Bibliography
| Title: Alexander Yannai's Wars with the Nabataens Secondary Title: Zion Volume: 50 Pages: 107-120 Type: Journal Article Year: 1985 Abstract: "Description of Yannai's wars with the Nabateans and the direct military confrontation with Petra's rulers because of the barring of the Nabateans' traditional sea-outlet in Gaza and the increasing Hasmonean threat to take over completely the "King's Way". Josephus's battle descriptions, based on foreign and hostile sources such as Nicolaus of Damascus, were consciously designed to minimize Yannai's achievements and victories".
"Alexander Yannai managed to take advantage of the historical development resulting from the accelerating decline of the Seleucid kingdom in the north and the internal struggles in the Ptolemaic kingdom in the south. During in the early stage, Yannai anticipated the Nabataeans in conquering areas in Gil'ad (near Gadara and Hamta), as well as in the southern section of the coastline (Gaza and its surroundings), without allowing himself to become involved as yet in a direct military dispute with the Nabataeans' traditional sea-outlet in Gaza, and the increasing Hasmonean threat to take over completely the "King's Way", led Yannai, after a short time, to a direct military confrontation with Petra's rulers. The main battle was focused in the northern Gil'ad and the Golan regions, and Yannai's successes forced his enemies to turn instead to more easterly trade routes on the way of Syria and Damascus, such as Wadi Sirkhan and its branches. Josephus' battle descriptions, which were on foreign and hostile sources, among which Nicolaus of Damascus was the most significant, were consciously designed to minimize Yannai's glorious achievements and victories, in order to diminish his historical greatness. However, in spite of this tendentiousness, and the confused, fragmentary and contradictory reports, it is still possible to read between the lines about Yannai's great achievement in the battlefield. Nevertheless, it was Yannai who sowed the seeds of the deep hatred between the Nabataeans and the Jews, which continued for man generations, at least until the destruction of the Second Temple". Keywords: Jewish History: Hasmonean / Maccabean Era |