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[German version] (Και(α)φᾶς, Cai(a)phâs). Joseph, with the epithet Caiphas (from Aramaic qayyāfā), was high priest of the Temple of Jerusalem (AD 18-36) and therefore the leader of the Sanhedrin ( Synhedrion), the highest Jewish authority for civil and political issues during Hellenistic and Roman times. As son-in-law of the high priest Ananus (or Annas, Hannas; AD 6-15), he belonged to one of the important families of priests that regularly occupied this office (Jo 18,13; also mPar 3,5 and tYev 1,10) [4. 234]. He was appointed by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus (AD 15-26), …

(Ἰάσων; lásōn). [German version] [1] Leader of the Argonauts Thessalian hero from  Iolcus, leader of the  Argonauts, participant in the Calydonian Hunt (Apollod. 1,68), son of  Aeson [1] and Polymela (Hes. Cat. 38-40; Apollod. 1,107) or  Alcimede (Pherecydes 3 F 104 FGrH; Apoll. Rhod. 1,47); brother of  Promachus (Apollod. 1,143); with  Hypsipyle, he fathered  Euneus [1] (Hom. Il. 7,468) and Nebrophonos (Apollod. 1,115), and with  Medea, he fathered Medeus (Hes. Theog. 1001),  Mermerus [3] and Pheres (Apollod. 1,146). Having been raised by  Chiron (Hes. Cat. 40), I. lives…

[German version] I. Origin According to the legend of the origin of the Septuagint, which is based on the so-called Letter of Aristeas [2] ([12. 20-37; 15. 677-687; 13]), king Ptolemy [3] II Philadelphus had the Pentateuch translated into Greek for his library by 70 (or 72; 70 = ἑβδομήκοντα/ …

[German version] (Σαμβήθη/ Sambḗthē or Σάββη/ Sábbē). Name, probably derived from Hebrew šabbat (Sabbath) [7. 622 ff.], of the Jewish Sibyl, who can be identified with the Egyptian, Pers…

(Φασάηλος; Phasáēlos). [German version] [1] Eldest son of Antipater [4] and Cyprus Eldest son of Antipater [4] and Cyprus, born in c. 77 BC probably in Marissa (Idumaea; Jos. Bl.  1,8,9; Jos. Ant. lud. 14,7,3). In 47 BC, P. was appointed governor  (στρατηγός/stratēgós) of Jerusalem and the surrounding area by Antipater (ἐπίτροπος/ …

[German version] This historical depiction of world events (from Adam to the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem by Titus in AD 70) was written in Hebrew, presumably in the 10th cent. in southern Italy. It is based on the works of  Iosephus [4] Flavius ( Antiquitates Judaicae, Bellum Judaicum, Contra Apionem). Aside from the Latin version of the Bellum (so-called Latin Hegesippus, 4th cent. AD) diverse medieval chronicles can be established as the main models. At t…

[German version] The last of seven procurators who administered most of Palestine as a Roman province after the death of Agrippa I in AD 44 under the supreme command of the Syrian governor. Born in Clazomenae, he obviously obtained his office through the links between his wife Cleopatra and the empress Poppaea Sabina (Jos. Ant. Iud. 20,252f.). His rule lasted only two years (AD 64-66) and ended with the outbreak of the 1st Jewish uprising against Rome (Tac. Hist. 5,10). Josephus Flavius whose Bellum Iudaicum is the most important source for Gessius Florus (GF) (cf. Jos. BI 2,1…

(Μενέλαος/Menélaos, Attic Μενέλεως/Menéleos; Latin Menelaus). [German version] [1] Ruler of Sparta, married to Helena A significant character in the cycle of myths about the Trojan War ( Troy: Cycle of myths). A younger brother of Agamemnon, who ruled the most significant power centre in Greek myth, Mycene, by marriage to Zeus's daughter Helen ( Helene [1]; their only child was a daughter, Hermione) M. became king of a region in the Eurotas valley with its capital Sparta and Amyclae [1], which was significant…

[German version] (from the Hebrew šelōmṣiyōn, Aramaic short form Šelamṣah, 'Peace of Zion'; Greek Σαλαμψιώ/ Salampsiṓ). Eldest daughter of Herod (Herodes [1]) the Great and his Hasmonaic wife Mariamme [1]; b. c. 33 BC. After Herod's brother Pheroras had refused marriage with her, in 20 BC, she wed her cousin Phasael II, son of Phasael [1] I, by whom she had five children (Herod IV, Alexander III, Antipater IV, Alexandra and Cyprus III) (Ios. Ant. Iud. 16,7,6; 17,1,3; 18,5,4). Wandrey, Irina (Berlin) Bibliography N. Kokkinos, The Herodian Dynasty. Origins, Role in Society and Ec…

