Phasa'el

Last updated September 10, 2024

Phasaelis, also spelled Phaisael (born in 5/4 BCE)^[1] was a princess of Nabatea, daughter of King Aretas IV Philopatris and the first wife of Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Perea.

Name

Life

Phasaelis was born to the king of the Nabataeans, Aretas IV Philopatris and his first wife and co-ruler, Chuldu, who may have been a daughter of Aretas' predecessor, Obodas III.^[2] Inscriptions on a limestone block near Wadi Musa in Jordan indicates that Phasaelis was the couple’s fourth child, but the eldest of their daughters.^[3] Her siblings included Malichus II, Obodas, Rabbel, Shudat and Hagera.^[3]

Coins have been found with the profile of her father Aretas IV on the obverse, and Phasaelis' name on the reverse,^[4] which could indicate her birth to be 3-5 BC.

Going by the tentative dating of the coins inscribed with her name, her marriage to Herod Antipas took place in 7 or 6 AD, when Phasaelis would have been around 11–12 years old.^[4]^[5] There is a high likelihood that the marriage was arranged by Augustus,^[6] who often married the vassals of the Roman Empire to each other to keep the peace between their kingdoms. This had been the case of Herod Antipas' paternal aunt, Salome I.^[7] The marriage of Phasaelis and Antipas thus ensured there would be no attacks of the eastern border tetrarchy of Perea by the Nabataeans.

Phasaelis and Herod Antipas were married for over 20 years, but there were no recorded children of this marriage. During this time, Herod Antipas did not take any other wives. Some researchers have theorized that Phasaelis and Herod Antipas had a daughter named Herodias Salome,^[8]^[5] as an attempt to reconcile some dating inconsistencies and explain why Salome, Herod Antipas' stepdaughter, is sometimes referred to as his daughter.

In 23 AD, Herod Antipas was visiting his half-brother Herod II, who was then living in Rome as a private citizen. During his stay, he became enamored with his brother’s wife Herodias. Herodias subsequently divorced Herod II under the Roman law.

The exact marriage date of Herod Antipas and Herodias is unknown, but in 26 AD Phasaelis found out about the relationship and discovered Herod Antipas' intention to divorce her.

The texts use the terms divorce and repudiation interchangeably, but according to the Talmudic law, a husband could repudiate his wife freely, but a wife could only ask for a divorce, and it was up to the husband to allow it.^[9] However, the extent to which the Herodian dynasty actually practiced Judaism is unclear, and it is known that they were heavily influenced by Roman law and culture; thus, Herod Antipas might have been planning to divorce Phasaelis according to just the Roman law.

Desiring to return to her homeland, Phasaelis used the pretext of visiting the palace of Machaerus situated by the Dead Sea.^[10]^[11] Phasaelis then fled across the border to her father, whom she told of her husband's intention to divorce her and marry Herodias.^[12] This caused relations between Aretas and Herod Antipas to sour. Aretas IV subsequently invaded Galilee and Perea, and his armies defeated his former son-in-law in battle in 36 AD.

After this date, there is no mention of Phasaelis, and the rest of her life remains unknown.

In media

Elbridge Streeter Brooks wrote a historical romance A Son of Issachar: A Romance of the Days of Messias (1890) where Herod's repudiated wife appears as a character named "Princess Amina"

Phasaelis appears a supporting character in The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd (2020)

Phaselis appears briefly as a non-speaking character in the TV film Mary Magdalene (2000), played by an uncredited actress.

Related Research Articles

Herod Agrippa, also known as Herod II or Agrippa I, was the last Jewish king of Judea. He was a grandson of Herod the Great and the father of Herod Agrippa II, the last known king from the Herodian dynasty. He was acquaintance or friend of Roman emperors and even played crucial roles in internal Roman politics.

Salome, also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great, and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New Testament, where she is not named, and from an account by Flavius Josephus. In the New Testament, the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas demands and receives the head of John the Baptist. According to Josephus, she was first married to her uncle Philip the Tetrarch, after whose death she married her cousin Aristobulus of Chalcis, thus becoming queen of Armenia Minor.

Herodias was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with the execution of John the Baptist.

Herod Antipas was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a son of Herod the Great and a grandson of Antipater the Idumaean. He is widely known today for accounts in the New Testament of his role in events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. His father, Herod the Great, was described in the account as ordering the Massacre of the Innocents, marking the earliest Biblical account of the concerns of the government in Jerusalem regarding Jesus's existence.

Antipater I the Idumaean was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas and had formerly held that name.

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Perea or Peraea was the term used mainly during the early Roman period for part of ancient Transjordan. It lay broadly east of Judea and Samaria, which were situated on the western side of the Jordan River, and southwest of the Decapolis.

Aretas IV Philopatris was the King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to 40 AD.

The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a holy day by various Christian churches. According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he had publicly reproved Herod for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully taking his sister-in-law as his second wife Herodias. He then ordered him to be killed by beheading.

Glaphyra was an Anatolian princess from Cappadocia, and a Queen of Mauretania by her second marriage to King Juba II of Mauretania. She was related to the Herodian Dynasty by her first and third marriage, to Alexander, son of Herod and Herod Archelaus respectively.

The Herodian dynasty was a royal dynasty of Idumaean (Edomite) descent, ruling the Herodian Kingdom of Judea and later the Herodian Tetrarchy as a vassal state of the Roman Empire. The Herodian dynasty began with Herod the Great, who assumed the throne of Judea, with Roman support, bringing down the century-old Hasmonean Kingdom. His kingdom lasted until his death in 4 BCE, when it was divided among his sons and daughter as a tetrarchy, which lasted for about 10 years. Most of those tetrarchies, including Judea proper, were incorporated into Judaea Province from 6 CE, though limited Herodian de facto kingship continued until Agrippa I's death in 44 CE and nominal title of kingship continued until 92 CE, when the last Herodian monarch, Agrippa II, died and Rome assumed full power over his de jure domain.

