על 'התייוונותם' של החשמונאים

The process of acculturation within Jewish society in Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic period did not cease with the Maccabean victories and the foundation of an independent Jewish state. Nevertheless, areas in which acculturation was active were changed and certain limits were imposed on it. The following areas are discussed in this paper: the onomasticon of the Hasmonean rulers, who bear, each one of them, two names, Hebrew and Greek, each one to deliver a different message; the coinage of the Hasmoneans which demonstrates also the limit set on Hellenistic influence; the recruitment of mercenaries for service in the Hasmonean army; the decision of the national assembly in 140 B.C.E. concerning the Jewish state under the Hasmonean dynasty (I Macc., XIV, 27-49) and the institution of Hasmonean kingship, as modelled on Hellenistic kingship and contradictory to the above-mentioned decision. On some issues general consensus was achieved within the nation, but the constitution agreed upon in 140 B.C.E. was not respected by Simeon's heirs, and this caused internal tension and led to a civil war.