[German version] I Greek (Φίλων/ Phíl ōn). [German version] [I 1] Athenian politician Athenian from Acharnae who was exiled by the Oligarchic regime in 404 BC (Triakonta). During the civil war, he lived as a metoikos (resident without Attic citizenship) in Oropos awaiting the outcome of events. Following his return, when he applied to join the boulḗ he was accused of cowardice and other misdemeanours at a dokimasia investigation (Dokimasia) (Lys. 31; possibly 398 BC). Walter, Uwe (Cologne) Biblio…

[German version] (Φασαηλίς/ Phasaēlís, Φασηλός/ Phasēlós, modern Ḫirbat Faṣāil). City founded by Herodes [1] I in memory of his elder brother Phasael [1] to the north of Jericho in the fertile Jordan rift valley, probably after 30 BC (Ios. Ant. Iud. 16,5,2; Ios. B…

[German version] (Μαχαιροῦς/ Machairoûs, Hebrew Mekawar, Mekabar). Fortress situated east of the Dead Sea in southern Peraea, on the border with the Nabataean kingdom ( Nabataei) which Alexander [16] Iannaeus (103-76 BC) h…

[German version] One of the highest princes of angels in Jewish mystical literature. There are several etymological explanations for M.'s name. Odeberg [2. 137 ff.] had already pleaded for the Greek words metá and thrónos, ‘(he who sits)next to the throne (of God)’ (similarly [1]; negatively [5. 75]). In addition, a tradition of 70 secret names is linked with M. [3], including ‘Youth’, ‘Servant’, ‘Yahoel’ and ‘little Yahweh’. He is given a central role in late antique Hekhalot literature [5]. In the so-called Third Book of Enoch…

[German version] (Hebrew benē Ṣādōq, 'sons of Zadok') is a term for the descendants of Zadok (a grandson of Aaron), one of the high priests in the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of  David [1] (2 Sam 15:24-37). In the pre-Exilic period (up to 586 BC), they had sole claim to the office of high priest (1 Kg 2:26 f.), and in the post-Exilic period (from 538 BC), they once again were able to prevail in the offices of priest and high priest (Ez 44:6-16; Priests III). In the post-Exilic period, the perform…

[German version] (Ζοροβαβελ/ Zorobabel, LXX). The pseudepigraphic Hebrew Apocalypse of Z. (Apocalypses) was presumably written in Palestine (Palaestina) at the beginning of the 7th cent. AD and reflects Messianic expectations of the Jewish population, which - threatened by anti-Jewish Byzantine law - was hoping for a Persian conquest of Palestine (Persian-Byzantine Wars 604-630 AD; dating of the Apocalypse to the 4th or 5th cent.[1]). Embedded in a frame story, the revelation by Metatron (some MSS:…

(Hebrew šelomṣiyōn, 'Peace of Zion', Aramaic short form še…

[German version] Son (or grandson) of Judas Galileus, who (like his father Hezekiah) fought against Rome and Herod (Ios. Ant. Iud. 18,1,6; 14,9,2) [2]. Judas is described by Iosephus [4] Flavius as the founder of the so-called fourth (nameless, later given the derogatory name of Sicarii, ‘Dagger Men’ = ‘Murderers’ [1. 50]) philosophical school, which differed from the Pharisaei mainly in its love of freedom and its struggle for the absolute rule of God (Ios. Ant. Iud. 18,1,1; 18,1,6) [3. 599; 1. 8…

(Greek Ὀν(ε)ίας/ On(e)ías; Hebrew neḥonyah, ḥunyah, ḥoni); personal name, which was widespread in ancient Judaism ([9. vol. 2, 1394, 1455]; Jos. Ant. Iud. 14,22; 25; 222; Jos. Ap. 2,49; Mishnah Taan 3,8). In the pre-Maccabaean period, bearers of this name included four Zadokid High Priests at the Temple of Jerusalem. The most important historical sources for the lineage of the Oniads are the Antiquitates Iudaicae of Iosephus [4] Flavius and 2 Macc. [German version] [1] O. I. High Priest, father of Simon the Just, 4th/3rd cents. BC (Late 4th cent. BC). Son of the High Priest Jaddu…

[German version] (ζηλωταί/ zēlōtaí, from Greek ζηλοῦν/ zēloûn, 'strive after'). Political and religious group of Jews who rose against Roman rule in Palestine in the 1st cent. AD, primarily in the first Jewish-Roman War (Jewish Wars). The term 'Zealots' can be found in Iosephus [4] Flavius (BI 4,160f.; 7,268-270), whose …

