Maccabees summary

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Maccabees , (fl. 2nd century bc) Priestly family of Jews who organized a successful rebellion against Antiochus IV Epiphanes in Palestine and reconsecrated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem. The rebellion began under the leadership of the Jewish priest Mattathias after Antiochus sought to stamp out Judaism by forbidding all Jewish practices and desecrating the temple (167 bc). When Mattathias died (c. 166 bc), his son Judas Maccabaeus recaptured Jerusalem and reconsecrated the temple, an event celebrated in the holiday Hanukkah. After Judas’s death, the war continued intermittently under his brothers Jonathan and Simon. The Maccabees formed the Hasmonean dynasty.

Judaism Summary

Judaism, monotheistic religion developed among the ancient Hebrews. Judaism is characterized by a belief in one transcendent God who revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew prophets and by a religious life in accordance with Scriptures and rabbinic traditions. Judaism is the complex

family Summary

Family, a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings. The family group should be distinguished from a household,

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Summary

Antiochus IV Epiphanes was the Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian kingdom who reigned from 175 to 164 bce. As a ruler, he was best known for his encouragement of Greek culture and institutions. His attempts to suppress Judaism brought on the Wars of the Maccabees. Antiochus was the third son