The Second Temple period in Jewish history began with the end of the Babylonian captivity and the Persian conquest of the Babylonian Empire in 539 BCE. A new temple to replace the destroyed Solomon's Temple was built by the returnees, and the Second Temple was finished around 516 BCE. The Persians were largely tolerant of Judaism. Persian rule lasted for two centuries, but came to an end with the conquests of Macedonia under Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Judea and the Eastern Mediterranean region came under Greek influence during the resulting Hellenistic period; Hellenistic Judaism blended both Greek and Jewish traditions. Judea was ruled in this period first by the Ptolemaic Kingdom and then by the Seleucid Empire, Greek states formed after the breakup of Alexander's Macedonian empire. The Maccabean Revolt of 167–142 BCE was initially a fight for Judean autonomy against a suppression of traditional Judaism by Seleucid King Antiochus IV, and later sought outright independence from Greek rule. The revolt's success brought about the formation of an independent Hasmonean kingdom of Judea, named for the family which had led the Jewish resistance.
The Hasmoneans would rule until 63 BCE, when they were reduced to client king status as puppets of the Roman Republic. The Hasmonean line was deposed in 37 BCE, and King Herod the Great took control as ruler of the Herodian kingdom, with the approval of Rome. Herod's death in 4 BCE would lead to both the Herodian Tetrarchy in which smaller regions were ruled by members of his family, as well as periods of direct Roman control by the governors of Roman Judea. Direct Roman rule of Judea was generally disliked, and provoked resistance and rebellion. The era would come to an end with the First Jewish–Roman War of 66–73 CE. The Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire was unsuccessful, Jerusalem was conquered in 70 CE, and the Second Temple was destroyed.
This timeline focuses both on political events in Judea and the surrounding regions, as well as issues related to wider diaspora Judaism practiced elsewhere. Many of the dates in ancient sources are given in terms of the Seleucid era (SE) and the Ancient Macedonian calendar, which do not always map cleanly to Julian calendar dates, leading to some unavoidable uncertainty.
539 BCE
538 BCE
538–332 BCE
537–520 BCE
525 BCE
c. 525–410 BCE
522–486 BCE
520–516 BCE
465–424 BCE
458–457 BCE
445–433 BCE
c. 430–350 BCE
404–359 BCE
397 BCE
400–300 BCE
359–338 BCE
332 BCE
323–301 BCE
301–200 BCE
259 BCE
221–204 BCE
c. 210s–190s BCE
202–199 BCE
200 BCE
200–100 BCE
c. 200–175 BCE
187–175 BCE
September 175 BCE
c. 174–172 BCE
c. 173–172 BCE
c. 170 BCE
170–169 BCE
168 BCE
168–167 BCE
168–100 BCE
December 167 BCE (15 Kislev 145 SE)
167–160 BCE
167–165 BCE
c. 166 BCE
Spring 166 – Spring 165 BCE (146 SE)
End of summer 165 BCE
October – December 164 BCE
November – December 164 BCE
January 14, 163 BCE (25 Kislev 148 SE)
163 BCE
163–162 BCE
April – May 162 BCE
June – July 162 BCE
Late Summer – Autumn 162 BCE
November 162 BCE
November – Winter 161 BCE
13 Adar (March) 161 BCE
Spring 161 BCE
Early 160 BCE
Nisan (April) 160 BCE
c. 160–159 BCE
c. 160–157 BCE
160–152 BCE
Sivan (May) 159 BCE
157 BCE
153 BCE
Autumn 152 BCE
c. 150 BCE
147–145 BCE
147–143 BCE
c. 145 BCE
143 BCE
142 BCE
c. 143–141 BCE
141–100 BCE
141–120 BCE
18 Elul 140 BCE (172 SE)
c. 140–138 BCE
139 BCE
c. 138 BCE
Shebat (February), 135 or 134 BCE (177 SE)
134–104 BCE
Autumn 134 BCE
131–129 BCE
129 BCE
128–122 BCE
124–76 BCE
c. 113–112 BCE
c. 111–107 BCE
c. 108–107 BCE
104–103 BCE
103–76 BCE
103–101 BCE
101–100 BCE
100 BCE – 40 CE
100 BCE – 68 CE
89–88 BCE
c. 87 BCE
86 BCE
76–67 BCE
67–63 BCE
Spring – Summer 63 BCE
63–40 BCE
57–54 BCE
c. 56–55 BCE
c. 54–53 BCE
48 BCE
43–42 BCE
Mark Antony Lepidus | Octavian Triumvirs collectively |
41–31 BCE
40 BCE
40–37 BCE
Summer 37 BCE
31–30 BCE
31 BCE – 14 CE
30–4 BCE
29 BCE
10 BCE
c. 8–7 BCE
c. 6–4 BCE
4 BCE
4 BCE – 30 CE
6 CE
c. 10
14–37
19
20
20–54
26–36
c. 28–30
c. 30–33
c. 30–56
34
c. 35–37
c. 35–36
37–41
37
38
c. 40–41
41
41–54
c. 41–70
44
46–48
c. 47–64
48–53
52–59
53–66
54–68
64–66
66–73
66
November 66–May 67
67
68
69
May–August 70
70–73
70–100
80–96
115–117
c. 130
132–136
The Pharisees were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism. Although the group does not exist anymore, their traditions are considered important among all various Jewish religious movements.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. Originally named Mithradates, he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne. Notable events during Antiochus's reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of Judea and Samaria, and the rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees.
