Home Region:  Levant (Southwest Asia)

Yehuda

D G SC WF HS CC PT EQ 2020  il_judea / IlJudea

Preceding:
[continuity; Seleucid Empire] [continuity]   Update here
Add one more here.

Succeeding:
No Polity found. Add one here.

The Judea (originally Yehuda) polity of 141 - 63 BCE was formed when Simon Thassi, brother of the executed Jonathan Apphus who had waged war against the Seleucids, was elected as High King and Prince in a popular assembly in 141 BCE. Simon achieved a measure of quasi-independence from the Seleucids—though he remained a vassal and the population retained strong elements of Hellenism.
According to archaeologists, it seems that Galilee was only sparsely settled before this period, and that the conquering of territories and increase in Jewish communities coming into the area contributed to the rise in permanent settlements and population during this time. However, agreements over the population differs widely, with estimates on the largest settlement, Jerusalem, ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 people. [1] [2] [3]
Judea was a sophisticated, well-organised and equipped society, with markets, established trade routes, water transportation infrastructure, aqueducts and cisterns, temples and palaces, sporting arenas, libraries, and many other modern features. [4] [5] [6]

[1]: Leibner (2009:319).

[2]: Broshi (1978).

[3]: Geva (2013).

[4]: Chanson (2002:56).

[5]: Netzer (2001:13-39).

[6]: See the Specialized Buildings section for more information from our expert

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
36 S  
Original Name:
Yehuda  
Capital:
Jerusalem  
Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
105 BCE  
Duration:
[141 BCE ➜ 63 BCE]  
Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
vassalage to [---]  
nominal allegiance to [---]  
none  
Supracultural Entity:
Jewish diaspora  
Succeeding Entity:
Late Roman Republic  
Scale of Supracultural Interaction:
100,000 km2  
Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity  
Preceding Entity:
UNCLEAR:    [continuity]  
Degree of Centralization:
confederated state  
Language
Linguistic Family:
Semitic  
Indo-European  
Language:
Aramaic  
Hebrew  
Greek  
Religion
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
[10,000 to 100,000] people  
Polity Territory:
[5,000 to 10,000] km2  
Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
3  
Professions
Professional Soldier:
present  
Professional Priesthood:
present  
Professional Military Officer:
present  
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
inferred present  
Irrigation System:
present  
Food Storage Site:
present  
Drinking Water Supply System:
present  
Transport Infrastructure
Road:
inferred present  
Port:
present  
Canal:
absent  
Bridge:
present  
Special-purpose Sites
Mines or Quarry:
present  
Information / Writing System
Written Record:
present  
Script:
present  
Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
present  
Nonwritten Record:
unknown  
Mnemonic Device:
inferred present  
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
unknown  
Sacred Text:
present  
Religious Literature:
present  
Practical Literature:
present  
Philosophy:
unknown  
Lists Tables and Classification:
inferred present  
History:
present  
Fiction:
present  
Calendar:
present  
Information / Money
Token:
unknown  
Precious Metal:
present  
Paper Currency:
absent  
Indigenous Coin:
present  
Foreign Coin:
present  
Article:
unknown  
Information / Postal System
Postal Station:
unknown  
General Postal Service:
unknown  
Courier:
inferred present  
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
  Wooden Palisade:
unknown  
  Stone Walls Non Mortared:
present  
  Stone Walls Mortared:
present  
  Settlements in a Defensive Position:
present  
  Modern Fortification:
absent  
  Moat:
unknown  
  Fortified Camp:
inferred present  
  Earth Rampart:
present  
  Ditch:
present  
  Complex Fortification:
present  
  Long Wall:
absent  
Military use of Metals
  Steel:
present  
absent  
  Iron:
inferred present  
  Copper:
unknown  
  Bronze:
inferred present  
Projectiles
  Tension Siege Engine:
inferred present  
  Sling Siege Engine:
absent  
  Sling:
present  
  Self Bow:
present  
  Javelin:
inferred present  
  Handheld Firearm:
absent  
  Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
absent  
  Crossbow:
absent  
  Composite Bow:
present  
  Atlatl:
absent  
Handheld weapons
  War Club:
unknown  
  Sword:
present  
  Spear:
present  
  Polearm:
absent  
  Dagger:
unknown  
  Battle Axe:
inferred present  
Animals used in warfare
  Horse:
present  
  Elephant:
absent  
  Donkey:
inferred present  
  Dog:
absent  
  Camel:
inferred present  
Armor
  Wood Bark Etc:
present  
  Shield:
present  
  Scaled Armor:
inferred present  
  Plate Armor:
absent  
  Limb Protection:
inferred present  
  Leather Cloth:
present  
  Laminar Armor:
inferred present  
  Helmet:
present  
  Chainmail:
inferred present  
inferred absent  
  Breastplate:
inferred present  
Naval technology
  Specialized Military Vessel:
unknown  
  Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
unknown  
  Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
inferred present  
Religion Tolerance Nothing coded yet.
Human Sacrifice Nothing coded yet.
Crisis Consequences Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions Nothing coded yet.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Yehuda (il_judea) was in:
 (103 BCE 62 BCE)   Galilee
Home NGA: Galilee

