Simon Maccabeus and the Jewish Diaspora in 140 BC (1Macc 15:22-23)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/sefarad.024.1237Keywords:
Diaspora, Hasmoneans, Hellenism, Israel, Judaism, Simon MaccabeusAbstract
The first book of the Maccabees includes, among numerous official documents, an alliance between Rome and Simon Maccabeus (1Macc 15:16-21) which was sent to those islands, kingdoms and cities where Jewish communities existed (1Macc 15:22-23) in 142-139 BC. This article aims to examine the available literary and archaeological evidence, in order to draw the map of the Jewish Diaspora in Simon’s times. Comparing the cities, regions and States which appear in the list with archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence will allow us to confirm where there were Jewish communities in the last third of the 2nd century BC, and where we have later evidence. Likewise, this paper studies those cities which are not mentioned in the list, although they also had Jewish communities.
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