Hasmonean Judea
Hasmonean Kingdom ממלכת החשמונאים Mamleḵeṯ hāḤašmonaʾim | |||||||||
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| 141–37 BCE | |||||||||
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| Capital | Jerusalem | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | Second Temple Judaism | ||||||||
| Government | Theocratic monarchy | ||||||||
| High Priest and ethnarch/king | |||||||||
• 142/1–134 BCE | Simon Thassi | ||||||||
• 134 (110)–104 BCE | John Hyrcanus | ||||||||
• 104–103 BCE | Aristobulus I | ||||||||
• 103–76 BCE | Alexander Jannaeus | ||||||||
• 76–67 BCE | Salome Alexandra | ||||||||
• 67–66 BCE | Hyrcanus II | ||||||||
• 66–63 BCE | Aristobulus II | ||||||||
• 63–40 BCE | Hyrcanus II | ||||||||
• 40–37 BCE | Antigonus | ||||||||
| Historical era | Hellenistic Age | ||||||||
| 167 BCE | |||||||||
• Dynasty established | 141 BCE | ||||||||
• Full independence | 110 BCE | ||||||||
• Pompey intervenes in Hasmonean civil war | 63 BCE | ||||||||
| 40 BCE | |||||||||
• Overthrown by Herod the Great | 37 BCE | ||||||||
| Currency | Hasmonean coinage | ||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||
| History of Israel |
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| Israel portal |
Hasmonean Judea, also known in part of its history as the Hasmonean kingdom, was an independent Jewish state in Judea and its surrounding regions, during the Hellenistic era of the Second Temple period. The Hasmonean state emerged from the Maccabean revolt against Seleucid rule. It was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty, who descended from the Maccabees, and combined the offices of high priest and ethnarch. The dynasty's leaders later assumed the title of kings. Initially, Judea remained semi-autonomous under the Seleucid Empire, but as Seleucid authority declined, the Hasmoneans gained full independence and expanded their territory into neighboring regions, including Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea.
The Maccabees launched their revolt against the Seleucids in the 160s BCE, with Judas Maccabeus's victories and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple following its desecration by the Seleucids. After Judas's death in battle, his brother Jonathan revived the movement, secured Seleucid recognition, and was appointed High Priest. Following Jonathan's execution, their brother Simon took command, expelled the Seleucid garrison from Jerusalem, and achieved independence, marking the foundation of the Hasmonean state. Simon was later assassinated by his son-in-law.
Simon was succeeded by his son John Hyrcanus, who at first accepted Seleucid suzerainty but soon asserted independence and expanded Jewish control into Samaria and Idumaea. His son Judah Aristobulus conquered Galilee. Under his successor, Alexander Jannaeus, the Hasmonean kingdom reached its greatest territorial extent—Israel's largest since the biblical monarchy—but was torn by civil war. After his death, power passed to his wife, Salome Alexandra, whose reign brought stability and prosperity. Her death, however, triggered a succession war between their two sons, leading to Roman intervention under Pompey in 63 BCE and the end of Judea's independence. Hyrcanus II was installed as a client ruler, though his authority was contested by his younger brother Aristobulus II. Later, Aristobulus's son, Mattathias Antigonus, briefly re-established Hasmonean independence as the dynasty's last monarch before the Romans installed the Herodian dynasty as rulers of Judea in 37 BCE.
The Hasmonean kingdom was the first independent Jewish polity since the fall of the Kingdom of Judah in 587/6 BCE, and a rare example of indigenous rule in an age dominated by great empires. When Judea came under Roman rule, Jews continued to look back to the Hasmonean period as a golden age of independence; the idea that Judea could be free again fueled aspirations for freedom and inspired the Jewish–Roman wars.