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
36 S

Original Name:
Yehuda

In the Hebrew, יהודה. Named after the most powerful of the pre-Exile tribes which were described as remaining loyal to the Davidic dynasty.


Capital:
Jerusalem



Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
105 BCE

This approximates the high point of the rule of John Hyrcanus, who engaged in significant conquests. After his death in 104 BCE, his sons and grandsons engaged in frequent intrigues and civil wars involving much loss of life. While Alexander Jannaeus briefly conquered additional territory in the Transjordan, he soon lost it and much of Hyrcanus’ earlier conquests following the disastrous Battle of Gadara in 93 BCE.


Duration:
[141 BCE ➜ 63 BCE]

Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
vassalage to [---]

While Judea was technically a vassalage of the Seleucids in the earlier period, Jonathan and Simon assiduously played both sides of the Seleucid succession struggles against the middle, at times winning considerable practical autonomy. Circa 116 or 115 BCE, John Hyrcanus I broke away from the crippled Seleucid Empire and followed an independent policy, which lasted until his feuding descendants invited Pompey in.

Suprapolity Relations:
nominal allegiance to [---]

While Judea was technically a vassalage of the Seleucids in the earlier period, Jonathan and Simon assiduously played both sides of the Seleucid succession struggles against the middle, at times winning considerable practical autonomy. Circa 116 or 115 BCE, John Hyrcanus I broke away from the crippled Seleucid Empire and followed an independent policy, which lasted until his feuding descendants invited Pompey in.

Suprapolity Relations:
none

While Judea was technically a vassalage of the Seleucids in the earlier period, Jonathan and Simon assiduously played both sides of the Seleucid succession struggles against the middle, at times winning considerable practical autonomy. Circa 116 or 115 BCE, John Hyrcanus I broke away from the crippled Seleucid Empire and followed an independent policy, which lasted until his feuding descendants invited Pompey in.


Supracultural Entity:
Jewish diaspora

Succeeding Entity:
Late Roman Republic

Two brothers of the Hasmonean dynasty, King Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, contended for the throne in continual civil wars and intrigues from 67-63 BCE. Finally each appealed to the Romans in Syria under Pompey the Great to intervene on his side. [1] Pompey, seeing the opportunity, intervened on the side of the ineffectual Hyrcanus, besieged Jerusalem and took it in 63 BCE, and absorbed Judea into the Roman Empire as a protectorate.

[1]: E.g. Josephus, cited in Eshel (2008:140).


Scale of Supracultural Interaction:
100,000 km2

km squared. This crude approximation reflects the substantial Jewish populations in Egypt and Mesopotamia.


Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity

This coding is arguable. The code book doesn’t have a good descriptor for "successful political rebellion"; the new elites who ejected the Seleucids, the Hasmonean dynasty, were native to Judea, so "elite migration" doesn’t really fit either. "Cultural assimilation" might fit, perhaps. At any rate, in 153 BCE the Hasmonean leader Jonathan "Apphus," having led a years-long guerrilla war against the Seleucids after the death of his brother (Judah the Maccabbi), was confirmed as High Priest and ruler of the Jews as a vassal of the Seleucid claimant Alexander Balas. In the swirl of conflict over the Seleucid throne, Jonathan fell into a trap and was executed in 142 BCE; he was succeeded by his brother Simon, who achieved a measure of quasi-independence from the Seleucids—though he remained a vassal and the population retained strong elements of Hellenism. Simon was confirmed as High King and Prince in a popular assembly in 141 BCE.


Preceding Entity:
Seleucid Empire

This coding is arguable. The code book doesn’t have a good descriptor for "successful political rebellion"; the new elites who ejected the Seleucids, the Hasmonean dynasty, were native to Judea, so "elite migration" doesn’t really fit either. "Cultural assimilation" might fit, perhaps. At any rate, in 153 BCE the Hasmonean leader Jonathan "Apphus," having led a years-long guerrilla war against the Seleucids after the death of his brother (Judah the Maccabbi), was confirmed as High Priest and ruler of the Jews as a vassal of the Seleucid claimant Alexander Balas. In the swirl of conflict over the Seleucid throne, Jonathan fell into a trap and was executed in 142 BCE; he was succeeded by his brother Simon, who achieved a measure of quasi-independence from the Seleucids—though he remained a vassal and the population retained strong elements of Hellenism. Simon was confirmed as High King and Prince in a popular assembly in 141 BCE.


Degree of Centralization:
confederated state

Language
Linguistic Family:
Semitic
Linguistic Family:
Indo-European

Language:
Aramaic

Hebrew was mostly displaced by Aramaic in the aftermath of the Babylonian exile c. 582 BCE; however, both languages continued to be spoken in daily life, with Hebrew especially retaining religious importance even as Aramaic gained relatively greater importance as a vernacular. It had once been believed by scholars that Aramaic had replaced Hebrew altogether (outside of religious contexts), but newer archaeological evidence has shown that view to be mistaken. [1] Greek, meanwhile, was introduced by the Macedonian Empire and reinforced during the rule of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, and was additionally important as a trade language.

[1]: Cf. Buth/Notley (2014).

Language:
Hebrew

Hebrew was mostly displaced by Aramaic in the aftermath of the Babylonian exile c. 582 BCE; however, both languages continued to be spoken in daily life, with Hebrew especially retaining religious importance even as Aramaic gained relatively greater importance as a vernacular. It had once been believed by scholars that Aramaic had replaced Hebrew altogether (outside of religious contexts), but newer archaeological evidence has shown that view to be mistaken. [1] Greek, meanwhile, was introduced by the Macedonian Empire and reinforced during the rule of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, and was additionally important as a trade language.

[1]: Cf. Buth/Notley (2014).

Language:
Greek

Hebrew was mostly displaced by Aramaic in the aftermath of the Babylonian exile c. 582 BCE; however, both languages continued to be spoken in daily life, with Hebrew especially retaining religious importance even as Aramaic gained relatively greater importance as a vernacular. It had once been believed by scholars that Aramaic had replaced Hebrew altogether (outside of religious contexts), but newer archaeological evidence has shown that view to be mistaken. [1] Greek, meanwhile, was introduced by the Macedonian Empire and reinforced during the rule of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, and was additionally important as a trade language.

[1]: Cf. Buth/Notley (2014).


