Judean Civil War

Judean Civil War
Part of the Pharisee–Sadducee conflict
Date93–87 BCE
Location
Hasmonean Judea
Result See aftermath
Belligerents
Sadducees Pharisees:
Seleucid Empire (89–88 BCE)
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Jannaeus Joshua ben Perachiah
Simeon ben Shetach
Demetrius III Eucaerus
Casualties and losses
Unknown 800 executed

The Judean Civil War was an internal conflict in the Hasmonean kingdom of Judea fought between King Alexander Jannaeus and the Pharisees, who then dominated the Great Sanhedrin.

During the war, Jannaeus was backed by the Sadducees, while the rebels briefly secured aid from Seleucid king Demetrius III. After a Seleucid victory over Jannaeus at Shechem, Jannaeus ultimately prevailed and carried out brutal reprisals, including the crucifixion of hundreds of opponents. Archaeological finds from Jerusalem's Russian Compound and the Dead Sea Scrolls align with Josephus's reports of mass executions by Jannaeus.

Politically, the Pharisees soon regained dominance under Salome Alexandra, Alexander Jannaeus's wife and successor to the throne, possibly setting conditions that fed into the later Hasmonean civil war between her two sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II.

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