(Image: Depictions of Judah the Maccabee and the city of Hebron on Israeli post stamps. Credit: Wiki Commons / Israeli Post Office, History-of-Israel)
Hebron was the site of a decisive battle during the rebellion of the Hasmoneans against the invading Seleucid Empire. The story of Hanukkah in which the heroic Maccabees fought to reclaim the Temple from the imperialist Antiochus is well known.
Hebron’s role in the Maccabean Revolt is mentioned in the apocryphal Book of the Maccabees and in the works of the great historian Josephus.
Many of the Hasmonean battles took place in the Mount Hebron region, known today as the Hebron Hills, or Har Hevron regional council. Communities such as Beit Tzur were sites of fierce battles won by the Judean rebels.
I Maccabees 5:65 states:
“Afterward went Judas forth with his brethren, and 20 fought against the children of Esau in the land toward the south, where he smote Hebron, and the towns thereof, and pulled down the fortress of it, and burned the towers thereof round about.”
The Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus Flavius Book 12 Chapter 8 paragraph 6 states:
“But Judas and his brethren did not leave off fighting with the Idumeans, but pressed upon them on all sides, and took from them the city of Hebron, and demolished all its fortifications, and set all its towers on fire, and burnt the country of the foreigners, and the city Marissa.”
The Jewish War by Josephus Flavius Book IV Chapter 87, paragraph 7 states:
“Simon, having thus, beyond expectation, penetrated into Idumaea without bloodshed, first of all, by a sudden attack, made himself master of the city of Hebron, where he possessed himself of a vast booty, exclusive of the large supplies of corn which he seized.”
“If we are to credit the inhabitants, Hebron is not only a town of greater antiquity than any in that country, but even than Memphis in Egypt, its years being computed at two thousand three hundred. They relate that Abram, the progenitor of the Jews, here fixed his abode after his departure from Mesopotamia, and that from hence his posterity went down into Egypt. Their monuments are still shown in that town, of the most beautiful marble, and of exquisite workmanship. At the distance of six furlongs, is pointed out an immense turpentine-tree, which, if tradition is to be believed, has continued there from the creation until the present time.”
SOURCE NOTES:
* House of the Hasmoneans: The People of Israel in the Land of Israel in the Hasmonean Period by Uriel Rappaport
To visit Hebron:
United States contact info:
http://www.hebronfund.com/
1760 Ocean Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11230
718-677-6886
info@hebronfund.org
In Israel contact the offices of the Jewish Community of Hebron at:
http://en.hebron.org.il/
02-996-5333
office@hebron.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hebronofficial
United States contact info:
http://www.hebronfund.com/
1760 Ocean Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11230
718-677-6886
info@hebronfund.org
In Israel contact the offices of the Jewish Community of Hebron at:
http://en.hebron.org.il/
02-996-5333
office@hebron.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hebronofficial
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