(Φωκυλίδης/ Phōkylídēs). [German version] [1] Poet from Miletus, c. 540 BC Greek poet from Miletus (Phryn. 336, p. 463 R.; Suda) who wrote hexameters and elegiac gnomai (gnome; elegiac: Athen. 632d; both: Suda φ 643), c. 540 BC (Suda). The Γνῶμαι/ Gnômai, aphorisms, are ascribed to P. by many authors (e.g. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Strabo, Dion [I 3] Chrysostomus, Athenaeus, Clement of Alexandria). They begin (as do those of Demodocus [2] of Lerus) with καὶ τόδε Φωκυλίδου/ kai tóde Phōkulídou, 'P. says this, too'). They are written in hexameters (from one to eight verses), with the exception of one four-line epigram (Anth. Pal. 10,117 = 17 G.-P. and 1 G.-P.) attacking the Lerians (cited in Strabon 10,5,12). West [1. 171] combines this elegiac couplet with Demodocus 3 G.-P. and assigns it to the latter, whereas to P. he attributes only the hexametric aphorisms or [1; 2] a continuous poem, which is divided up by a refrain.…

This item can be found on the following maps: Syria | Dead Sea (textual finds) | Caesar | Christianity | Zenobia | Coloniae | Alexander | Commerce | Hasmonaeans | Legio | Limes | Mesopotamia | Natural catastrophes | Phoenicians, Poeni | Pilgrimage | Pompeius | Aegean Koine [German version] I. Name Hebrew Y  …

[German version] The special tax of two drachmas per person imposed on the Jewish population after the conquest of Jerusalem (AD 70) by Vespasianus (Jos. BI 7,218). The fiscus iudaicus ( FI) replaced the half-shekel tax levied for the Jewish Temple and was regarded as a punitive measure as it was diverted to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome. Under Domitianus the FI was collected rigourously as a measure for preventing conversions (Suet. Dom. 12,2) [3; 4; 7], but already under Nerva the collection was eased off [1; 4]. The levying of the FI is attested until the mid 3rd cent. AD …

[German version] (Λιβιάς; Libiás, Latin Livias, also Iulias). Town in the eastern Jordan valley, the Aramaic name of which is bet ramta, and which, according to Jewish tradition, is to be identified with the biblical bet haran (or haram; Nm 32:36; Jos 13:27) (jTalmud Shevi 9,2 [38d]). The Christian traditions of Hier. and Eus. (Euseb. On. 48,13ff.; Βηθραμφθά, …

(Μανάημος; Manáēmos). Greek form of the Hebrew proper name Menaḥem (‘the comforter), attested in the Old Testament (2 Kgs 15:14ff.) and in other Semitic languages. [German version] [1] Essenian, 1st cent. BC Essenian ( Essenes) (1st cent. BC), who foretold Herod ( Herodes [1]) the Great that he would become king and that he would turn his back on godliness and and justice, and who predicted, in a second prophecy, the duration of his reign (Jos. Ant. Iud. 15,10,5). Like M. …

(Σίμων/ Símōn). [German version] [1] Sculptor in bronze from Aegina, c. 480-460 BC Sculptor in bronze from Aegina. S. participated with a horse and a charioteer in the votive offerings dedicated by Phormis at Olympia; accordingly, his period of artistic activity is around 480-460 BC. The base which belonged to it has been identified. A dog and an archer by S. (Plin. HN 34,90) probably formed a further group. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography Overbeck, nos. 402, 437  M. Zuppa, s.v. S. 2, EAA 7, 1966, 315  F. Eckstein, Anathemata, 1969, 43-49  E. Walter-Karydi, Die äginetische Bi…

I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. General The magic of the ancient Orient and of Egypt is based on a view of the world that runs counter to that of religion. In the world-view of magic, men, gods and demons are tied to each other and to the cosmos by sympathies and antipathies, whereas in the religious world view everything is created by the gods for their own purposes; the relations between men and the cosmos are the result of deliberate actions of the gods. In the practice of religion, however, both world views are integrated and complementary. The religious world-view manifests itself most clearly in the regular cult, whereas magic is only employed to overcome public or private problems if the need arises. Usually, magic is used defensively; magic used offensively, against people - sorcery -, is feared as an antisocial activity and is punished. A particular instance of defensive magic is directed against diseases and the demons of diseases; it is complementary to medical science ( Medicine) and is applied in cases of chronic and unidentifiab…

(Ἰώσηπ(π)ος; Iṓsēp(p)os, Ιώσηφ(ος); Iṓsēph(os)). From Hebrew yosep yosipyah ‘may God add (further children)’, a prevalent Jewish name in memory of the biblical patriarch Joseph (Gen. 35; 37-50), e.g. in the Herodian family. [German version] …

