back a large force. The defeat of the Syrian army was complete. Eight hundred of them were slain during the hot pursuit down the Beth-horon slope. The rest fled to the land of the Philistines, out on the plain. At last, after four centuries of defeat and humiliation, the Israelites found that by courage and united action they could put to flight their heathen foes.
=Scene of the Victory Over the Syrian Generals.= Fortunately for the Jews, at this crisis Antiochus Epiphanes found his treasury depleted as a result of his luxurious habits and extensive building enterprises. Accordingly he turned over the government of his kingdom to Lysias, one of his n.o.bles, while he gathered a large army and set out on a campaign into Persia, where he ultimately lost his life. The departure of Antiochus reduced by fully one-half the soldiers available for the campaigns against Judas and his followers. But Lysias, appreciating the importance of suppressing the Jewish rebellion at once, sent out an army of forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry under the leadership of three generals, Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gorgias. They encamped near Emmaus on the southern side of the Valley of Ajalon, not far from the border of the Philistine Plain. This time they avoided the steep and dangerous pa.s.s of Beth-horon and aimed to penetrate the highlands of Judah through the narrow and yet direct highway which led up by the Wady Ali, through which runs the modern carriage road from Joppa to Jerusalem.
Meantime Judas had rallied his followers near Mizpah.^{(20)} This imposing height was in close touch with Jerusalem and at the same time commanded a view of all the roads leading from the north and west, rendering it practically impossible for the Syrians to overtake him unawares.^{(93)} Apparently the Syrian generals had pitched their camp at Emmaus in the vain hope that by a quick night-march they might surprise Judas and his followers at Mizpah. Antic.i.p.ating this design, Judas by night transferred his army to a point a little south of Emmaus, probably following one of the wild, deserted valleys which lead from Mizpah to the plain. The result was that when a detachment of Syrian soldiers were sent under Gorgias to capture Judas, they found Mizpah deserted. Meantime Judas boldly attacked the remnant of the Syrian army on the plain near Emmaus and quickly put them to flight. Many were slain; some escaped to the stronghold of Gezer, or Gazara, as it was called at that time, a little northwest of Emmaus; some turned southward into the Philistine lowlands, which were held by the Idumeans; others fled as far as Ashdod and Jamnia on the western side of the Philistine Plain. When Gorgias and his soldiers returned and found their camp in flames they were seized by a panic and retreated into the land of the Philistines, leaving the Jews in possession of rich spoil.
=Victory at Bethsura.= During the following year the regent Lysias himself gathered together a picked army of sixty thousand infantry and five thousand hors.e.m.e.n and advanced against Judas. This time the Syrians avoided the northern pa.s.ses and entered western Judah through the Valley of Elah, marched past the old battle-fields of Socoh and Adullam, which were now held by the Idumeans, and thence followed the road which led along a branch of the Wady es-Sur in a southeastern direction. By taking this southern route they reached without opposition Bethsura,^{(114)} on the height which marked the southwestern boundary of Judah, where the road from the west joined the main highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. Rallying ten thousand of his followers, Judas boldly attacked the huge Syrian army in front of Bethsura and again won an overwhelming victory.
=Rededication of the Temple.= The retreat of their foes left the Jews free at last to enter Jerusalem, to tear down the heathen altar which had been reared by Antiochus, and to restore the temple and its service. Three years after it had been desecrated by Antiochus, the temple was rededicated. The strong fortress of Acra within the city still remained in possession of the Syrian garrison; but Jerusalem was fortified with high walls and strong towers, and joy and confidence again filled the hearts of the Jews.
=Campaigns South and East of the Dead Sea.= Judas also employed this brief respite from Syrian attack to carry on campaigns against the foes who, doubtless at the instigation of the Syrians, were attacking the Jews on every side. The first battle was with the Idumeans and was fought at Akrabattine, which was probably the steep Scorpion Pa.s.s at the southeastern end of the Dead Sea, along which ran the road from Hebron to Petra. On the east-Jordan at this time the Ammonites, under their leader, Timotheus, apparently controlled the entire territory from the Arnon to the Yarmuk. Judas"s first east-Jordan campaign was in the territory immediately north of the Arnon, where he conquered the ancient city of Jazer and its villages.
