Seleucid Kingdomthe beginning of an empire

1.4 After Alexander's death, his empire was divided among his Macedonian generals. One of the Diadochi was his friend Seleucus I Nicator seen in figure 1.2 on a coin. Seleucus took control of the eastern provinces, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, with parts of Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Figure 1.1 is a map that shows how vast the empire was, of all of Alexander's empires, this was the largest. Seleucus I recognized the riches that this empire had and decided he wanted it for himself. He founded the Seleucid dynasty in 312 B.C. and declared himself king. The monarchy survived over two hundred centuries, before coming to an end in 64 B.C. Figure 1.3 shows the decedents of Seleucus I.

1.1 Map showing the Seleucid empire.

1.2 coin portraying Seleucus I Nicator

1.3 Family tree depicting the Seleucid Dynasty.

Religion and architecture

2.4 The gods of the Greeks were worshiped in the Greek cities. The native people were allowed to continue their worship of their traditional gods, there was no evidence of Seleucid religious persecution(. Only Greek gods are found on Seleucid coins, such as the coin in figure 2.1, the Greek god Cronus is depicted on the back. According to its Greek inscription, figure 2.3, “the rock relief representing Heracles at Behistun was carved in 148 B.C. it was dedicated to a local Seleucid governor” (Flickr). No Monumental architecture of the Seleucid capitals remains. By studying remains such as figure 2.2, it is clear that there was synergy between Greek and local art styles in Seleucid architecture (Erskine, p.422).

2.3 a Seleucid period (2nd C BC) relief of a reclining Hercules, located along the Royal Road to Babylon. 

2.1 Seleucid coin depicting Greek god. 150-145 BC. 21mm (Byblos mint). Head of Alexander and Cronus depicted with staff and 6 wings.

2.2 Seleucid temple , Failaka Island, Kuwait

The Attalid Empire

3.3. Coin of Philetaerus.//www.utexas.edu/courses/fallofgreece/lecture_18.html.

3.4 Pergamum is located near the west coast of modern day Turkey. The Attalid Kingdom, whose leaders built the Pergamum library, reigned between Alexander the Great and the Roman Republic. After Alexander death in 323 B.C, his great empire was fought for and divided by his generals. The map in figure 3.2 shows this division after the Battle of Ipsus in 301 B.C. The Attalid Kingdom began by Lysimachus entrusting the eunuch Philetaerus with his treasurer the city of Pergamum. Philetaerus’s face is on the coin in figure 3.3,. Philetaerus saw the Lysimachus was no match to the Seleucid forces and took the gamble to switch loyalties. It allowed him to secure control and select his heir, his brother’s son, Eumenes I. The Attalids gain full independence in 241 B.C when Eumenes I defeats the neighboring Galatians in 241 BCE. Eumenes son and heir was named Attalus I, where the kingdom gained its name. (Erskine p.159-174)

3.2 Map showing the break-up of Alexander’s empire.

3.1 Family tree of the Attalid Empire.

The Attalidspublic and private

4.5 The attalids rosé from less than royal origins. Philetearus was a eunuch, a man or boy whose testicles have been removed. “His family background was supposedly half Greek” (class notes). Philetearus created the foundation for Attalid policy that was adopted and built upon by his successors. They maintained the policy of establishing relations with neighboring city-states. Attalid dynasty as part of their political policy founded many architectural structure. The Great Altar of Pergamum , was dedicated to Zeus. Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the Acropolis include: The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world. Pergamum's library on the Acropolis (the ancient Library of Pergamum) is the second best in the ancient Greek civilization. When the Ptolemies stopped exporting papyrus, partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes invented a new substance to use in codices, called pergaminus or pergamena (parchment) after the city. This was made of fine calfskin, a predecessor of vellum. The library at Pergamum was believed to contain 200,000 volumes, which Mark Antony later gave to Cleopatra as a wedding present.( class Notes)

•The Sanctuary of Athena •The Library a.k.a. Athenaeum •The Royal palaces •Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the Trajaneum) •The Heroön - a shrine where the kings of Pergamum, particularly, Attalus I and Eumenes II, were worshipped. •The Temple of Dionysus •The Upper Agora •The Roman baths complex

