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ol the pomegranate in the center of the coin gives it a jewish aspect pomegranate appears on many hasmonean coins itamar atzmon collection family edit alexander jannaeus was the third son of john hyrcanus by his second wife when aristobulus i hyrcanus son by his first wife became king he deemed it necessary for his own security to imprison his half brother aristobulus died after a reign of one year upon his death in 103 bce his widow had alexander and his brothers released from prison one of these brothers is said to have unsuccessfully sought the throne alexander s wife and queen was salome alexandra 5 by her he had two sons the eldest hyrcanus ii became high priest in 62 bc and aristobulus ii who was high priest from 66 62 bce and started a bloody civil war with his brother ending in his capture by pompey the great like his brother alexander was an avid supporter of the aristocratic priestly faction known as the sadducees his wife salome however came from a pharisaic family her brother was simeon ben shetach a pharisee leader salome was therefore more sympathetic to their cause and protected them throughout alexander s turbulent reign like his father alexander served as high priest this raised the ire of the pharisees who insisted that these two offices should not be combined they also said that alexander was not allowed to serve as high priest because his mother had been captured and raped in modi in this infuriated the king and led him to turn against the pharisees and he persecuted them until his death 6 war with ptolemy lathyrus edit alexander s first expedition was against the city of ptolemais while alexander went ahead to besiege the city zoilus of dora took the opportunity to see if he could relieve ptolemais in hopes of establishing his rule over coastal territories alexander s hasmonean army quickly defeated zoilus s forces ptolemais then requested aid from ptolemy ix lathyros who had been banished by his mother cleopatra iii ptolemy had founded a kingdom in cyprus after being cast out by his mother 7 the situation at ptolemais was seized as an opportunity by ptolemy to possibly gain a stronghold and control the judean coast in order to invade egypt by sea an individual named demaenetus convinced the inhabitants of their imprudence in requesting ptolemy s assistance they realised that by allying themselves with ptolemy they had unintentionally declared war on cleopatra when ptolemy arrived at the city the inhabitants denied him access 7 alexander too didn t want to be involved in a war between cleopatra and ptolemy so he abandoned his campaign against ptolemais and returned to jerusalem after offering ptolemy four hundred talents and a peace treaty in return for zoilus s death alexander met him with treachery by negotiating an alliance with cleopatra once he had formed an alliance with ptolemy alexander continued his conquests by capturing the coastal cities of dora and straton s tower 8 as soon as ptolemy learned of alexander s scheme he was determined to kill him ptolemy put ptolemais under siege but left his generals to attack the city while he continued to pursue alexander ptolemy s pursuit caused much destruction in the galilee region here he captured asochis on the sabbath taking ten thousand people as prisoners ptolemy also initiated an unsuccessful attack on sepphoris 8 battle of asophon edit main article battle of asophon ptolemy and alexander engaged in battle at asophon near the jordan river estimated to have fifty to eighty thousand soldiers alexander s army consisted of both jews and pagans at the head of his armed forces were his elite pagan mercenaries they were specialised in greek style phalanx one of ptolemy s commanders philostephanus began the first attack by crossing the river that divided both forces 9 the hasmoneans had the advantage philostephanus held back a certain amount of his forces whom he sent to recover lost ground perceiving them as vast reinforcements alexander s army fled some of his retreating forces tried to push back but quickly dispersed as ptolemy s forces pursued alexander s fleeing army thirty to fifty thousand hasmonean soldiers died 9 ptolemy s forces at ptolemais succeeded in capturing the city he then continued to conquer much of the hasmonean kingdom occupying the entirety of northern judea the coast and territories east of the jordan river while doing so he pillaged villages and ordered his soldiers to butcher and boil captured women and children in a show of pretended cannibalism meant to terrorize his enemies at the time salome alexandra was notified of cleopatra s approach to judea 10 intervention of cleopatra iii edit realising that her son had amassed a formidable force in judea cleopatra appointed jewish generals ananias and chelkias to command her forces she went with a fleet towards judea when cleopatra arrived at ptolemais the people refused her entry so she besieged the city ptolemy believing syria was