Category:Salome Alexandra--history (subject)

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Survey of scholarly works on Salome Alexandra.

Overview

Azariah de' Rossi (16th century Jewish-Italian Writer) is one the first interpreters of Salome Alexandra. He writes: "It is stated that of the Hasmoneans, Johanan the first, also Hyrcanus, was the father of Jannaeus Alexander, the husband of Queen Alexandra. On his deathbed, he advised her to transfer her allegiance from the Sadducees to the Pharisees who would be supportive of her rule. … It would seem that it is to these stories about the man and his wife, which the sages’ statement in tractate Sota refer: “Jannai the king said to his wife, ‘Do not fear the Pharisees or the non-Pharisees, but rather the hypocrites.’” (Joanna Weinberg, trans. The Light of the Eyes [Yale University Press, 2001).

In 1892 rabbi Henry Zirndorf devoted to the Queen a chapter of his book on “Some Jewish Women.”

In 1972 Solomon Zeitlin emphasized the many similarities between the fictional character of Judith and Salome Alexandra. Zeitlin however did not see any major political event in the life of Alexandra that could have prompted such a connection.

The revised edition of Schurer in 1973 also reiterated the view that "no political events of any importance occurred during her reign."

In 2005 Samuel Rocca first suggested that the story of Judith could contains echoes of the crisis generated by the invasion of the Armenian King Tigranes the Great. The argument was taken up in 2009 by Gabriele Boccaccini who drew attention on the Armenian and Roman sources that seem to confirm the chronological and geographical details provided in the Book of Judith about the military campaign of the new "Nebuchadnezzar," Tigranes the Great.

Tal Ilan has recently published a book that examines rabbinic accounts of Salome Alexandra, and the various spellings of her name in antiquity. Ernst Axel Knauf has recently proposed that Salome Alexandra’s reign is reflected in canonical Psalms 148 and 2, and that the latter contains an acrostic that mentions her and her husband.

The name

Until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Salome Alexandra’s exact name was the subject of a scholarly debate. In Jewish literature she is referred to as Shel-Zion, Shalmonin, Shalmza, Shlamto, and similar names. This confusion led Jacob Neusner to comment that Salome Alexandra is “…a queen whose name no one can get straight.” In 1899 the French scholar Charles Clermont-Ganneau, proposed that Shelamzion is her Semitic name. The Dead Sea Scrolls now confirm his proposal and mention her twice by this name.

Salina or Salome Alexandra?

According to Josephus, Salome Alexandra’s husband, Alexander Jananeus, came to the throne under unusual circumstances. He writes of this transition:

Salina, called Alexandra by the Greeks, released Judah Aristobulus’s brothers—for Aristobulus had imprisoned them, as we have said before—and appointed as king Jannaeus, also known as Alexander, who was best fitted for this office by reason of his age and because he knew his place. (Ant. 13.320-1; cf. War 1.85)

Most scholarship on this period accepts the thesis that Salina Alexandra is Salome Alexandra. According to this interpretation she appointed her brother-in-law, Alexander Jannaeus, as king and high priest. She then married him in accordance with the rules of levirate marriage found in Deuteronomy 25.

Kenneth Atkinson and Tal Ilan have recently argued that Salina Alexandra is the wife of Salome Alexandra’s brother-in-law, Judah Aristobulus. According to this theory, Salome Alexandra never contracted a levirate marriage with Alexander Jannaeus. The two propose three basic arguments to support this thesis. First, no ancient writer mentions such a union. Second, marriage to a widow, a divorced woman, or a prostitute disqualified a man from serving as high priest. Yet, Salome Alexandra’s husband Alexander and her sons Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II were both high priests and kings. Third, Hyrcanus II, her eldest son, is always called the son of Salome Alexandra and Alexander Jannaeus. If Salome Alexandra had entered into a levirate marriage, he would have been referred to as the son of Judah Aristobulus and Salome Alexandra.

Select Bibliography (articles)

  • The Book of Judith, Queen Sholomzion and King Tigranes of Armenia: A Sadducee Appraisal / Samuel Rocca / In: Materia Giudaica 10.1 (2005) 1-14

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