Salome Alexandra

Salome Alexandra (her Hebrew name was most likely Shlamzion (or Shlomzion ).) (Born 139 BCE; died 67 BCE). She was the only Jewish queen regnant with the exception of the usurper Athaliah ; she was the wife of Aristobulus I ., and afterward of Alexander Jannaeus . She was the last ruler to die as head of a fully independent Jewish state in Palestine until the formation of modern Israel. That Alexandra, the widow of Aristobulus I., was identical with the one who married his brother Alexander Jannæus is nowhere explicitly stated by Josephus , who, it is generally inferred, took it for granted that the latter performed the levirate marriage prescribed by the law for the widow of a childless brother deceased. (It is not clear, however, that a High Priest's widow could be so married, making the identity question tenuous.) Josephus' statement ("Ant." xv. 6, § 3), that Hyrcanus II , Jannæus' eldest son, was eighty years old when he was put to death by Herod, in 31 B.C., is likely erroneous, for that would set the year of his birth as 111 B.C., and Jannæus himself was born in 125, so that he could have been but fourteen when Hyrcanus was born to him. It is difficult to understand how a thirteen-year-old boy married a widow of thirty. The statement, made by Josephus ("Ant." xiii. 11, §§ 1, 2), that during the reign of Aristobulus, Aristobulus' wife, presumably Salome Alexandra, brought about the death of the young prince Antigonus I., because she saw in him a rival of her husband, lacks additional confirmation. On Aristobulus' death (103 B.C.), Aristobulus' wife liberated his brother Alexander Jannæus, who had been held in prison. During the reign of Alexander, who apparently married her (if the same person) shortly after his accession, Alexandra seemed to have wielded only slight political influence, as evidenced by the hostile attitude of the king to the Pharisees . The frequent visits to the palace of the chief of the Pharisaic party, Simeon ben Shetach , who was said to be the queen's brother (perhaps an imputation from the title "brother" of the monarch in Hellensitic court terminology for a chief minister) must have occurred in the early years of Alexander's reign, before he had openly broken with the Pharisees. Alexandra does not seem to have been able to prevent the cruel persecution of that sect by her husband; nevertheless the married life of the royal pair seems to have ended cordially: and on his deathbed Alexander entrusted the government, not to his sons, but to his wife.

Salome Alexandra or Alexandra of Jerusalem (141–67 BCE), ( , Shelomtzion or Shlom Tzion ) was one of only two women to rule over Judea (the other being Athaliah ). The wife of Aristobulus I , and afterward of Alexander Jannaeus , she was the last woman ruler of Judea, and the last ruler of ancient Judea to die as the ruler of an independent kingdom from 76 to 67 BCE. That Alexandra, the widow of Aristobulus I, was identical with the one who married his brother Alexander Jannaeus is nowhere explicitly stated by Josephus , who, it is generally inferred, took it for granted that the latter performed the levirate marriage prescribed by the law for the widow of a childless brother deceased.

Queen regnant of Hasmonean Judaea This article is about the Jewish queen. Salome Alexandra or Alexandra of Jerusalem ( , Shelomtzion or Shlom Tzion ; 141–67 BCE), was one of only two women to rule over Judea (the other being Athaliah ). The wife of Aristobulus I , and afterward of Alexander Jannaeus , she was the last queen of Judea, and the last ruler of ancient Judea to die as the ruler of an independent kingdom from 76 to 67 BCE. That Alexandra, the widow of Aristobulus I, was identical with the one who married his brother Alexander Jannaeus is nowhere explicitly stated by Josephus , who, it is generally inferred, took it for granted that the latter performed the levirate marriage prescribed by the law for the widow of a childless brother deceased.

Queen of Hasmonean Judaea from c.76 to 67 BCE This article is about the Jewish queen. Salome Alexandra , or Shlomtzion ( ; , Šəlōmṣīyyōn , " peace of Zion "; 141–67 BCE), was one of three women to rule over Judea, the other two being Athaliah and Deborah . The wife of Aristobulus I , and afterward of Alexander Jannaeus , she was the last regnant queen of Judea, and the last ruler of Judea to die as the sovereign of an independent kingdom. That Alexandra, the widow of Aristobulus I, was identical with the one who married his brother Alexander Jannaeus is nowhere explicitly stated by Josephus , who, it is generally inferred, took it for granted that the latter performed the levirate marriage prescribed by the law for the widow of a childless brother deceased.

Queen of Hasmonean Judaea from c. 76 to 67 BC This article is about the Jewish queen. Salome Alexandra , also Shlomtzion , Shelamzion ( Ancient Greek : Σαλώμη Ἀλεξάνδρα ; Hebrew : שְׁלוֹמְצִיּוֹן ‎ , Šəlōmṣīyyōn , " peace of Zion "; 141–67 BC), was a regnant queen of Judaea, one of only three women in Jewish historical tradition to rule over the country, the other two being Deborah and Athaliah . The wife of Aristobulus I , and afterward of Alexander Jannaeus , she was also the last ruler of Judaea to die as the sovereign of an independent kingdom. Her nine-year reign has been described as a "golden age" of Hasmonean history. That Alexandra, the widow of Aristobulus I, was identical with the one who married his brother Alexander Jannaeus is nowhere explicitly stated by Josephus , who, it is generally inferred, took it for granted that the latter performed the levirate marriage prescribed by the law for the widow of a childless brother deceased.