Religion

Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
[10,000 to 100,000] people

Inhabitants. The population size of Jerusalem is the subject of wildly different views. Tacitus believed that during the Jewish revolt of 66-73 CE (some years after the Hasmonean period ended), Jerusalem had some 600,000 inhabitants; archaeological estimates of the population within the defensive walls range between 80,000 [1] and 20,000 [2] (which is almost certainly far too low; Geva assumes that much of the enclosed territory of Jerusalem was actually uninhabited, being royal or Temple precincts, but it is hard to imagine that such extensive buildings and fortifications could have been produced by so few people). Both estimates are based on population-density coefficients; however, it is not clear that the coefficients in use are reasonable. "Some of the densities recently put forward for area coefficients have been based on unwalled, premodern villages…. How similar is such a village to a walled Bronze or Iron Age town or city? Although this is not a case of comparing apples and oranges (more like oranges and grapefruit), it seems probable that the economic constraints of building a defensive system put a permanent physical limit on the settlement area," leading to higher population densities. [3] (Another possibility that I have seen noted, but not in the scholarly literature, is that much of the population associated with a given ANE city might not have lived inside its walls at all, but would be semi-nomadic pastoralists circulating within its economic orbit. Such pastoralists would leave little trace archaeologically, which would pose problems for conventional population estimates.)
In any event, Jerusalem is generally believed to have grown significantly under the rule of Herod Antipas, immediately after the Hasmonean era ended.

[1]: Broshi (1978).

[2]: Geva (2013).

[3]: Zorn (1994:33)


Polity Territory:
[5,000 to 10,000] km2

in squared kilometers. Very rough estimate from the varying descriptions of Judean territory. Records are not precise enough to provide finer-grained estimates by king.


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
3

levels.
Speaking exclusively of Southeastern Galilee, Leibner comments: "[Almost] all of the large settlements (20 dunams and greater) are located at the margins of the valleys or abutting extensive patches of alluvial soil…. This is also true among the smaller sites; most are located in proximity to extensive agricultural plains.… [and] near a permanent water source. The pattern that emerges is of a series of medium and large-sized settlements near extensive areas suitable for agriculture… most fortified or at the very least with natural fortifications. In addition to these, there are a few small settlements [of less than 10 dunams area], mostly in fortified locations, with no small farms at all in the agricultural areas." [1]
1. Capital (Jerusalem)2. Large and medium-sized settlements3. Small settlements

[1]: Leibner (2009: 318-319).


Professions
Professional Soldier:
present

Professional Priesthood:
present

The priestly caste that served in the Temple.


Professional Military Officer:
present

Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
present

Judea was a fully commercial society. Markets are frequently referenced in Talmudic accounts.


Irrigation System:
present

For example, the Wadi Qelt irrigation system built by Alexander Jannaeus. [1]

[1]: Chanson (2002:56).


Food Storage Site:
present

The Temple in Jerusalem had grain stores, and the Hasmonean kings also had food stores which could be distributed in case of famine, e.g.: "Antigonus wrote to the city of Teos that if the need for grain arose it could be supplied from his own nearby sources." [1]

[1]: Pastor (2013:59).


Drinking Water Supply System:
present

Several aqueducts and cisterns have been found that date to this period or earlier, in particular the so-called "Lower Aqueduct" of Jerusalem, which is generally believed to have been built by the Hasmoneans themselves circa 150 BCE.


Transport Infrastructure
Road:
present

Most roads were worn dirt paths, with some stone reinforcement; but it is reasonable to suppose that given the importance of caravan trade, the regime would have spent effort maintaining the vital coastal route Via Maris at least.


Port:
present

The port of Acre was captured by the original Hasmonean revolt; additionally, Alexander Jannaeus took control of the ports of Dor and Caesaria.


Canal:
absent

At least for transportation purposes; however, the so-called "Jerusalem Water Channel"(built by the Hasmoneans) was a massive drainage tunnel from Jerusalem into the Tyropoeon Valley, built with heavy stone and measuring about a kilometer. [1]

[1]: See the website of the excavation here.