defenseless withdrew to cyprus after his miscalculation while in pursuit of ptolemy chelkias died in coele syria 11 the war abruptly came to an end with ptolemy fleeing to cyprus alexander then approached cleopatra bowing before her he requested to retain his rule cleopatra was urged by her subordinates to annex judea ananias demanded she consider the residential egyptian jews who were the main support of her throne this induced cleopatra to modify her longings for judea alexander met her demands and suspended his campaigns these negotiations took place at scythopolis cleopatra died five years later confident after her death alexander found himself free to continue with new campaigns 12 campaigns in transjordan and the southern coast edit the hasmonean kingdom under alexander jannaeus situation in 103 bce area conquered alexander captured gadara after a ten month siege then took the fortress of amathus where the local ruler theodorus routed his army in a surprise attack and recovered his lost treasures 13 he was more successful in his expedition against the coastal cities capturing raphia and anthedon in 96 bce jannaeus defeated the inhabitants of gaza the mediterranean outlet of the main nabataean trade route 14 alexander returned his focus back to the transjordan region where avenging his previous defeat he destroyed amathus 15 according to menahem stern one of the principal aims of nabataean policy during this period was to control the trade routes linking their capital petra with gaza and egypt and with damascus and the phoenician cities the conflict between the hasmoneans and the nabataeans in his view arose primarily from the overlapping territorial ambitions of the two kingdoms 16 ascalon by contrast remained outside the hasmonean kingdom stern argued that its alliance with egypt throughout jannaeus s reign helped shield the city from hasmonean conquest 17 battle of gaza edit undeterred by his setback at amathus alexander turned his attention to gaza alexander set his focus on gaza 18 the city was important in the regional trade system as the export port for eastern goods carried by the nabataeans and was closely linked to their kingdom 19 a victory against the city was not so easily achieved gaza s general apollodotus strategically employed a night attack against the hasmonean army with a force of two thousand less skilled soldiers and ten thousand slaves gaza s military was able to deceive the hasmonean army into believing they were being attacked by ptolemy the gazans killed many and the hasmonean army fled the battle when morning exposed the delusive tactic alexander continued his assault but lost a thousand additional soldiers 18 the gazans remained defiant in hopes that the nabataean kingdom would come to their aid the city eventually suffered defeat due to its own leadership gaza at the time was governed by two brothers lysimachus and apollodotus lysimachus convinced the people to surrender and alexander peacefully entered the city though he at first seemed peaceful alexander suddenly turned against the inhabitants some men killed their wives and children out of desperation to ensure they wouldn t be captured and enslaved others burned down their homes to prevent the soldiers from plundering the town council and five hundred civilians took refuge at the temple of apollo where alexander had them massacred 18 war with obodas i edit further information battle of gadara the judean civil war initially began after the conquest of gaza around 96 bce due to jannaeus s victory at gaza the nabataean kingdom no longer had direct access to the mediterranean sea alexander soon captured gadara which together with the loss of gaza caused the nabataeans to lose their main trade routes leading to rome and damascus he soon lost gadara and the nabataean king obodas i ambushed him in a rugged ravine near a village called gadara in gaulanitis where he was pushed by a multitude of camels and barely escaped with his life jannaeus returned to jerusalem and was met with fierce jewish opposition 20 in his war with obodas jannaeus suffered a severe defeat in the golan after obodas deployed camel mounted troops and escaped with difficulty to jerusalem 21 judean civil war edit feast of tabernacles edit during the jewish holiday sukkot alexander jannaeus while officiating as the high priest at the temple in jerusalem demonstrated his displeasure against the pharisees by refusing to perform the water libation ceremony properly instead of pouring it on the altar he poured it on his feet the crowd responded with shock at his mockery and showed their displeasure by pelting him with etrogim citrons 22 they made the situation worse by insulting him they called him a descendant of a captive woman and unsuitable to hold office and to sacrifice outraged he killed six thousand people alexander also had wooden barriers built around the altar and the temple preventing people from going near him only the priests were permitted to enter 23 this incident