=Victories in Northeastern Gilead.= Learning that the Jews and descendants of the ancient Israelites settled in northern Gilead were being besieged by Timotheus, that many others had been ma.s.sacred, and that those in Galilee were also the object of bitter persecution, he gathered eleven thousand of his followers. Simon, his brother, was sent with three thousand soldiers into Galilee, where he succeeded in rescuing the Israelites and in driving the heathen out of the uplands down to Ptolemis. With the remaining eight thousand picked soldiers Judas and his brother Jonathan made a rapid and brilliant campaign through southern Gilead. A march of three days from the east-Jordan to the northeast brought them to the borders of the desert, where they met certain of the Nabateans, an Arabian people who at this time were crystallizing into a strong nation, with their centre southeast of the Dead Sea. Like Judas they were apparently hostile to the Syrians and therefore they met him on friendly terms. Learning through them of conditions in Gilead, he turned suddenly northward and captured the important trading city of Bozrah, far out in the wilderness to the south of the Hauran. The spoils of this city provided his followers with immediate supplies. Thence by a night march he reached the stronghold where the Israelites were being besieged by the Ammonites under Timotheus. In the Greek version of I Maccabees, this stronghold is called Dathema, but in the Syriac version Rametha, which is clearly the modern Remtheh, an important station on the great pilgrim road to the north, about twenty-five miles east of Bozrah. As has already been noted, it is one of the most probable sites of the ancient Ramoth-Gilead. Timotheus and his followers, caught unprepared, were defeated with great slaughter. From this point Judas made a detour to the Gileadite city of Mizpah, mentioned in the Jephthah stories. Its exact site is doubtful. It may be identified with Sf, the height northwest of Jerash, where are to be found many great dolmens, or possibly it occupied the site of Jerash itself.
=Cities Captured North of the Yarmuk.= From here Judas evidently marched northward across the Yarmuk to the town of Casphor. In II Maccabees this name appears as Caspin, and in all probability is to be identified with Castle Chisfin in the southeastern Jaulan, a little west of the Nahr er-Rukkad. The next town captured by Judas was Maked, which may be represented by Tell Mikdad, about twenty miles northeast of Chisfin and a little west of the railway from Damascus to Haifa.
Bosor without much doubt occupied the site of the modern town of Busr el-Hariri, fifteen miles southeast of Tell Mikdad and on the southern side of the great lava-bed, El Lejah.
=The Second Victory Over Timotheus.= Meantime Timotheus had gathered another army and awaited Judas near the "brook of water opposite the town of Raphon." An echo of the name of this ancient town is possibly to be found in the modern El-Mezerib. The ancient village at this point, which lay on an island in the midst of a large clear pool, from which flows one of the chief sources of the Yarmuk, well satisfies the situation implied by the vivid description of the battle in I Maccabees. It was on the main highway along which Timotheus would naturally advance from the territory of Ammon and was about ten miles north of Remtheh, the scene of the first battle. Timotheus"s hesitation in crossing the brook was rightly interpreted by Judas as a sign of fear. Rushing into the water the Jews again won a complete victory. Their foes, casting aside their weapons, fled for refuge to the ancient sanctuary of Carnaim, which is without reasonable doubt to be identified with the ancient shrine of Ashteroth-Karnaim, eight miles to the north. Following the fugitives, Judas captured this city and burned the temple.
=Judas"s Return.= Then gathering the Jews in the land of Gilead, which in the first book of Maccabees included the east-Jordan territory, both north and south of the Yarmuk, Judas set out for Jerusalem. His road naturally led due southward past the scene of his last great battle with Timotheus. Thence, turning to the southwest, his way was through a narrow pa.s.s where probably lay the town of Ephron. Inasmuch as this town opposed his pa.s.sage, he captured and destroyed it. Thence pa.s.sing through the ancient Arbela, he followed the main highway that led to the Jordan opposite Bethshean. From there he naturally followed the road along the Jordan valley to Jericho and up to Jerusalem.
=Significance of Judas"s Victories.= Meantime, contrary to his orders, two of Judas"s generals had attacked the Philistine town of Jamnia and met with a disastrous repulse. Rallying his forces he advanced against the Idumeans to the south and west of Judah. Hebron was taken and its citadel destroyed. After capturing the surrounding towns he turned westward to Marissa, the ancient Mareshah, which guarded the entrance to the Valley of Zephathah.^{(108)} From there he carried his campaign across the Philistine plain to the ancient city of Ashdod, which he captured and looted. With a comparatively few half-trained soldiers Judas within one year fought more successful battles and captured more strong cities than did David throughout all of his ill.u.s.trious career.
His limited resources and the certainty of another and more overwhelming Syrian attack made it impossible, however, for Judas to hold the territory thus conquered, so that, while his victories represent brilliant achievements, the effect was ephemeral. The refugees whom he brought back to Judah increased its comparatively small population and thus laid the foundations for that Maccabean kingdom which ultimately rose as the result of the dauntless and patriotic spirit that Judas infused into his followers.