After the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, Alexander III (r.336-323 BC) passed through Palestine on his way to Egypt. Many cities surrendered to the Macedonians; some were taken with little difficulty, but Tyre and Gaza required lengthy sieges.
Initially, Samaria seemed to have given support to Alexander. A certain Sanballat volunteered eight thousand troops to him for his Egyptian campaign. While Alexander was in Egypt, however, the Samaritans revolted and killed the newly appointed governor, Andromachus. In retaliation, Alexander destroyed the city of Samaria and established a garrison of six hundred troops there. As the city became more Greek in character, the centre of Samaritan activity shifted to Shechem.
After Alexander’s death, Judea (under the Macedonian kings Judah came to be called Judea) fell to the control of Ptolemy-I (c.84; r.305-283 BC). As a result of the Battle of Panium (198 BC), Ptolemy V (c.30; r.210-180 BC) lost Judea to the Seleucid Antiochus III (c.54; r.223-187 BC). After his defeat at Magnesia (190 BC), Antiochus had to give up most of Asia Minor and to pay a large indemnity to Rome. This forced him to levy heavy taxes in the remainder of his kingdom and to confiscate treasure in temples. He was killed during an attempt to plunder one such temple.
Seleucus IV (r.187-175 BC) sent his minister Heliodorus to Jerusalem to seize the Temple treasury. On his return Heliodorus killed Seleucus and took the throne. The true heir Demetrius-I (35; r.161-150 BC) was in Rome as a hostage, and Antiochus IV (c.51; r.175-163 BC), the younger brother of Seleucus, ousted Heliodorus and an infant son of Seleucus, also named Antiochus, and seized the throne for himself.
Various parties in Jerusalem began to compete for the appointment of high priest (from this time on Seleucid and Roman leaders assumed the right to appoint and depose the Jewish high priest). Some Jews, mainly those of the urban upper class, notably the Tobiad family, wished to dispense with Jewish law and to adopt a Greek lifestyle.
Onias III (r.185-175 BC) was the high priest at this time. His brother, Jason (r.175-172 BC), replaced him by promising Antiochus additional revenue and the establishment of an Hellenic community alongside the Temple-controlled Jewish community. The even more pro-Greek Menelaus (r.172-162 BC), apparently a member of a lower priestly house, overthrew Jason by promising Antiochus even greater gifts than his predecessor had provided. While Antiochus was in Egypt, Jason tried to reinstate himself as high priest by murdering many of the supporters of Menelaus. On his return Antiochus invaded Jerusalem, massacred many Jews, reinstated Menelaus, and looted the Jerusalem Temple.
In 167 BC Antiochus began a compulsory Hellenization of Judea. His army reconquered Jerusalem. They partly dismantled the walls and with the materials thus obtained built a fortress, the Acra. A garrison of pagan soldiers was posted in the fortress: the city was now under military occupation. Soon afterwards, Antiochus desecrated Jerusalem Temple by offering a sacrifice to the Greek god Zeus on its altar. He also forbade circumcision, outlawed traditional Jewish sacrifices, and disallowed the reading of the Law of Moses.
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