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The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat in the Jewish–Babylonian War and the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The event is known to be historical, and is described in archaeological and extra-biblical sources, in addition to the Hebrew Bible.
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Yohananיוֹחָנָן, sometimes transcribed as Johanan is Hebrew male given name that can also appear in the longer form of יְהוֹחָנָן, meaning "YHWH is gracious".
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Judah Aristobulus I or Aristobulus I was the first Hasmonean king of Judaea from 104 BCE until his death in 103 BCE. He was the eldest of the five sons of John Hyrcanus, the previous leader. The Romano–Jewish historian Josephus states that he was the first Jew in "four hundred and eighty-three years and three months" to have established a monarchy since the return from the Babylonian captivity. Aristobulus was the first Hebrew king to claim both the high priesthood and the kingship. The Sadducees and the Essenes were not concerned about Aristobulus taking the title of king, but the Pharisees, believing that the kingship could only be held by the descendants of the Davidic line, strongly opposed this. They launched a massive rebellion, but Aristobulus died before any attempt to depose him could happen.
Mattathias ben Johanan was a Kohen who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon and the Amidah during the festival's eight days.
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Joiada is a name found from the form "Jehoiada" in the Hebrew Bible and used alternately in English versions.
"The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place"
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Joiakim is the name of a priest mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in Deuterocanonical books, and in later extra-biblical sources. Reconstructing his role in history is complicated by a variety of claims made in these texts. The chronology of Joiakim's tenure as priest has been the subject of dispute, as has the question of whether Joiakim was high priest. The Hebrew Bible, which mentions Joiakim only in the Book of Nehemiah, Chapter 12, does not call him "high priest," though Josephus does use the term for him.
Yehud Medinata, also called Yehud Medinta or simply Yehud, was an autonomous administrative division of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It constituted a part of Eber-Nari and was bounded by Arabia to the south, laying along the frontier of the two satrapies. Spanning most of Judea—from the Shephelah in the west to the Dead Sea in the east—it was one of several Persian provinces in Palestine, together with Moab, Ammon, Gilead, Samaria, Ashdod, and Idumea, among others. It existed for just over two centuries before the Greek conquest of Persia resulted in it being incorporated into the Hellenistic empires.
The Arad ostraca, also known as the Eliashib Archive, is a collection of more than 200 inscribed pottery shards found at Tel Arad in the 1960s by archeologist Yohanan Aharoni. Arad was an Iron Age fort at the southern outskirts of the Kingdom of Judah, close to Beersheba in modern Israel.
References
- 1 2 Antiquities xi. 7.1, Josephus
- 1 2 Pritchard, James B. ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Princeton University Press, third edition with supplement 1969, p. 492
- 1 2 Betlyon, John Wilson, "The Provincial Government of Persian Period Judea and the Yehud Coins" Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 105, No. 4 (Dec., 1986), pp. 639–642
- ↑ YHD 25 (Yehud coin Type 25): Hemiobol with facing head/owl and inscription Yohanan the Priest. The Menorah Coin Project website. Israel Numismatic Society
- 1 2 Fried, Lisbeth S., A silver coin of Yohanan Hakkôhen , Transeuphratène 26 (2003) pp. 67, 85
- ↑ Gitler H., Lorber C., Fontanille J.-P. (2023), The Yehud Coinage: A Study and Die Classification of the Provincial Silver Coinage of Judah. (Introduction) Israel Numismatic Society; Jerusalem, Israel.
- ↑ The Menorah Coin Project website. Israel Numismatic Society
- ↑ Antiquities 11:297–302, Josephus
- ↑ From Joshua To Caiaphas: High Priests after the Exile 54–63, James Vander Kam