Lesson 6.4: The Jews in the Mediterranean World The Arrival of Greek Rule
The Jews of Judah remained underPersian rule for nearly 200 years. In 331 B.C., Alexander the Great, aKing from Macedonia who hadconquered Greece, defeated thePersians. Alexander brought Greek languageand culture to Judah, and allowedJews to remain in Judah. How Did Jewish Ideas Spread?
Judah remained thecenter of Judaism underAlexander, howevermany Jews were spreadout over other lands inthe Mediterranean. These groups of Jewsliving outside Judahbecame known as theDiaspora, meaningscattered. Jews of the Diasporaremained loyal toJudaism and practicedtheir religion whileadapting to othercultures. A group of scholars livingin Egypt copied the Torahinto Greek, and thisversion called theSeptuagint, helpedspread Jewish ideasacross the Mediterraneanworld. The Revolt of Maccabeus
After Alexanders death, hiskingdom was divided intoseveral kingdoms. One kingdom coveringsoutheast Asia was ruled overby a family known as theSeleucids. By 200. B.C., Judah wasunder the Seleucid Kingscontrol. In 176 B.C., Antiochus came topower as the Seleucid king andrequired Jews to worship manyGreek gods and goddesses. Many Jews refused to abandontheir religion and in 167 B.C., JudasMaccabeus, a Jewish priest, fledto the hills and formed a rebelarmy called the Maccabees. After many battles, the Maccabees succeeded in capturingthe Temple, ridding it of all the Greek statues of gods, andrededicating the temple to the worship of God. Jews celebrate this cleansing of the Temple each year withthe festival of Hanukkah. Roman Rule in Judea By 100 B.C., Romanscontrolled much ofthe EasternMediterranean.Located in presentday Italy, Romesought to expand. In 63 B.C., Romanforces conqueredJudah and renamedit Judaea. At first during Romanrule, a Jewish rulerwas chosen, namedHerod.
During his reign, hebuilt many cities andforts. The SecondTemple was rebuiltand remained thecenter of worship. Jewish Groups After Herods death, Romanofficials ruled Judea, anddifferent groups of Jews haddifferent views on how to dealwith the Romans. One group, the Pharisees,gained support of the people.They taught people to applyreligion to their daily lives. The Pharisees They stressed obeying writtenand oral laws as a way to getpeople to obey the TenCommandments. The Pharisees wanted the Jewsto be free from Roman rule, butdid not want to fight theRomans. Instead theyencouraged people to practicethe Torahs teachings withgreater devotion. Jewish Groups Another group, called theSadducees was made up of noblefamilies, many serving as nobles andpriests in temples. They favored written law andrejected oral law, were moreconcerned with applying the laws ofthe Torah to religious ceremonies,rather than everyday life. The Sadducees also favoredcooperation with Romans in order tokeep peace in Judea. A third group called the Essenes were made of priests who broke away from Judea to live at Qumran, an area in the desert near the Dead Sea. The Essenes These priests followed only the laws of the Torahand spent their lives praying and waiting for God todeliver the Jews from Roman rule. Centuries later, inA.D., 1947, ancientscrolls were found incaves at Qumran,most likely written bythe Essenes, thesescrolls becameknown as the DeadSea Scrolls. These scrolls wereimportant becausethey told historiansseveral things aboutJudaism during theRoman times. Some scrolls told a story of a group of Jews in exile who sawthemselves as lone beings surrounded by enemies. Some described beliefs, holy days, and practices of Jewishgroups. The variety of the scrolls make historian believe they werepart of a library, hidden perhaps for protection duringRoman conflicts. Jewish Groups A fourth group, called theZealots lived in Judea andfought for their freedomduring the A.D. 60s, whenJewish hatred of Roman rulereached its peak. Most Jews retained hopeand faith in their religion thatGod would deliver them, butthe Zealots prepared to act. Jewish-Roman Wars The Zealots revolted in A.D. 66 and overtook the small Roman Army in Jerusalem. However, the Romans returned four years later and retook the city, killing thousands of Jews and destroying the Second Temple. The Western Wall Today, the Western Wall of the Temple complex still stands in Jerusalem, and many come to this wall to pray. In A.D. 132, a military leader named Simon ben Kosiba, known as Bar Kochba led the Jews in another battle for freedom. After three years, the Romans crushed this revolt, and passed stricter rules and controls over the Jews. Romans did not allow Jews to live in or visit Jerusalem, and they renamed Judea, calling it Palestine, referring to the Philistines, whom the Israelites had conquered centuries before. The Rabbis The Jews regrouped with the help of their rabbis, or religious leaders. Since Jews no longer had a Temple, synagogues became important, and rabbis taught and explained the Torah. One of the most famous rabbis was Yohanan ben Zaccai
One of the most famous rabbis was Yohanan ben Zaccai. He persuaded the Romans to spare the city of Yavneh, where he founded a school to continue teaching the Torah. This school would become a model for other schools, and a center of Torah studies. Rabbis preserved the basic beliefs of Judaism.
Eventually, rabbis gathered their oral discussions about Jewish law and recorded them in a book that would be called the Talmud, meaning instruction. The Talmud became the basis for human law throughout ages, and remains the ultimate authority of Jewish law to this day.