Maccabean revolt - wikipedia Maccabean revolt Maccabean Revolt Judea under Judas Maccabeus during the revolt Date 167 -- 160 BC Location Judea ( then part of Coele - Syria ) Result Judean sovereignty, later developed into the Hasmonean dynasty Belligerents Maccabees Seleucid Empire Commanders and leaders Mattathias Judah Maccabee ( KIA ) Jonathan Apphus Eleazar Avaran ( KIA ) Simon Thassi John Gaddi ( KIA ) Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus V Eupator Demetrius I Soter Lysias Gorgias Nicanor ( KIA ) Bacchides Units involved Judean / Maccabean rebels Seleucid army Maccabean Revolt Ma'aleh Levona Beth Horon Emmaus Beth Zur Dathema Beth Zechariah Salama Adasa Elasa The Maccabean Revolt ( Hebrew : מרד החשמונאים ‎ ‎ ; Greek : Επανάσταση των Μακκαβαίων ) was a Jewish rebellion, lasting from 167 to 160 BC, led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and the Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. Contents 1 Timeline 2 Battles 3 Studies 4 Legacy 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Timeline In the narrative of I Maccabees, after Antiochus issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice, a rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean, sparked the revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods. Mattathias killed a Hellenistic Jew who stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias ' place. He and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judah. After Mattathias ' death about one year later in 166 BC, his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucid dynasty in guerrilla warfare, which at first was directed against Hellenized Jews, of whom there were many. The Maccabees destroyed pagan altars in the villages, circumcised boys and forced Hellenized Jews into outlawry. The term Maccabees as used to describe the Jewish army is taken from the Hebrew word for `` hammer ''. The revolt itself involved many battles, in which the light, quick and mobile Maccabean forces gained notoriety among the slow and bulky Seleucid army, and also for their use of guerrilla tactics. After the victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Maccabee as high priest. A large Seleucid army was sent to quash the revolt, but returned to Syria on the death of Antiochus IV. Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Seleucid affairs, agreed to a political compromise that restored religious freedom. Battles Tomb of the Maccabees near present - day Mevo Modi'im Battle of Wadi Haramia ( 167 BC ) Battle of Beth Horon ( 166 BC ) Battle of Emmaus ( 166 BC ) Battle of Beth Zur ( 164 BC ) Battle of Beth Zechariah ( 162 BC ) Battle of Adasa ( 161 BC ) Battle of Elasa ( 160 BC ) Studies Mattathias slaying the Jewish apostate, painting by Philippe De Loutherbourg In the First and Second Books of the Maccabees, the Maccabean Revolt is described as a response to cultural oppression and national resistance to a foreign power. Modern scholars, however, argue that the king intervened in a civil war between traditionalist Jews in the countryside and Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem. As Joseph P. Schultz puts it : `` Modern scholarship... considers the Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp. '' Professor John Ma of Oxford University argues that the main sources indicate that the loss of religious and civil rights by the Jews in 168 BC was not the result of religious persecution but rather an administrative punishment by the Seleucid Empire in the aftermath of local unrest, and that the Temple was restored upon petition by the High Priest Menelaus, not liberated and rededicated by the Maccabees. However, his theories are speculative. Legacy The Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple following Judah Maccabee 's victory over the Seleucids. According to Rabbinic tradition, the victorious Maccabees could only find a small jug of oil that had remained uncontaminated by virtue of a seal, and although it only contained enough oil to sustain the Menorah for one day, it miraculously lasted for eight days, by which time further oil could