The Maccabees, also spelled Machabees, were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 to 37 BCE, being a fully independent kingdom from 104 to 63 BCE. They reasserted the Jewish religion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest, and reduced the influence of Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism.
The Hasmonean dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period, from c. 140 BCE to 37 BCE. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, and from roughly 110 BCE, with the empire disintegrating, Judea gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea. The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title basileus ("king") as the kingdom became a regional power for several decades. Forces of the Roman Republic intervened in the Hasmonean Civil War in 63 BCE and made it into a client state, marking the decline of Hasmonean dynasty; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BCE.
Simon Thassi was the second son of Mattathias and thus a member of the Hasmonean family.
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.
Judah Maccabee was a Jewish priest (kohen) and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire.
John Hyrcanus was a Hasmonean (Maccabean) leader and Jewish High Priest of Israel of the 2nd century BCE. In rabbinic literature he is often referred to as Yoḥanan Cohen Gadol, "John the High Priest".
John Hyrcanus II, a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, was for a long time the Jewish High Priest in the 1st century BCE. He was also briefly King of Judea 67–66 BCE and then the ethnarch (ruler) of Judea, probably over the period 47–40 BCE.
Alcimus, also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (Ἰάκειμος), was High Priest of Israel for three years from 162–159 BCE. He was a moderate Hellenizer who favored the ruling government of the Seleucid Empire and opposed the Maccabean Revolt which was in progress at the time.
Onias IV was the son of Onias III and the heir of the Zadokite line of High Priests of Israel. He built a new Jewish temple at Leontopolis in Ptolemaic Egypt where he reigned as a rival High Priest to the hierarchy in Jerusalem. While he never gained leadership in Judea, he still held influence in Egypt; the territory most heavily populated by Jews was called the Land of Onias in reference to his influence.
Jason was the High Priest of Israel from around 175 BCE to 171 BCE during the Second Temple period of Judaism. He was of the Oniad family and was brother to Onias III, his predecessor as High Priest. Josephus records that his name was originally Jesus or Joshua before he changed it.
The Hasideans were a Jewish group during the Maccabean Revolt that took place from around 167–142 BCE. The Hasideans are mentioned three times in the books of the Maccabees, the main contemporary sources from the period. According to the book 1 Maccabees, during the early phases of the anti-Jewish decrees and persecution proclaimed by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, some Hasideans joined up with Mattathias the Hasmonean as he martialed forces and allies for his rebellion. Later on, during the term of High Priest Alcimus, some Hasideans apparently trusted Alcimus's promises at first and attempted to negotiate a settlement with the government, but were betrayed and executed. In the book 2 Maccabees, Judas Maccabeus is described as the leader of the Hasideans and of them all as troublemakers disrupting the peace, but by Alcimus, a source the book considers untrustworthy and corrupt.
The Roman–Jewish Treaty was an agreement made between Judas Maccabeus and the Roman Republic according to the book 1 Maccabees and Josephus's Jewish Antiquities. It took place around 161 BCE and was the first recorded contract between Judea and Ancient Rome. The Romans apparently extended an offer of aid to the Judean rebel side of the Maccabean Revolt. It does not appear the treaty ever resulted in direct action by the Romans, but it may have deterred other states from more extreme measures against Judea.
The Maccabean Revolt was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of Judea, but conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence.
Hasmonean coinage are the coins minted by the Hasmonean kings. Only bronze coins in various denominations have been found; the smallest being a prutah or a half prutah. Two Roman silver denarii are associated with the Hasmoneans; one has the inscription BACCIVS IVDAEAS; with its exact meaning unclear (short for "BASILEOS IUDAEAS", King Judas?). Both show a man thought to be Yehuda Aristobolus bowing before a camel with a palm branch in his hand.
The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem during the Second Temple period describes the history of the city during the existence there of the Second Temple, from the return to Zion under Cyrus the Great to the siege and destruction the city by Titus during the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 CE. During this period, which saw the region and city change hands several times, Jerusalem was the center of religious life for all Jews; even those who lived in the diaspora prayed towards Jerusalem on a daily basis and went there on pilgrimage during three annual religious festivals. Under Hasmonean and Herodian rule, Jerusalem served as a royal capital and the seat of all major national institutions. In Jerusalem, the Pharisees of Second Temple Judaism developed into the Tannaim and Judaism's post-Exilic religious identity as it continues today, and the Hebrew Bible was perhaps canonized, although exactly when this occurred remains disputed. It was also in Jerusalem during the later stages of this period that Christianity was born.
Second Temple Judaism is the Jewish religion as it developed during the Second Temple period, which began with the construction of the Second Temple around 516 BCE and ended with the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Hellenistic Palestine is the term for historic Palestine during the Hellenistic period, when Achaemenid Syria was conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BCE and subsumed into his growing Macedonian empire. After his death in 323 BCE, Alexander's empire was divided among his generals, the Diadochi, marking the beginning of Macedonian rule over various territories, including Coele-Syria. The region came under Ptolemaic rule beginning when Ptolemy I Soter took control of Egypt in 322 BCE and subsequently Yehud Medinata in 320 BCE due to its strategic significance. This period saw numerous conflicts as former generals vied for control, leading to ongoing power struggles and territorial exchanges.