This section provides a salient chronology for Judah 170-37 CE. The Hasmonaeans were a dynasty of Judean rulers and high priests 142-37 BCE.
| 170/169 | Sabbatical Year 3592 AM (170Ti/169Ti). |
| 168/167 | Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) defiled the Temple and Altar at Jerusalem. On “the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side” (1 Maccabees 1:54 KJV). “On the fifteenth of Casleu, he had an idol of Zeus Olympus setup in the Holy of Holies and swine sacrificed on the Altar of Burnt Offerings” (1 Maccabees 1:59 KJV). Antiochus IV further issued decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice. A rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean, sparked the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods. (145 SE = 168Ni/167Ni BCE). |
| 165/164 | At the First Battle of Beth-Zur, Judas Maccabaeus and his army defeated the Seleucid military commanded by Lysias in open battle (1 Maccabees 4:28-34; 2 Maccabees 11:5) cf. Josephus, Antiquities 12.7§313 (Whiston, 1987, p. 327). The Seleucids withdrew and Lysias returned to Antioch. Following their victory, the Maccabees took down the defiled Altar of Burnt Offering at Jerusalem. They stored its stones pending their disposition. They then constructed a new Altar and ritually purified it for eight days (1 Maccabees 4:56 KJV). The priests began purifying the altar with sacrifices “on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, which is called the month Casleu [now Kislev], in the hundred forty and eighth year” (1 Maccabees 4:52 KJ). Priestly Course 23 (Delaiah) reported for duty on Kislev 23, 165 BCE (Nov. 15). The purification began Kislev 25, 3597 AM (Mon., Nov. 17) and the dedication on the eighth day, Tevet 2, 3597 AM (Mon., Dec. 1, 165 BCE) during the service of Priestly Course 24 (Maaziah). As Course 1 (Jehoiarib) served June 21, 165, Course 24 (Maaziah) was in service at the dedication. This formal purification was the first call for the Jewish people to observe the Festival of Hanukkah (1 Maccabees 4:59). (148 SE = 165Ni/164Ni BCE). (3597 AM = 165Ti/164Ti). |
| 164/163 | Allegedly, when Epiphanes laid dying, “he called his friends to him, and told them that his distemper was severe upon him; and confessed withal, that this calamity was sent upon him for the miseries he had brought upon the Jewish nation, while he plundered their temple, and contemned their God; and when he had said this, he gave up the ghost” (Josephus, Antiquities 12.9.1§357); (Whiston, 1987, p. 330). Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) died, presumably in the summer of 164 BCE as it was the traditional time of making war, in the hundred forty and ninth year (1 Maccabees 6:16 KJV). (149 SE = 164Ni/163Ni BCE). A Sabbatical year (3598 AM = 164Ti/163Ti). |
| 163/162 | Judas Maccabeus organized an effort to besiege and liberate the Acra (the Citadel) at Jerusalem in the hundred and fiftieth year (1 Maccabees 6:20 KJ). Syrian General Lysias, Regent of nine year old Antiochus V (Eupator), raised an invasion force of 120,000 fighting men and moved to quash the Maccabean revolt in Judea. During the siege of Jerusalem, Lysias learns of an attempt by Eupator’s adversary Phillip to seize Seleucid throne necessitating redeployment of the army to Antioch. In reaction, the Seleucids (Syrians) make a hasty peace with the Hasmoneans but before they withdrew raze the walls of Jerusalem as a precautionary defense measure. (150 SE = 163Ni/162Ni BCE). (3599 AM = 163Ti/162Ti BCE). |
| 162/161 | The first year of independent Hasmonean rule in Jerusalem was 162Ni/161Ni BCE. The Syrians, by default, permitted the Hasmoneans to govern according to traditional Jewish law. (149 SE = 162Ni/161Ni BCE). (3600 AM = 162Ti/161Ti BCE). |
| 156/155 | Sabbatical Year 3606 AM (156Ti/155Ti BCE). (155 SE = 156Ni/155Ni BCE). |
| 149/148 | Sabbatical Year 3613 AM (149Ti/148Ti BCE). (162 SE = 149Ni/148Ni BCE). |
| 142/141 | Sabbatical Year 3620 AM (142Ti/141Ti BCE). Jubilee 8 began on Tishri 10, 3620 AM (Sat., Sept. 27, 142 BCE). (3620 AM = 142Ti/141Ti BCE). 1 Maccabees 13:41-42 “In the one hundred seventieth year the yoke of the Gentiles was removed from Israel, and the people began to write in their documents and contracts, ‘In the first year of Simon the great high priest and commander and leader of the Jews.'” (1 Maccabees 13:41-42 NRSV). Simon the Hasmonean began construction to expand the Temple.* The second call for the Jewish people to observe the Festival of Hanukkah in the first year of Simon the Hasmonean (2 Maccabees 1:9). 170 SE = 141Ni/140Ni BCE). (3620 AM = 142Ti/141Ti BCE). |
| 164/163 | On Kislev 24 , 3637 AM (Sun., Nov. 29, 124 BCE) This dedication was the second call to celebrate the Festival of Hanukkah. |
| 124/123 | The enlarged Temple dedicated by John Hyrcanus (the son of Simon). The third and final call for the Jewish people to observe the Festival of Hanukkah.* |
| 93/92 | Sabbatical year 3669 AM (93Ti/92Ti). Jubilee 9 (started Mon., Tishri 10, 3669 AM). |
| 65/64 | Sabbatical year 3697 AM (65Ti/64Ti). |
| 63/62 | Pompey took Jerusalem, on the Day of Atonement, Tishri 10, 3699 AM (Wed., Sept. 23, 63 BCE). Upon entering the city, Pompey and others with him entered the Temple, thereby defiling it (Josephus, Antiquities 14.4.4§72); (Whiston, 1987, p. 370). Judea became a protectorate of Rome. |
| 58/57 | Sabbatical Year 3704 AM (58Ti/57Ti BCE). |
| 44/43 | Sabbatical Year 3718 AM (44Ti/43Ti BCE). Jubilee 10 began on Tishri 10, 3718 AM (Sat., Sept. 23, 44 BCE). |
| 40/39 | Herod the Great secured the title “King of the Jews” by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE (Josephus, Wars 1.284), and with the aid of Roman military support, secured his position in 37 BCE, ending Hasmonean rule. |
| 38/37 | The final year of Hasmonean rule in Jerusalem was 38Ni/37Ni. The Hasmoneans ruled precisely 125 years confirming 36Ni/37Ni BCE as Herod’s first year as King at Jerusalem (Josephus, Antiquities 17.6.3§162); (Whiston, 1987, p. 461. The first year Hasmonean rule in Jerusalem was 162Ni/161Ni BCE and the final year was 38Ni/37Ni. |
| 37/36 | Sabbatical Year 3725 AM (37Ti/36Ti BCE). After a siege of five months, Jerusalem fell Sat., Oct. 5, 37 BCE to Marc Anthony and Herod on the Day of Atonement (Josephus, Antiquities 14.16.2§§470-475; 14.16.4§487), (Whiston, 1987, p. 395-397). Antigonus’ execution by beheading fell soon thereafter. The ecclesiastical year 37Ni/36Ni BCE), by inclusive reckoning, was the first regnal year of Herod the Great at Jerusalem and inclusively the 27th year from when Pompey took Jerusalem in 63 BCE on the Day of Atonement (September 23, 63 BCE). |
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