4.1 Pergamum structures

4.2 Alter of Zeus.

4.3 Blueprint of the alter of Zeus.

5.3 Hasmonian Dynasty (140-37 BCE)An independent Jewish kingdom under the HasmoneanDynasty existed from 140–37 BCE. In the second centuryBCE fascination in Jerusalem for Greek culture resulted in amovement to break down the separation of Jew and Gentileand some people even tried to disguise the marks of theircircumcision. Constant fighting and disputes between theleaders of the reform movement, lead to the intervention ofAntiochus IV Epiphanies. This intervention lead tosubsequent persecution of the Jews, which resulted in TheMaccabeus Revolt under the leadership of theHasmonians, and the construction of a native Jewishkingship under the Hasmonean Dynasty. The Hasmoneandynasty was established under the leadership of SimonMaccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judah theMaccabee defeated the Seleucid army during the MaccabeanRevolt in 165BC. “ The Hasmonean Dynasty successfullysurvived for 103 years before yielding to the HerodianDynasty in 37 BC” (. Disputes between the Hasmonean rivalsAristobulus and Hyrcanus led to control of the kingdom bythe Roman army of Pompey. Then it later became, a RomanProvince which was ran by the governor of Syria.

Figure 5.1The Lineage of the Hasmonia Dynasty From Mattathias to Simon to Herod the Great who was of Iduweana lineage and was named King of the Jews by the Roman Senate.

Figure 5.2Hasmonean Dynasty Currency

 

              

                   

            

          

                 

Figure 5.3Statue of Herod the GreatMarried Miriam from the Hasmonean Dynasty and started the Hellenistic dynasty

The Hasmomean judea dynasty

Religion under the hasmonean dynasty

6.2 The territories that were incorporated into the Hasmonean Kingdom were, quickly converted to the Jewish religion with the

exceptions, of a few. The Idumeans came to exercise an important place in Jewish national

life. Galilee became one of the principal centers of Judaism. The Samaritans, were very

resistant of being converted to the Jewish religion and customs and were able to resist Jewish assimilation. Some of the cities like Apollonia and Sythopolis, with only a small Jewish element in their population, likewise

retained their non-Jewish character.

Figure 6.1Hasmonean Dynasty Map

Nabataea Empire

7.3 During the years that followed Alexander the Great, the Nabataeans managed to become a successful society in the Middle East. The Nabataeans were an Arab tribe, they traded from Gaza all the across to Negev desert and in Saudi Arabia. “They used their knowledge of sea routes and caravan routes so that they were able to form a link between eastern and western goods. They managed to take their caravans through the desert, unaffected by the local tribes who controlled wells and grazing land” (www.Nabataea.net).

Figure 7.1Map Depicting Nabataeans Empire

Figure 7.2 map showing trade route.

Nabataea culture 8.3 For centuries, the Nabataeans did not build housing or a temple.

Petra, a barren canyon, and possibly a place were they buried their dead, was where they chose to begin building. “The Nabataeans first made tented settlements on top of this mountain to serve as a refuge and a safe place to store their women, children, and goods when they were away buying and selling. Nabataeans did start building their city, they called it Rekem. This city became very famous and illustrious that it was name in the in the records of Chang Ch’ien, envoy to the Chinese Empire, (138-122 BC) as well as in the records of the civilizations of Greece, Egypt, Rome, and Byzantium where the city was known by its Roman name, Petra. They set up a trading empire that had surpassed anything seen before. Through their system of trade, they began importing goods from the east and selling them in the west. In the next few centuries they would import good such as spices, animals, iron, oil, copper, sugar, medicines, ivory, perfumes; pearls, cotton,. They also were responsible for the transfer of ideas and inventions between the great eastern and western civilization.” (www.Nabataea.net)

Figure 8.1Petra Nabataeans Empire City in the mountains

Figure 8.2Petra Nabataeans Empire City in the mountains

Bibliography

• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/searchresults?q=nabatea

• http://uidaho.edu/special-collections/rindex.htm

• http://www.livius.org/se-sg/seleucids/seleucid_kings.html

• http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/sleu/hd_sleu.htm

• http://www.livius.org

• Near Eastern Archaeology, Volume 64, No. 4, December 2001Lewis, Theodore J. (Editor) Collins, Billie Jean (Editor) Pages: 64 Publisher: American Schools of Oriental

Erskine, Andrew; The companion to the Hellenistic world, 2005, Blackwell publishing.

Green, Peter, Hellenistic history and culture, 1993; university of California press.

• http://www.abu.nb.ca/Courses/NTIntro/InTest/Images/Hasmon.html

• http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=808&pos=1

• http://www-scf.usc.edu/~ciccone/html/history%20of%20the%20revolt.htm

• http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/bible/Bible/Bible%20Atlas/093.jpg

• http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/hasmonean

• http://www.important.ca/jewish_history_judaism.html

• http://www.jafi.org.il/education/festivls/hanukah/h1.html