(Ἑκαταῖος; Hekataîos). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Cardia, 4th cent. BC Tyrant of  Cardia, kept in office by  Alexander [4] although  Eumenes [1] made an effort to free the city (Plut. Eumenes 3). In the Lamian War, he supported  Antipater [1] (Diod. Sic. 18,14,4). Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) [German version] [2] Henchman of Alexander [4] the Gr., 4th cent. BC One of the  hetairoi of Alexander [4], entrusted by him in 336 BC with the removal of  Attalus [1], whom he murdered (Diod. Sic. 17,2,5; 5,2). Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) Bibliography Berve 2, no. 292 (not identical with …

[German version] (Ματθίας/Matthías); variant of the proper name Mattathias, Hebr. Mattityah, ‘gift of God’). Father of the historian Iosephus [4] Flavius, of whom little is known apart from his son's statements in his vita (Jos. Vit. 1). He lived from AD 6 until after AD 70, since Iosephus reports on the fate of his parents during the Jewish War (Vit. 41; Jos. BI 5,13,1). M. was a member of the priestly clan of Yehoyarib (1 Chr 24,7) and his great-grandmother was presumably a daughter of Alexander [16] Iannaeus and therefore a Hasmonean (Vit. 1,4; critical [3], affirmative [2]). Wandrey, Iri…

[German version] (from the Hebrew personal name ṭōviyyȧh, Neh 2,10; Τωβιας/ Tōbias, LXX, cf. ὑιοὶ Τωβια/ hyioì Tōbia 'sons of Tobias', 2 Esr 17:62). The family of the T. played a leading economic and political role at the time of the second Temple (III) in Iudaea (Judah and Israel). Archeologically attested is Hyrcanus's fortress of Tyrus which was probably built on the ruins of the ancestral seat of the T. in present-day Irāq al-Amīr (Transjordan) [1]. The first historically traceable representative is known f…

[German version] (Φερώρας; Pherṓras). Youngest son of Antipater [4], born c. 68 BC probably in Marissa (Idumaea), died c. 5 BC. His first marriage was to a Hasmonaean princess (the sister of Mariamme [1] I, the first wife of his elder brother Herodes [1] I), his second was to a "slave girl" (Jos. BI 1,24,5; Jos. Ant. Iud. 16,7,3). P. was a close comrade-in-arms of his brother Herodes: on his commission he restored the fortress of Alexandreum to the north of Jericho (Jos. Ant. Iud. 15,11,5; Jos. BI 1,16,3), acted …

[German version] [1] Prophet see  Prophets Wandrey, Irina (Berlin) [German version] [2] Jud.-Hell. tragedian (Ἐζεκίηλος, Εζεκιῆλος; Ezekíēlos, Ezekiêlos). Judaeo-Hellenistic tragedian, who probably lived in Alexandria (or see [5]). The draft of the Exagōgḗ, the only known work of E., of which 5 fragments (269 trimeters) have been preserved, can be dated to the period between c. 240 BC ( terminus post quem: origin of the Septuagint) and 100 BC ( terminus ante quem: evidence from  Alexander [23] Polyhistor). The preserved verses (the most complete tragedy fragments after Euripides) were handed down in the Praeparatio Evangelica (9,28,1-29,16) of  Eusebius [7] of Caesaria, who quotes them from the work Perì Ioudaíōn (Περὶ Ἰουδαίων, ‘On the Jews’) by Alexander Polyhistor (FGrH 273 F 19). Verses 7-40a and 50b-54 were also handed down by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. 1,23,155,2-7; 156,1f.) and verses 256-269 by Eustathius […

[German version] [1] Granddaughter of Aristobulus II. and Iohannes Hyrcanus II. (Hebrew Mirjam; the form Mariamne in Fr. Hebbel's drama is a corruption from la…

(Καλλιρ[ρ]όη; Kallir(r)hóē, ‘the fair-flowing’). [German version] …

[German version] (προσήλυτος/ prosḗlytos, 'one that has arrived (to join the group)'; Latin proselytus). The first recorded use of the Greek term prosḗlytos is in the Septuagint as a translation of the Biblical concept gēr (a 'foreigner' resident in Israel and enjoying special legal status) [8. 40-45; 9. 51 ff.]. Towards the end of the epoch of the Second Temple (1st cent. AD), prosḗlytos then chiefly refers to a convert to Judaism (Jos. Ap. 2,28) [4. 60 ff.], who enjoyed almost the same rights within the Jewish community as one born a Jew [1. 60-123]. According to the Halakhah, the corpus of religious law, the conditions for a valid conversion to Judaism were the presentation of a sacrifice, baptism and (for men) circumcision (Babylonian Talmud bYev 46). Connecti…