during the feast of tabernacles was a major factor leading up to the judean civil war 22 war with demetrius iii and conclusion of the civil war edit alexander jannaeus feasting during the crucifixion of the pharisees engraving by willem swidde 17th century after jannaeus succeeded early in the war the rebels asked for seleucid assistance judean insurgents joined forces with demetrius iii eucaerus to fight against jannaeus alexander had gathered six thousand two hundred mercenaries and twenty thousand jews for battle demetrius had forty thousand soldiers and three thousand horses there were attempts from both sides to persuade each other to abandon positions but were unsuccessful the seleucid forces defeated jannaeus at shechem and all of alexander s mercenaries were killed in battle 24 this defeat forced alexander to take refuge in the mountains in sympathy towards jannaeus six thousand judean rebels ultimately returned to him in fear of this news demetrius withdrew war between jannaeus and the rebels who returned to him continued they fought until alexander achieved victory most of the rebels died in battle while the remaining rebels fled to the city of bethoma until they were defeated 24 jannaeus had brought the surviving rebels back to jerusalem where he had eight hundred jews primarily pharisees crucified before their deaths alexander had the rebels wives and children executed before their eyes as jannaeus ate with his concubines 24 the nahum commentary a sectarian text from qumran refers to the execution of opponents by a figure identified by scholars as alexander jannaeus portrayed as the lion of wrath who hanged members of the group called the seekers after smooth things דורשי החלקות understood to be the pharisees for seeking support from demetrius king of greece 25 excavations at the modern day russian compound in jerusalem uncovered a sealed cistern containing the remains of at least 124 individuals many exhibiting signs of decapitation and deliberate trauma with no evidence of resistance or combat according to the excavators the burial may reflect a massacre of civilians carried out by alexander jannaeus 26 alexander later returned the land he had seized in moab and galaaditis from the nabataeans in order to have them end their support for the jewish rebels the remaining rebels who numbered eight thousand fled by night in fear of alexander afterward all rebel hostility ceased and alexander s reign continued undisturbed 24 final campaigns edit from 83 to 80 bce alexander continued campaigning in the east the nabataean king aretas iii managed to defeat alexander in battle near adida not far from lydda according to josephus aretas withdrew after reaching an agreement with jannaeus however alexander continued expanding the hasmonean kingdom into transjordan in gaulanitis he captured the cities of golan seleucia and gamala in galaaditis the cities of pella dium and gerasa according to josephus alexander destroyed pella because its inhabitants refused to judaize 27 aryeh kasher wrote that the extent of pella s destruction is uncertain he noted that josephus s language need not imply that the city was completely razed suggesting instead that destruction may have been directed primarily at temples and pagan monuments other public buildings associated with hellenistic civic culture such as the gymnasium and theater were possibly affected as well 28 stern noted that josephus does not explain the reversal from the agreement between aretas and jannaeus to jannaeus s subsequent conquests in transjordan in areas of strong nabataean interest he therefore argued that josephus s account omits a significant part in the sequence of events 29 the nabataeans were able to recover twelve cities they had lost in their wars with jannaeus only through negotiations with his elder son hyrcanus ii during his succession war with his younger brother aristobulus ii 30 coinage and construction projects edit jannaeus s coins are the most abundant jewish currency found at hasmonean era sites according to kenneth atkinson their low quality and high volume point to economic instability under his rule 31 he is believed to have expanded and fortified the hasmonean palace near jericho 32 death edit swimming pool at the hasmonean palace near jericho believed to have been built by alexander for the last three years of his life alexander jannaeus suffered from the combined effects of heavy drinking and quartan ague malaria 27 after a reign of 27 years he died c 76 bce at the age of fifty one during the siege of ragaba 33 in josephus s antiquities he presents an account that differs from his earlier war and syncellus s accounts according to josephus jannaeus fell fatally ill on the battlefield at ragaba with his wife salome alexandra present jannaeus instructed her to hide his death until she captured ragaba and to subsequently share power with the pharisees he also requested that she allow the pharisees to abuse his corpse believing they would then give him...