be procured. See also Ancient Greece portal Judaism portal War portal Jewish military history List of conflicts in the Near East Second Temple period References Jump up ^ Nicholas de Lange ( ed. ), The Illustrated History of the Jewish People, London, Aurum Press, 1997, ISBN 1 - 85410 - 530 - 2 Jump up ^ The Maccabees / Hasmoneans : History & Overview ( 166 - 129 BC ) Jewish Virtual Library Jump up ^ Telushkin, Joseph ( 1991 ). Jewish Literacy : The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History. W. Morrow. p. 114. ISBN 0 - 688 - 08506 - 7. Jump up ^ Johnston, Sarah Iles ( 2004 ). Religions of the Ancient World : A Guide. Harvard University Press. p. 186. ISBN 0 - 674 - 01517 - 7. Jump up ^ Greenberg, Irving ( 1993 ). The Jewish Way : Living the Holidays. Simon & Schuster. p. 29. ISBN 0 - 671 - 87303 - 2. Jump up ^ Schultz, Joseph P. ( 1981 ). Judaism and the Gentile Faiths : Comparative Studies in Religion. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 155. ISBN 0 - 8386 - 1707 - 7. Jump up ^ Ma, John. `` Re-examining Hanukkah '', The Marginalia Review of the Book, July 9, 2013 Jump up ^ Talmud, Tractate Shabbat External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maccabean Revolt. Maccabean Revolt at Oxford Bibliographies Maccabean Revolt at the Aish HaTorah website Texts on Wikisource : Book XII of the Antiquities of the Jews Book I of The Jewish War Ancient Greek wars Mycenaean Trojan War Archaic First Messenian War Lelantine War Second Messenian War First Sacred War Sicilian Wars Classical Greco - Persian Wars Aeginetan War Wars of the Delian League First Peloponnesian War Second Sacred War Samian War Second Peloponnesian War Phyle Campaign Corinthian War Boeotian War Wars of the Theban hegemony Theban -- Spartan War Social War ( 357 -- 355 BC ) Third Sacred War Foreign War Rise of Macedon Wars of Alexander the Great Hellenistic Lamian War Wars of the Diadochi Antigonid -- Nabataean confrontations Seleucid -- Mauryan war Pyrrhic War Syrian Wars Pyrrhus ' invasion of the Peloponnese Chremonidean War Seleucid -- Parthian wars Cleomenean War War against Lyctus Social War ( 220 -- 217 BC ) First Macedonian War Cretan War Second Macedonian War Roman -- Seleucid War Aetolian War War against Nabis Galatian War Third Macedonian War Maccabean Revolt Seleucid Dynastic Wars Fourth Macedonian War Achaean War Mithridatic Wars ( First, Second, Third ) Final War of the Roman Republic Military history Hanukkah Traditions Symbols Menorah ( Hanukiah ) Dreidel ( Sevivon ) Gelt Public menorah Foods Latkes ( Levivot ) Sufganiyah Buñuelos Music `` Ma'oz Tzur ( Rock of Ages ) '' `` Dreidel Song '' `` Oh Chanukah '' `` The Chanukah Song '' Other Chrismukkah Thanksgivukkah Hanukkah bush Maccabean Revolt Events Seleucid Empire Temple in Jerusalem Maccabees Hasmonean Kingdom Historical accounts 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Miracle of the cruse of oil People Mattathias Simeon Eleazar Jonathan Judah Antiochus IV Epiphanes List of rulers Battles Ma'aleh Levona Beth Horon Emmaus Beth Zur Beth Zechariah Adasa Dathema Elasa Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maccabean_Revolt&oldid=800756914 '' Categories : 160s BC 2nd - century BC conflicts 2nd century BC in the Hasmonean Kingdom 2nd - century BCE Judaism Coele - Syria Jewish rebellions Jewish religious nationalism Jewish Seleucid history Maccabees Rebellions against empires Rebellions in Asia Religion - based wars Revolts in Greek Antiquity Wars involving the Seleucid Empire Wars of ancient Israel Hidden categories : Articles containing Hebrew - language text Articles containing Greek - language text Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Brezhoneg Čeština Dansk Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia עברית Bahasa Melayu 日本 語 پنجابی Polski Русский Simple English Slovenčina اردو Tiếng Việt 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 15 September 2017, at 13 : 40. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what specific events led to the maccabean revolt
Answer: Antiochus issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice