Appendix B: Jesus

and the Chalcis Connection

If youve never heard of Chalcis, youre definitely not alone. Because it is not mentioned anywhere in the NT, it would seem unimportant in the life of Jesus. And, if one limits their historical data to the accounts of Josephus, it would be easy to miss the si nificance of Chalcis. I cant say that it warrants its own Appendi! in this wor" because of its historical si nificance or importance in the life of Jesus, but Ive chosen to include it for historical interest and novelty. #ithin $An Ama%in &ife' (Boo" II) the story of Jesus includes a trip throu h Chalcis and thus may re*uire a bit of e!planation. $Chalcis' va uely refers to a re ion includin the $Anti+&ebanon' between the coastal re ion of ,hoenicia and -yria. The name is also used to reference a city.state within the re ion. It reached from the /editeranean -ea to 0amascus, from 1alilee to 2messa and included the Be*aa 3alley of &ebanon, the re ion later "nown as Abilene, the Anti+&ebanese /ountains, the &itani 4iver, the 5rontes 4iver, and the upper Jordan 4iver. In many references, it is synonymous with or confused with Iturea.

(The re ion that was "nown as Chalcis varied over time, but enerally included the areas shown here in red)

The early history of the re ion is very odd, as is most evident in the remains at Baalbe". The ori in of the incredible temples there remains un"nown, but it is clear that they pre+date Chalcis by thousands of years. It is said that after the collapse of the re ion under the so called 6,eoples of the -ea6 (,hoenicians7) that 4amesses III (8 9:;; BC2) have built a temple to the od Amen in $,a+Canaan'. This was li"ely built upon a platform that was already ancient9. The pleasant and fertile Be*aa valley was home to a thrivin population durin the bron%e and iron a es and seemed to have an unusually lar e collection of reli ious sites. &ocal tradition holds that Jeroboam, who had built the ori inal Jewish Temple for -olomon, built a $house of hi h places' at $Aven' (the e*uivalent of $5n' < as in =eliopolis in 2 ypt). This new temple was built to surpass the temple of Jerusalem and become the atherin place of the Ten Tribes or Northern >in dom of Israel. It is also local le end that /icah, the oracle.prophet, was still active in the days of Jeremiah and tau ht at this Temple:. The relevant history of Chalcis be ins durin the time of 0avid and the $1reat 0ivide'. Chalcis was a re ion occupied by the =ebrews and was part of the $?nited >in dom' of Israel@ a fertile and prosperous re ion of =ammath and Aobah separatin the reat empires of ,hoenicia and Aram (then becomin the Neo+Assyrian 2mpire). But the =ebrews arrived in the re ion to find astonishin relics of earlier peoples who had built temples and structures that defy modern understandin (as below). Those peoples worshiped the od Baal (a title for =adad, son of 2l) and at $first the name Baal was used by the Jews for their 1od without discrimination, but as the stru le between the two reli ions developed, the name Baal was iven up by the Israelites as a thin of shame, and even names li"e Jerubbaal were chan ed to Jerubbosheth' (in =ebrew bosheth means 6shame6).B As told within ,art 5ne of Boo" 5ne, the ?nited >in dom of Israel was dissolved with the Assyrian invasions in the Cth century BC2. The re ion was held throu h five centuries by a succession of maDor powers until Ale!ander the 1reat ained it in BBB BC2. #ith his death in B:B, it became part of the -eleucid 2mpire. >in Antiochus III had married ,rincess &aodice of ,ontus and one of their dau hters was Cleopatra I. After &aodice died , Antiochus married 2uboea of Chalcis (the 1ree" city on the island of 2uboea). Thus, the name Chalcis was used for the Be"aa valley re ion within the -eleucid 2mpire.

-ee $2 yptiani%ation and 2lite 2mulation in 4amesside ,alestine@ 1overnance and Accommodation on the Imperial ,eriphery' by Carolyn =i inbotham, Brill Academic ,ub. (:;;;). p. EF. There is also a record showin that 4ib+=adda, of Amenhotep I3 (A"henaten) note, resided in -idon durin the period of reat 2 yptian temple buildin (9Gth C. BC2). -ee The >in dom of the =ittites' by Trevor Bryce, Clarendon ,ress (9HHC), p. 9CI. : -ee http@..www.bibliotecapleyades.net.espJautorJveli"ovs"y.htmKtop. B AondervanLs ,ictorial Bible 0ictionary (9HFI)@ Mor the early =ebrews, $Baal' referred to the &ord of Israel, Dust as $Baal' farther north desi nated the &ord of ? arit. Britannica 2ncyclopedia of #orld 4eli ions ,.9:9.

Chalcis contained several other prominent cities and centers. Amon its re ions.cities were Abila (Abilene), Baalbe"G, Apamene, 0an, 0aphne, ?latha, Chalcis, =amath (north)E, 2messa, and >adesh. Its well+"nown re ional centers included northern =ulah, northern 1alilee, ,anias, =ormon, ,erea, and others. Baalbe".=eliopolis was a maDor reli ious and cult center within Chalcis and a very wealthy priesthood controlled the area. Two centuries after Antiochas and &aodice, that priesthood yielded the =i h ,riest ,tolemy /ennNusI, founder of a dynasty which became involved with the family of Jesus. That story is comple! and convoluted. It is also obscure. &uc"ily, we have enou h pieces of the pu%%le to add si nificant new ima es to the re ions history and to the life of Jesus. =ere are the "ey pieces@ 9. ,. /ennaeus (ruled from 89;E to G; BC2)FO his stature is indicated by@ a) =is linea e (he had royal blood from both the 0avidic and ,tolemaic lines). b) =is wives (9st@ Arsinoe (not the I3) was the youn est dau hter of ,tolemy -oter IIO :nd@ Ale!andria (III) was the dau hter of Aristobulus II < sister of Antin onus II). c) =e captured and held 0amascus and part of 1alilee durin his rei n. =e was said to have C,;;; horsemen which he paid for himselfC and his archers were hi hly respected. d) At one point, he led an alliance between the Judeans, the Nabateans, and Chalcians a ainst the -eleucids. e) #hen ,ompey (then a 4oman 1eneral) captured -yria for the 4omans in IB BC2, ,tolemy retained his throne by payin a thousand talents to ,ompey (which was used to pay the wa es of his soldiers. (Ant. 9G.BC+H). f) &ater that year, when Aristobulus II (>in of Judea) was captured by the 4omans, his youn est son, Anti onus II /attathias, and two dau hters, Ale!andria II and -elene, were sent to ,. /ennaeus for safe"eepin . (=e married Ale!andria and she bore his successor, &ysanias). (Ant. !iv. F, P GO B. J. i. H, P :).

) Coins from his rei n indicate that he was both 6Tetrarch and =i h ,riest6.H
The city of Baalbe" was re+named =eliopolis ((1ree"@ QRSTUSQRV + with direct 2 yptian influences) durin the -eleucid period. 0urin the 4oman period it was one of the lar est sanctuaries in the empire and still has some of the best preserved 4oman ruins. E There were several cities named $=amoth' or =ammath' in ,alestine. =amath (north) was the capital of the Canaanite "in dom mentioned in 1enesis 9;@9C and : >in s :B@BBO :G@:9. I -on of 2udamus bar Jeshua (Anti+2!ilarch of Judea) and Tacallippis (,rincess of 2 ypt)O married to Arsinoe I3, ,rincess.Wueen of 2 ypt. A"a /ennius./enni. F 5ther sources typically list his period from CE+G; BC2, but such does not fit the evidence. C By comparison, the -yrian Consular army of : le ions would have included about G,;;; horsemen. H #e have no indication of this =i h ,riesthood, but he was allowed to marry a Jew without obDection and he enerally led a Jewish nation (which came to the defense of Jerusalem. As was typical of Josephus, any priesthood which competed with that of Jerusalem was discounted (as with the 2 yptian 5niads and the -amarians) or i nored (as here)).
G

h) =is le acy (he founded a short, but influential dynasty). It seems apparent that the national Jewish party at that time (a"a $Aealots and others) depended on Chalcis in many ways. The followin statement supports this@ 65n the 9Fth of Adar dan er threatened the rest of the L-oferimL in the city of Chalcis, and it was salvation for Israel6 (/e . TaLan. !ii.). Josephus notes that Chalcians played a notable role in the defense of Jerusalem. (Ant. 9B.H.9). And, there are several historical references which prove that Chalcis was much more than Josephus wants us to thin"9;. 0urin the rei n of John =yrcanus (Judea@ 9BG+9;G BC2), the Judeans sou ht to e!pand their territory northward (after the death of the -eleucid Antiochus -idetes). By raidin the tomb of 0avid and stealin B;;; talents, =yrcanus hired a mercenary army to capture -amaria (899;BC2). =e destroyed the Jewish Temple at /ount 1eri%im and placed many of the -amarians99 into slavery, thus creatin animosity and hatred that have endured since. =is son, Ale!ander Jannaeus, continued military e!pansionism that included southern 1alilee (held by Chalcis). But we "now that was not successful because of subse*uent events. 0urin that same period, the civil war in -yria split the -eleucids and opened the door for outside forces to eat away at the "in dom. Antiochus IX 2usebes (a"a Cy%icenus), the son of Antiochus 3II -idetes and Cleopatra Thea, sou ht to reclaim the throne from his half+brother Antiochus 3III 1rypus in 99I BC2. To ether, they mana ed to reduce their "in dom to a few fortified cities. In HI BC2, Cy%icenus was "illed in battle by the son of 1rypus and -yria was further wea"ened. This opened the door for ,. /ennaeus who captured 0amascus. After Ale!ander Janneaus successfully captured ,tolemais (Acco) alon the coast, ,tolemy &athyrus invaded Judaea and soundly defeated Yannai near the Jordan (HE BC2). &uc"ily for Jannai, Cleopatra (III) intervened a ainst &athyrus (her son) and she too" a ain 1a%a and ,tolemais, forcin &athyrus to retreat to Cyprus. 5nce freed from the threat of &athyrus, Jannai turned to the TransDordan9:. Then, alon came Aretas III, the new Nabataean "in , in CF BC2 (map below). Josephus says that the people of 0amascus didnt care for the rule of /ennaeus and as"ed Aretas for help. But, instead of helpin them, Aretas attac"ed Judea (7). This seems silly and i nores the lar er picture. -ince Ale!ander Jannaeus had become ruler of Judea in 9;B BC2, he was a constant threat to Nabatea. The time was ripe for Aretas to put the Judean in his place and he *uic"ly did so. After a few *uic" victories, Jannai capitulated and accepted a treaty (of surrender) which left him in power but obli ed to Aretas. This treaty would eventually form the framewor" of a lar er alliance (as below).

9;

It is not clear why Jospehus sou ht to diminish, downplay, and misrepresent the history and si nificance of Chalcis, but my uess is that they stron ly opposed the Jerusalem Temple (as a competitor) and Judean $corruption' of Judaism (as remnant people of the Northern Tribs.Israeilites). 99 Contrary to some historical references that see" to mislead (e. . the current #i"ipedia article), these captives were clearly Jews and not $/acedonians'. Note $=istory of the Jews', 3ol. II by =einrich 1raet%, ,roDect 1utenber (:;9B 2d.) 9: -ee $The 0ead -ea -crolls and the =asmonean -tate' by anan 2shel, #m. B. 2erdmans ,ublishin (:;;C), Ch. G.

=ere a ain, we have no historical record with the details, but it appears that /ennaeus and Aretas reached an accord resultin in the transfer of 0amascus to the Nabateans around FI BC2. I su est that this was a three+way deal in which Aretas included the safety of Chalcis in his treaty with Jannai in e!chan e for 0amascus. This not only e!plains the transfer, but subse*uent events9B. After the death of $Jannai' in FI BC2, -alome Ale!andra (his brotherLs widow and successor) supposedly sent her son Aristobulus II) with an army to 0amascus a ainst ,. /enneus, who Josephus described as $a troublesome nei hbor to the city' (Ant. 9B.9I.:). But Aristobulus $did nothin considerable there, and returned home' Ibid. (I a ree with Jan 4etso9G that there is confusion re ardin this se*uence of events and discrepancies in the names. But, most are best attributed to the fo of time. CM. Aryeh >asher9E). Nabataean rule of 0amascus continued until F: BC2 when the Armenian "in Ti ranes II successfully laid sie e to the city. Armenian rule of the city continued until IH BC2 when Ti ranes was forced to withdraw to deal with a 4oman attac" on the Armenian capital (Ti rani"ert). Aretas then re+too" 0amascus until ,ompey arrivedZ

9B

-ee #ars, XIII, BEC+I;. Note $Archaeolo ical 2ncyclopedia of the =oly &and' edited by Avraham Ne ev, -himon 1ibson, Continuum, :;;E, p. BEI.
9G

$The Arabs in Anti*uity@ Their =istory from the Assyrians to the ?mayyads' by Jan 4etso, 4outled e (:;9B)
9E

$Jews, Idumaeans, and Ancient Arabs@ 4elations of the Jews in 2ret%+Israel with the Nations of the Mrontier and the 0esert 0urin the =ellenistic and 4oman 2ra (BB: BC2+F; C2)', Aryeh >asher, /ohr -iebec" (9HCC), pp. CI+9:E.

The Nabataean >in dom at its ape!. Note the importance of the 1a%a.

5nce ,ompey defeated /ithridates in IB BC2, -alome Ale!andra died in IF BC2 and her son John =yrcanus II succeeded her. But the two brothers, =yrcanus and Anti onus could not reconcile their differences and $Anti onus, son of Aristobulus, also supported ,tolemy in his effort to establish himself as "in in Judea (6Ant.6 !iv. 9:, P 9).
Ai ihe same lime Plolemy. ihe son of Mennaeus. died, and his son Lysanias on succeeding lo his throne made a pact of friendship with Antigonus. the son of Aristobulus. in which mailer he found the salrap useful, for he had greal influence with him (Ant. 14.33 !.

-he later sent Aristobulus II to assist the 1alileans who were supposedly under the $oppression' of the Chalcians. But that mission left 1alilee in the control of Chalcis and resulted in &ysanias and Aristobulus becomin friends (they were $cousins' as Ale!andria II was &ysanias mother and Anti onus sister). met in battle near Jericho and many of =yrcanusL soldiers went over to Aristobulus II, and thereby ave the latter the victory. =yrcanus too" refu e in the citadel of JerusalemO but the capture of the Temple by Aristobulus II compelled =yrcanus to surrender.