Bridge:
present

A large bridge spanned the Tyropoeon Valley, connecting the palace and the Temple Mount to the Upper City of Jerusalem, which is believed to have been built by the early Hasmoneans. This was destroyed during the siege of Pompey in 65 BCE by the city’s defenders.


Special-purpose Sites
Mines or Quarry:
present

Precious metals do not seem to have been mined locally; over 95% of Hasmonean-minted bronze coins were made of metals believed to have originated in Cyprus. [1] However, as was true in previous eras, several stone quarries were in use. Among them was a Samara-stone quarry near Jericho, used for decorative architecture. [2]

[1]: Epstein et al. (2010).

[2]: Peleg-Barkat (2013).


Information / Writing System
Written Record:
present

Both the "square script" (also called ashurit, "Assyrian") and the older Phoenician-style scripts of Hebrew.


Script:
present

Both the "square script" (also called ashurit, "Assyrian") and the older Phoenician-style scripts of Hebrew.


Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
present

Both the "square script" (also called ashurit, "Assyrian") and the older Phoenician-style scripts of Hebrew.


Nonwritten Record:
unknown

Both the "square script" (also called ashurit, "Assyrian") and the older Phoenician-style scripts of Hebrew.


Mnemonic Device:
present

At a minimum, the scholarly community of Rabbinic Judaism made constant use of memorization and mnemonics, since it was forbidden for the Oral Law to be written down. (The precise date at which the Rabbinic academies began is a matter of scholarly dispute, but Rabbinic tradition records several generations of leaders prior to Shimon ben Shetach, who was a contemporary of King Alexander Jannaeus.)


Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
unknown

Sacred Text:
present

Even according to the least sympathetic scholarly views, the Torah (Pentateuch) had existed for several hundred years by this point. [tk]


Religious Literature:
present

Several books of the Apocrypha were written during this period, such as the Wisdom of Ben Sirach (AKA Ecclesiasticus), circa 190 BCE; and later sections of the Book of Enoch, circa first or second centuries BCE. [1] The Dead Sea Scrolls were also written during this period.

[1]: Cf. Mendels (1987).


Practical Literature:
present

The Wisdom of Ben Sirach devotes much of its text to practical advice on commerce, social relationships, and ethical living. It was studied and popularly referenced for centuries, as the Talmud notes with some disapproval (see Sanhedrin 100b).


Philosophy:
unknown

Lists Tables and Classification:
present

Presuming that as in previous ages, administrative records were written.


History:
present

Several figures close to the Hasmonean regimes produced historical or pseudo-historical works, including the Books of Maccabees and Eupolemus’ On The Kings of Judea. [1]

[1]: Cf. Mendels (1987).


Fiction:
present

At a bare minimum, the Wisdom of Sirach contains several poems.


Calendar:
present

Aside from the Rabbinic calendar, whose months were determined by observation of each New Moon, several fixed calendars were in use. The so-called Qumran Calendar of 364 days is attested to in several of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the similar Enoch Calendar is described in the Book of Enoch. [1]

[1]: Cf. Pratt (2000).


Information / Money
Token:
unknown

Precious Metal:
present

Paper Currency:
absent

Indigenous Coin:
present

In 138 BCE, King Antiochus VII gave Simon the right to mint coins. [1] No coins from his rule have been found, but bronze perutot have been recovered from the reigns of Yochanan Hyrcanus (either the First, Second, or both), Alexander Yannai, and Matityahu Antigonus.

[1]: Reifenberg (1965:10).


Foreign Coin:
present

Greek and later Roman coinage would have been typical, and the Temple tax (see below) was paid exclusively with Tyrian coins. [1] Two Roman silver denarii have been found with likely allusions to the Hasmoneans, including one marked "BACCIUS JUDAEAS"; possibly they were used in trade between Rome and Judea. (Repeatedly referenced in nonacademic discussions, but I have not found the original source.)

[1]: Regev (2013:74).