Salome I was the sister of Herod the Great and the mother of Berenice by her husband Costobarus, governor of Idumea. She was a nominal queen regnant of the toparchy of Iamnia, Azotus, Phasaelis from 4 BCE.

The Herodian tetrarchy was a regional division of a client state of Rome, formed following the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE. The latter's client kingdom was divided between his sister Salome I and his sons Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip. Upon the deposition of Herod Archelaus in 6 CE, his territories were transformed into a Roman province. With the death of Salome I in 10 CE, her domain was also incorporated into a province.

Herod II was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne II, the daughter of Simon Boethus the High Priest, and the first husband of Herodias, daughter of Aristobulus IV and his wife Berenice. For a brief period he was his father's heir apparent, but Herod I removed him from succession in his will. Some writers call him Herod Philip I, as the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Mark state that Herodias was married to a "Philip". Because he was the grandson of Simon Boethus, he is sometimes also called Herod Boethus, but there is no evidence he was actually thus called during his lifetime.

Philip the Tetrarch, sometimes called Herod Philip II by modern writers was the son of Herod the Great and his fifth wife, Cleopatra of Jerusalem. As a Tetrarch, he ruled over the northeast part of his father's kingdom between 4 BCE and 34 CE after Herod's death. He was a half-brother of Herod Antipas and Herod Archelaus. He is not the same person as Herod II, whom some writers call Herod Philip I.

Costobarus was an associate of Herod the Great and second husband of Herod's sister Salome I. He was also known as Costobar.

The Herodian kingdom was a client state of the Roman Republic ruled from 37 to 4 BCE by Herod the Great, who was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate. When Herod died, the kingdom was divided among his sons into the Herodian Tetrarchy.

Chuldu, Huldu, or Khuld, was a Queen of the Nabataeans, spouse and co-ruler of Aretas IV in 9 BC–AD 16.

Cypros (1st-century) was a queen consort of Judea. She was married to king Herod Agrippa.

Phasael or Phasa'el is an ancient Semitic, probably mainly Nabataean, gender-neutral name, i.e. used for both men and women.

References

↑ Norris, Jérôme (26 April 2017). "A woman's Hismaic inscription from the Wādī Ramm desert: AMJ 2/J.14202 (Amman Museum)". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 28 (1): 90–109. doi:10.1111/aae.12086 . Retrieved 24 April 2024.
↑ Sánchez, Francisco del Río (2015-12-04). Nabatu. The Nabataeans through their inscriptions. Edicions Universitat Barcelona. p. 88. ISBN 978-84-475-3748-8.
1 2 Alpass, Peter (2013-06-13). The Religious Life of Nabataea. BRILL. p. 92. ISBN 978-90-04-21623-5.
1 2 Hayajneh, Hani (2024-01-15). Cultural Heritage: At the Intersection of the Humanities and the Sciences. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 292. ISBN 978-3-643-91252-7.
1 2 Kokkinos, Nikos (1998). The Herodian Dynasty: Origins, Role in Society and Eclipse. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-690-3.
↑ Tomasino, Anthony J. (2011-05-13). The World of Jesus. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-60899-137-2.
↑ Freedman, David Noel (2019-02-28). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4674-6046-0.
↑ Neginsky, Rosina (2014-10-16). Salome: The Image of a Woman Who Never Was; Salome. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4438-6962-1.
↑ Bo, Federico Dal (2023-11-17). Judaism, Philosophy, and Psychoanalysis in Heidegger's Ontology: Harrowing the Heath. Springer Nature. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-3-031-44056-4.
↑ Lewin, Thomas (1865). Fasti Sacri: Or a Key to the Chronology of the New Testament. Longmans, Green & Company. p. 186.
↑ Josephus, Flavius (1988). The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56563-780-1.
↑ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 18.4.6, 18.5.1, and 18.5.4

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[JN17-1] Norris, Jérôme (26 April 2017). "A woman's Hismaic inscription from the Wādī Ramm desert: AMJ 2/J.14202 (Amman Museum)". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 28 (1): 90–109. doi:10.1111/aae.12086 . Retrieved 24 April 2024.

[2] Sánchez, Francisco del Río (2015-12-04). Nabatu. The Nabataeans through their inscriptions. Edicions Universitat Barcelona. p. 88. ISBN 978-84-475-3748-8.

[:1-3] 1 2 Alpass, Peter (2013-06-13). The Religious Life of Nabataea. BRILL. p. 92. ISBN 978-90-04-21623-5.

[:2-4] 1 2 Hayajneh, Hani (2024-01-15). Cultural Heritage: At the Intersection of the Humanities and the Sciences. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 292. ISBN 978-3-643-91252-7.

[:0-5] 1 2 Kokkinos, Nikos (1998). The Herodian Dynasty: Origins, Role in Society and Eclipse. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-690-3.

[6] Tomasino, Anthony J. (2011-05-13). The World of Jesus. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-60899-137-2.

[7] Freedman, David Noel (2019-02-28). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4674-6046-0.

[8] Neginsky, Rosina (2014-10-16). Salome: The Image of a Woman Who Never Was; Salome. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4438-6962-1.

[9] Bo, Federico Dal (2023-11-17). Judaism, Philosophy, and Psychoanalysis in Heidegger's Ontology: Harrowing the Heath. Springer Nature. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-3-031-44056-4.

[10] Lewin, Thomas (1865). Fasti Sacri: Or a Key to the Chronology of the New Testament. Longmans, Green & Company. p. 186.

[11] Josephus, Flavius (1988). The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56563-780-1.

[12] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 18.4.6, 18.5.1, and 18.5.4

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