Josephus confuses himself with conflictin passa es re ardin ,ompey and his passa e throu h Chalcis on his way to war in 0amascus $to brin order to a vast and troubled land'. 5n his way to 0amascus in the sprin of IB BC2 [he\ 6demolished the citadel at Apamea and devastated the territory of ,tolemy bar /ennaeus.' -ubse*uently, Josephus recalls the passa e of ,ompey throu h the land on his way to 0amascus and ,ompey is described as merely passin by the Lcities of =eliopolis and ChalcisL in order to cross the Anti+&ebanon (Ant. 9G.BC+G;). 1iven the facts that ,. /ennaeus paid a hu e tribute to ,ompey and remained both in power and mintin coins9I, it ma"es more sense that Chalcis was left unscathed. It is also hi hly li"ely that the deal with ,ompey involved /ennaeus sendin troops to assist in his mission. /ennaeus mana ed to "eep his throne, but wasnt able to protect Aristobulus. ,ompey captured Aristobulus II (and his oldest son Ale!ander) in IB BC2 with the intent of returnin him to 4ome for trial. /arc Antony was the commander of the cavalry and actually scaled the fortification where Aristobulus was held up. 5ddly and ine!plicably, Aristobulus and his son escaped from the 4omans while bein ta"en to 4ome in EF BC2, but they were recaptured in GH BC2 while on their way to Judaea9F. In Judea, John =yrcanus /eanwhile, the 4omans, ,arthians, Arsacids, 2 yptians, and others vied for e!pansion and control of -yria (and ,alestine). #hile they battled and were distracted, lessor powers, li"e the Judeans, Chalcians, and Nabataens "new that their future independence was at ris" and an alliance was formed between themZ $Now [in G; BC2\, when Bar%apharnes, a overnor amon the ,arthians, and ,acorus, the "in Ls son, had possessed themselves of -yria, and when &ysanias had already succeeded upon the death of his father ,tolemy, the son of /enneus, in the overnment [of Chalcis\, he prevailed with the overnor, by a promise of a thousand talents, and five hundred women, to brin bac" Anti onus to his "in dom, and to turn =yrcanus out of it. ,acorus was by these means induced so to do, and marched alon the sea+coast, while he ordered Bar%apharnes to fall upon the Jews as he went alon the /editerranean part of the countryO but of the maritime people, the Tyrians would not receive ,acorus, althou h those of ,tolemais and -idon had received himO so he committed a troop of his horse to a certain cup+bearer belon in to the royal family, of his own name [,acorus\, and ave him orders to march into Judea, in order to learn the state of affairs amon

9I

The privile e of mintin coins was reserved for those principalities which held hi her esteem. Thus, coina e is not only a critical part of the historical record, it is hi hly indicative of re ional power. #hen new rulers came to power, one of their first acts usually included the mintin of coins. 9F Aristobulus was "illed by poison iven him by someone in ,ompeyLs party. Ale!ander was beheaded by the 4oman commander -cipio at Antioch.

their enemies, and to help Anti onus when he should want his assistance.' (#ars I.9B.9)9C.

,ompey destroyed ,tolemyLs stron holds in the &ebanon and doubtless too" away from him the =ellenistic cities, as he did in Judaea. #hen Aristobulus II was murdered by ,ompeyLs party in Judea (GH BC2), =is son Anti onus led a rebellion a ainst 4ome in G; BC2 but was defeated and "illed in BF BC2.

In G; BC2, ,. /enneaus died9H and was succeeded by his son (via Ale!andria) &ysanias. The three reat tribal "in doms surroundin 0amascus were invited to become 4oman clients and their territorial ambitions were clipped. The sun+worshippin Ituraeans under the =ellenised Arab prince, ,tolemy, ea erly paid a thousand talents for the privile e and in the process lost much territory in present+day &ebanon, thus easin pressure on 0amascus from the west. The Ituraeans were iven new lands south of 0amascus partly to serve as a chec" on the Nabataeans] northwards push and to tame the rivalry between the Nabaiaean and =asmonacan "in doms.L Murther south, the reco nition in GC BC of the Idumaean Arab Antipater as procurator (civilian administrator) of Judaea would settle affairs temporarily in ,alestine.

The third tribal principality, however, was a bit of unfinished business that was to dominate the cityLs a enda for another century and a half. Nabataea survived as the only independent entity reco nised as a L"in domL, partly because ,ompev finally abandoned his plans for a campai n a ainst ,etra when he returned to Asia /inor. =e had sent -caurus on ahead to ,etra but he had returned with only a va ue assurance on rhe payment of tribute by the Nabataean "in s.

