The Maccabean revolt succeeded in shaking off the dominion of the Seleucid monarchs who cruelly persecuted those who remained faithful to the Law of the Lord. Their definitive triumph opened a new period in the history of the people of God.
In the year 142 BC, Simon Maccabeus obtained the surrender of the last stronghold resisting him in the fortress of Jerusalem and achieved complete national independence. The following year, an assembly of priests and people decided to legitimize Simon’s powers and make them hereditary. Thus began a new dynasty, the Hasmonean, which would retain the political and religious power of the country until it was conquered by Rome. This dynasty is not Davidic and therefore was considered illegitimate by a portion of the people.
Tombs of the Hasmonean period by Ian Scott
Simon was succeeded as High Priest by his son John Hyrcanus (134–104 BC). He also held political power, although he did not take the title of king. The new ruler achieved the full independence of Judea and minted his own coinage for the territory. He saw himself as a new David, called to build a great kingdom. He sought inspiration for his military campaigns in the biblical books such as Joshua or Samuel, boastfully claiming for himself a divine mission to justify his conquests. But in his expansionist zeal he gradually distanced himself from the Maccabean ideals, losing the support of the Pharisees and much of the people.
His army razed Samaria and destroyed the temple on Mount Gerizim. He also burned the Hellenistic city of Scythopolis, near the Jordan Valley, and killed a large number of people for the sole offense of speaking only Greek.
Ritual bath in Jericho from the Hasmonean period by Ezrazo
At his death he left the high priesthood to his son Aristobulus (104–103 BC), who also proclaimed himself king. He ruled for one year, during which he imprisoned several of his brothers and allowed his mother to die of hunger.
Upon Aristobulus’s death, his brother Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 BC) succeeded him as high priest and as king. Although under his rule the kingdom expanded its territory, he also left a bad memory among the people, because he clashed with the Pharisees and with those who did not support him, persecuting them cruelly. He usurped for himself the power to modify the acts of worship and on one occasion, during the Feast of Tabernacles, he did not perform a ceremony in the established manner; this provoked the anger of a good group of pious men in the temple, who showered him with a rain of lemons. In response to this mode of protest, he flew into a rage and killed about six thousand people.
The Hasmonean dynasty, which had come to power with strong religious support, thanks to a revolt of those willing to suffer martyrdom rather than abandon the religious traditions of the people, gradually changed until it reached impiety due to the personal ambition of those who succeeded one another on the throne.
Alexander was succeeded by his widow Alexandra Salome (76–67 BC), who implemented policy changes by seeking the support of the Pharisees, to whom she handed over the reins of government and kept in power throughout her reign. She appointed her eldest son Hyrcanus II as high priest.
Hyrcanus II assumed the royal function upon his mother’s death but was immediately deprived of it by his brother Aristobulus II (67–63 BC). Throughout these years a series of struggles took place between the two brothers.
Coins minted by John Hyrcanus:
While these fratricidal struggles were unfolding, in the year 64 BC, Pompey definitively ended the Seleucid kingdom, converting Syria into a Roman province. While in that region, he decided to intervene in the civil struggles among the Hasmoneans and arrived in Jerusalem. The supporters of Hyrcanus II opened the gates for him and allowed him to take it without bloodshed. The supporters of Aristobulus II took refuge in the temple and resisted for three months. Finally they were defeated and put to the sword, and Pompey himself entered the temple, going in as far as the Holy of Holies.
In the middle of the year 63 BC the last vestige of the Hasmonean dynasty succumbed and Roman domination began.
During the Hasmonean period the defenses of Gezer were repaired and expanded, and a great wall was built in the city of Jerusalem. Important works were also carried out around the temple, and some funerary monuments were constructed next to the Kidron stream.
Don Francisco Varo Pineda, priest