Article:
unknown

Information / Postal System
Postal Station:
unknown

General Postal Service:
unknown

Courier:
present

The regime would have needed them, and many surrounding polities had used couriers for centuries.


Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:
unknown

These would likely have only been used in hasty fortifications; improved battering rams and siege engines forced builders to use stone when they could, and brick as a last resort. [1]

[1]: Rocca (2008).


Stone Walls Non Mortared:
present

“…a new type of stone dressing developed in the mid second century BC. Stones were cut with façades showing bosses and polished margins on all sides, and not only on one vertical and one horizontal side as during the Iron Age and at the beginning of this period. The blocks were normally laid and set in walls according to the ‘headers and stretchers’ tradition, as in the walls of Hasmonaean fortifications. Generally, on flat terrain city walls followed the city’s trace. On hilly sites, as in Hasmonaean Jerusalem, there is a curious incongruity between the town plan and the city walls: while the city’s shape maintained a rigid orthogonal system, the city walls seemed to take topographical features into consideration." [1]

[1]: Rocca (2008).


Stone Walls Mortared:
present

Smaller fortifications were often mortared.


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
present

True at minimum in the Galilee; those settlements which lacked walls were almost exclusively built to take advantage of natural fortifications. [1]

[1]: Leibner (2009: 318-319).


Modern Fortification:
absent

Moat:
unknown

Fortified Camp:
present

Present in preceding polities.


Earth Rampart:
present

As was the practice back into Canaanite times, fortifications were often built on a glacis, a mound of angled earth that was sometimes stabilized with crushed stone or retaining walls. An example can be found at the winter-palace complex. [1]

[1]: Netzer (2001:28).


Ditch:
present

A defensive moat is attested to at the winter-palace complex near Jericho, dug 7 meters deep, with the outer edge topped with a 3-meter wall. [1]

[1]: Netzer (2001:28).


Complex Fortification:
present

The fortified winter palace featured an outer wall, a defensive moat, and an inner wall and towers. [1]

[1]: Netzer (2001:27-28).


Long Wall:
absent

Military use of Metals
Steel:
present

"It is believed that Indian steel was exported in the early centuries A.D. and was known even in the time of Alexander. By the sixth century there is more definite evidence of the manufacture of Damascene swords and the steel used for this purpose came from India." [1] Steel is coding as present in previous polities.

[1]: (Abraham 1988, 171) Meera Abraham. 1988. Two medieval merchant guilds of south India. Manohar Publications.

Steel:
absent

"It is believed that Indian steel was exported in the early centuries A.D. and was known even in the time of Alexander. By the sixth century there is more definite evidence of the manufacture of Damascene swords and the steel used for this purpose came from India." [1] Steel is coding as present in previous polities.

[1]: (Abraham 1988, 171) Meera Abraham. 1988. Two medieval merchant guilds of south India. Manohar Publications.


Iron:
present

Coded as present in preceding polities


Copper:
unknown

Bronze:
present

Coded as present in preceding polities


Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:
present

I Maccabees reports (5:30) that the Maccabees captured siege engines (mekhanai in the Greek), which were later likely used in the siege of Jerusalem (6:20, 6:52). The text also describes the Jews making their own engines. [1] The tension catapult and ballista were well-known by that point, having been used for centuries by various Greek cities and especially by the Macedonian Empire.

[1]: Bar-Kokhva (1989:81).


Sling Siege Engine:
absent

Not known outside of China until the 6th Century CE.


Sling:
present

Used in the region for at least the previous millennium, and still effective in contemporary militaries such as that of Carthage. “The [Hasmonean] infantry probably included lightly armed units of archers and slingers, semi-heavy infantry units such as the Hellenistic theurophoroi, and heavily armed infantry, organized along similar lines to the late Hellenistic phalanx.” [1] A sling bullet dated to the Hasmonean era was found at Beth Zur, the site of a battle between the Seleucid general Lysias and Judah the Maccabbi. [2]

[1]: Rocca (2008).