Minally, to complete the stabilisation of the 0amascus area, ,ompey encoura ed a loose alliance between the cities of the 0ecapolis wed ed between 0amascus, Ituraea and Judaea. 0amascus may well have played a supervisory role, as the smaller cities had not developed stron civic institutions of their own in the =ellenistic period. This
9C

#hile here it is &ysanias who is said to induce the ,arthians to depose =yrcanus in favor of Anti onus /attathias, in Ant. 9G.BB;+BB9 Josephus states that it was Anti onus who made the offer to the ,arthians. The later is unli"ely. 9H Accordin to Josephus, ,tolemy died Dust as the $,arthians' were invadin Judea (ib. !iv. 9B, P BO 6B. J.6 i. 9B, P 9), but it is difficult to reconcile the dates. /ore li"ely, Josephus meant $Ti ranes, the "in of Armenia' as the ,arthians.

would account for the inclusion of 0amascus on ,linyLs list of the 0ecapolis. Mrom the time of Au ustus they formed an economic roupin whose access to the coast was probably via Caesarea. 4ome reserved a ri ht of intervention but the cities were still heavily influenced by Nabataea. Initially, the cities lac"ed the cohesion to control the countryside between them, particularly the area immediately south of 0amascus where normal life remained threatened by multifarious problems ran in from Jewish partisans to endemic banditry. Damascus: A History by 4oss Burns,

&ysanias ... induced Ihe salrap. by Ihc promise of a thou+ sand talents and five hundred women, to brin bac" Anti onus and raise him lo ihc throne, after deposin =yrcanus (#ar 9.:GC H). Yel a shorl lime later Joscphus once more chan es ihc emphasis and here is in a reement with what he states in Anti*uities. There they heard of ihe promise of ihe thousand talents, and thai ihe live hundred women whom Anti onus had devoted lo ihc ,arlhians included most of their own [#ar 9.:EF). The episode is si nificant in thai it illustrates ihe political intri ues of bolh ihe Ituracans and llasmoneans durin ihc early days of the ,arlhian incursions. The confusion that Josephus brin s to Ihese passa es is difficult to undcrsland. 4e ardless of who offered ihc bribe, it is reasonable to assume that both Anti onus and &ysanias were involved in some type of ne otiation with the ,arthians. As ihe ,arlhian war dra ed on for ihe ne!t iwo years without Antony in the re ion, by ihe sprin of BF BC2, =erod had returned to successfully la"e Jerusalem and become "in . Anti onus was cap+ lured, and when Antony eventually relumed lo ihe 2asi he yielded lo =erodLs pressure and had Anti onus publicly e!ecuted al Anlioch. #hen ihc ,arlhians invaded -yria in G; BC2, Antony was in 4ome. =e had speni the winter of G9 G; BC2 in Ale!andria with $The Ituraeans and the 4oman Near 2ast@ 4eassessin the -ources' by 2. A. /yers, Cambrid e ?niversity ,ress (:;9;)

Nabatean "in , Aretas

,tolemy was succeeded by his son &ysanias, called by 0io Cassius (!li!. B:) 6"in of the Itureans.6 About :B B.C. Iturea with the adDacent provinces fell into the hands of a chief named Aenodorus (Josephus, l.c. !v. 9;, P 9O idem, 6B. J.6 i. :;, P G). Three years later, at the death of Aenodorus, Au ustus ave Iturea to =erod the 1reat, who in turn be*ueathed it to his son ,hilip (Josephus, 6Ant.6 !v. 9;, P B). That Iturea was in the re ion of /ount &ebanon is confirmed by an inscription of about the year I C.2. (62phemeris 2pi raphica,6 9CC9, pp. EBF+EG:), in which W. ^milius -ecundus relates that he was sent by Wuirinius a ainst the Itureans in /ount &ebanon. In BC Cali ula ave Iturea to a certain -oemus, who is called by 0io Cassius (li!. 9:) and by Tacitus (6Annals,6 !ii. :B) 6"in of the Itureans.6 After the death of -oemus (GH) his "in dom was incorporated into the province of -yria (Tacitus, l.c.).