1. The Jews in the Mediterranean world
Chapter 6, Lesson 4

2. The Arrival of Greek Rule
The Jews of Judah were ruled by the Persians for nearly 200 years.
It is almost the same time the United States has been around.
In 331 B.C., a king from Macedonia named Alexander the Great, who had conquered Greece, defeated the Persians.
He admired Greek ways and wished to spread it.
He introduced the Greek language and culture to Judah.
He allowed the Jews to stay in Judah.

3. How did Jewish Ideas Spread?
Judah remained the center of Judaism under Alexander.
Many Jews lived outside of Judah.
Thousands were exiled to Babylon in 586 B.C.
Despite the Persians allowing Jews to return to Judah many stayed in Babylon.
The Jews living outside the Jewish homeland became known as Diaspora.
Greek word meaning scattered.
They would practice their customs and overtime their ideas spread.

4. How Did Jewish Ideas Spread?
These Jews of the Diaspora remained loyal to Judaism.
Still, many adopted the Greek language and culture.
A group of Jewish scholars in Egypt copied the Hebrew Bible into Greek.
This version became known as the Septuagint (sehp-TOO-uh-juhnt) and allowed people who were not Jewish to read the Hebrew Bible.
The result was Jewish ideas spreading throughout the Mediterranean world.

5. The Revolt of Maccabeus
After Alexander’s death, four of his general would divide the land into separate kingdoms.
One kingdom spanned much of Southwest Asia and was ruled by the Seleucids (suh-LOO-suhds)
By 200 B.C., Judah was under their control
In 176 B.C., Antiochus IV (an-TEE-uh-kuhs) came to power as a Seleucids king.
Required the Jews to worship the many Greek gods and goddesses.

6. The Revolt of Maccabeus
Many Jews refused to abandon their religion.
Led by Judas Maccabeus (MAK-uh-BEE-uhs) in 167 B.C., This Jewish Priest led the fight against the Seleucid rule.
He and his followers fled to the hills and formed a rebel army known as the Maccabees.
After many battles, they successfully captured the Temple.
They cleared it of all the statues of Greek gods and goddesses and rededicated the temple to the worship of God.
Each year, Jews recall the cleansing of the temple when they celebrate the festival of Hannukkah. (HAH-nuh-kuh)

7. Roman Rule in Judea
By 100 B.C., the Romans (people from Rome) controlled much of the eastern Mediterranean lands.
Rome was located far west in what is now known as Italy.
They were led by powerful Generals and expanded their empire.
They eventually conquer Judah and rename it Judaea (joo-DEE-uh)
The Romans chose a follower of the Jewish Religion, Herod (HEHR-uhd), to rule over Judaea.
The Second Temple was built under his reign and served as the center of Jewish worship.

8. Jewish Groups After Herod’s death, Roman officials ruled over Judaea.
By this time, disagreements grew over how Judaism should be practiced.
Jews also had different views on how to deal with the Romans.
One group of Jews became known as the Pharisees (FEH-ruh-seez).
They gained the support of the common people.
Taught in the synagogues and applied the teachings of the Torah to daily life.

9. Jewish Groups
Through those teaching they made Judaism a religion of the home and family.
Sought to help people obey the commandments.
They did this through stressing written and oral laws.
The Pharisees wanted Judaea free of Roman rule.
They did not urge the Romans to fight.
Instead, they were told to resist Roman control by urging the people to practice the Torah with greater devotion (dedication)

10. Jewish Groups
Another Jewish group known as the Sadducee (Sa-juh-SEEZ) was made up of wealthy noble families.
Many served as priests and scribes in the Temple and accepted the laws of the Torah.
They were more concerned with applying laws to Temple ceremonies.
They focused on written law but rejected oral law and were in favor of cooperating with the Romans.
They sought to keep peace and order in Judaea.

11. Jewish Groups A third group was known as the Essenes (ih-SEENZ).
They were priests who had broken away from the Temple in Jerusalem.
They lived in Qumrān, an area of desert near the Dead Sea.
They lived their lives praying and waiting for God to deliver the Jews from Roman rule.
They only followed the written law of the Torah.
Centuries later, in A.D. 1947, ancient scrolls were found in the caves of Qumrān.
They became known as the Dead Sea Scrolls since the caves were close to it.

12. Jewish Groups
The scrolls were more than likely written by the Essenes and provide insight into a particular place and time.
They let us see that Judaism was not always an established religion.
They show us that not everyone practiced Judaism the same during the Roman’s rule.
Some scroll tell a story of a group of Exiled Jews who had developed their own beliefs of good and evil.
They saw themselves as alone in the world, surrounded by enemies.

13. Jewish Groups They awaited for someone to lead them.
Some of the scrolls give detail into other Jewish groups
Detailed their beliefs, holy days, and practices.
The variety of scrolls makes historians believe they may have been part of a library.
We do not know why they were hidden.
It is suggested that maybe it was to protect the scrolls from being destroyed during Roman times.

14. Jewish Groups
A fourth Jewish group known as the Zealots, lived in Judaea.
They wished to fight for their freedom against the Romans.
During the A.D. 60s, Jewish hatred of the Romans finally peaked.
Hope remained in the Jewish faith and many Jews were waiting for God to send a deliverer to free them from Roman rule.
As tension increased, the Zealots prepared to act.

15. Jewish-Roman Wars
In A.D. 66, The Zealots revolted, overpowering the small Roman army in Jersusalem.
Four years later, it was retaken by the Romans.
They killed thousands of Jews and forced many others to leave.
They also went ahead and destroyed the Second Temple of Jerusalem.
The Western wall still stands.
It is a long standing Jewish custom to come pray at this wall.

16. Jewish-Roman Wars After some years passed the Jews rebelled once more.
In A.D. 132, a military leader named Simon ben Kosiba, known as Bar Kochba, led the Jews in a battle for freedom.
However, three years later the Romans crushed the revolt and killed Bar Kocbba and other Jewish leaders during the fighting.
With the revolt put down they imposed stricter controls and prevented Jews from visiting Jerusalem.
The Romans renamed Judaea and called it Palestine referring to the Philistines, they had conquered centuries before.

17. The Rabbis
Even though they were not able to attain their independence they regrouped with help of their rabbis (religious leaders).
They no longer had a temple or priests, and so focus turned to synagogues and rabbis.
Rabbis taught and explained the Torah.
They provided moral guidance to the people.

18. The Rabbis
One of the most important rabbis was Yohanan ben Zaccai (YOH-kah-nahn behn zah-KY).
He lived in Judaea when Jerusalem fell to the Romans in A.D. 70.
He persuaded the Romans to spare the Jewish city of Yavneh, where he founded a school to continue teaching the Torah.
Ben Zazzai helped the Judaic spirit survive during the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of the Temple.
He stressed studying the Torah and doing kind deeds in their communities.

19. The Rabbis
Because of his efforts, the school of Yavneh became a center for studying the Torah and also served as an example for other schools.
Other rabbis founded schools in places as far as Egypt and Babylon.
Through the actions of Ben Zaccai and other rabbis, the basic belief of Judaism was preserved.
Eventually, the rabbis gathered their oral discussions on Jewish law into a work known as the Mishnah.
Later this would be combined with the Talmud, (collection of Jewish Traditions).

20. The Rabbis Talmud is hebrew for “instruction.”
It would become the basis of Jewish teaching for ages.
Today, the Talmud remains central to Jewish teaching and is the ultimate authority on Jewish law.