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THE LATE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD (200 B.C.E. - 70 C.E.)
In 168 B.C.E., the Maccabees (or Hasmoneans), led by Judah Maccabee,
wrested Judea from the rule of the Seleucids--Syrian rulers who supported
the spread of Greek religion and culture. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah
commemorates the recapture of Jerusalem by the Maccabees and the consecration
of the Temple in 164 B.C.E. The Maccabees ruled Judea until Herod took
power in 37 B.C.E.
Contemporary historian Flavius Josephus divided Judeans into three main
groups:
- Sadducees:
- The Sadducees were priestly and aristocratic families who interpreted
the law more literally than the Pharisees. They dominated the Temple
worship and its rites, including the sacrificial cult. The Sadducees
only recognized precepts derived directly from the Torah as binding.
They, therefore, denied the concept of the immortality of the soul,
the resurrection of the body, and the existence of angels. The Sadducees
were unpopular with the common people.
- Pharisees:
- The Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees, maintained the validity of the
oral as well as the written law. They were flexible in their interpretations
and willing to adapt the law to changing circumstances. They believed
in an afterlife and in the resurrection of the dead. By the first century
C.E., the Pharisees came to represent the beliefs and practices of the
majority of Palestinian Jewry.
- Essenes:
- The Essenes were a separatist group, some of whom formed an ascetic
monastic community and retreated to the wilderness of Judea. They shared
material possessions and occupied themselves with disciplined study,
worship, and work. They practiced ritual immersion and ate their meals
communally. One branch did not marry.
In 6 C.E., Rome formed Judea, Samaria, and Idumea into one province governed
by procurators. A Judean revolt against Rome in 66 C.E. was quickly put
down. Qumran fell to the Roman legions in ca. 68 C.E., the Temple in 70
C.E., and Masada in 73 C.E.
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