[2]: Pearlman (1973).


Self Bow:
present

Though not commonly used by militaries because of the prevalence of the composite bow.


Javelin:
present

A staple in Hellenic and Roman armies, and for centuries previous.


Handheld Firearm:
absent

Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
absent

Crossbow:
absent

Composite Bow:
present

A staple of the region’s militaries for the previous millennium.


Atlatl:
absent

Handheld weapons
War Club:
unknown

Sword:
present

A Roman-style gladius has been found at Jericho and dated to the middle of the second century BCE. [1] Atkinson infers that this weapon was Hasmonean, demonstrating that the Hasmoneans had adopted Hellenistic weapons. [2] (The Romans adopted the gladius in the late 3rd century BCE from the Iberians, and the Seleucid and Ptolemaic armies are known to have adopted some Roman practices.) [1]

[1]: Stiebel (2004).

[2]: Atkinson (2016:45).


Spear:
present

Josephus reports that the army of Judah the Maccabi used phalanx formations, and they would have been necessary against the Seleucid phalanx. [1]

[1]: Bar-Kokhva (1989:76).


Polearm:
absent

Dagger:
unknown

Battle Axe:
present

Common in the region for over a millennium, but during the Hellenistic era axes were typically used only by light or irregular infantry.


Animals used in warfare
Horse:
present

Cavalry was used during the later stages of the rebellion under Judah the Maccabi, and later by Simon in his campaign in 138 BCE. [1] It would have been standard once the monarchy was well established, as was typical of the time.

[1]: Bar-Kokhva (1989:69-71).


Elephant:
absent

Donkey:
present

A typical pack animal of the region.


Dog:
absent

Camel:
present

Coded as present in preceding polities.


Armor
Wood Bark Etc:
present

Only used in shields, however.


Shield:
present

Scaled Armor:
present

Attested to from the early Iron Age, its contemporary form was the lorica squamata. [1]

[1]: Rocca (2009:21).


Plate Armor:
absent

Limb Protection:
present

Present in preceding polities.


Leather Cloth:
present

Typically worn by militias or light units. Hellenic cuirasses made of leather or stiffened linen are well-attested. [1]

[1]: Rocca (2009:21).


Laminar Armor:
present

The lorica lamellata. [1]

[1]: Rocca (2009:21).


Helmet:
present

"Various types of Attic-Boeotian helmets in bronze have been found throughout the Hellenistic East…" [1]

[1]: Rocca (2009:21).


Chainmail:
present

The lorica hamata was probably in use in the Hasmonean armies; it was almost certainly used by their successor Herod. "By the 2nd century BC the lorica hamata was widespread in the neighboring Seleucid and Ptolemaic armies, which were inspired by the armor worn by the Roman Republican armies." [1]

[1]: Rocca (2009:21).

Chainmail:
absent

The lorica hamata was probably in use in the Hasmonean armies; it was almost certainly used by their successor Herod. "By the 2nd century BC the lorica hamata was widespread in the neighboring Seleucid and Ptolemaic armies, which were inspired by the armor worn by the Roman Republican armies." [1]

[1]: Rocca (2009:21).


Breastplate:
present

Suits of armor were incorporated into the funerary monument for Simon’s brothers (I Maccabees 13), suggesting a rigid body suitable for display. The "muscle cuirass" was in wide use across the Hellenic world.


Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:
unknown

Herod, successor to the Hasmoneans, likely possessed war galleys, [1] but there is little evidence one way or the other before him.

[1]: Rocca (2009:21).


Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
unknown

Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
present

Given the amount of trade taking place from Judean ports, and the amount of piracy in the Mediterranean, this is likely. Indeed, Hyrcanus II accused his brother Aristobulus of engaging in piracy himself. Various Hasmonean kings also used maritime motifs in their coinage. [1]

[1]: Patai (1999:75).



Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
- Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions