[CHAPTER XXIV.]
THE JUDÆANS IN ALEXANDRIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SIMON.
The Judæan Colonies in Egypt and Cyrene—Internal Affairs of the Alexandrian Community—King Philometor favours the Judæans—Onias and Dositheus—The Temple of Onias—Translation of the Pentateuch into Greek—Struggle between the Judæans and Samaritans in Alexandria—Affairs in Judæa—Independence of Judæa—Simon's League with the Romans—Overthrow of the Acra and of the Hellenists—Simon's Coinage—Quarrel between Simon and the Syrian King—Invasion by Cendebæus—Assassination of Simon.
160–135 B. C. E.
The magic land of the Nile, once the school of suffering of the children of Israel and the cradle of Israel's religion, became at this period the school of wisdom for the Judæan nation.
The settlement of the Judæans in Egypt was as much encouraged by the Greek rulers of that country as it had been in former ages by the Pharaohs. They spread over the entire district between the Lybian desert in the north and the confines of Ethiopia in the south. They increased as rapidly as they had done in the days of their forefathers, and they numbered one million of souls at the expiration of a century from their first arrival in their adopted country.
In Egypt and Cyrene the Judæans enjoyed rights similar to those of the Greek colonists. They were so proud of this equality that they watched over their privileges with a jealous eye. It is impossible to say from whom they originally held them, whether from Alexander or his successors. The Judæan colony in Egypt began to play an active part at the time when the Egyptian and Syrian courts were hostile to each other, when both were eager for the possession of Judæa, and each was, therefore, anxious to secure the alliance of the Judæans. But the Egyptian Judæans had always been faithful adherents of the Ptolemaic royal house, and Philometor, the sixth prince of that dynasty, had cordially received the numerous fugitives who had fled from Judæa during the persecutions of Antiochus.
Conspicuous amongst those emigrants were several Judæans of distinguished families, as well as the son of the high-priest Onias. They were treated with respect by the Egyptian rulers, and were able, at a later date, to give proof of their intelligence and their learning. Political prudence demanded the friendliest reception of the Judæan malcontents, in order to make sure of their undivided support in the re-conquest of Judæa from Syria. Neither Egypt nor Syria, however, could possibly have divined that the opposition of the Judæan patriots to the Syrian armies would lead to the independence of Judæa.
The Judæans were principally concentrated in Alexandria, second only to Rome in political importance and commerce, and to Athens in love of art and knowledge. Of the five divisions or districts of Alexandria, which were designated by the first letters of the Greek alphabet, the Judæans occupied nearly the whole of two; the district of the Delta, lying upon the sea-coast, had indeed become an exclusively Judæan colony, and its commanding position determined the occupation of its inhabitants. The cargoes of grain that Rome imported for her legions from the rich plains of Egypt were undoubtedly laden upon Judæan ships, and taken into the market by Judæan merchants. They carried the wealth of Egyptian harvests to less fertile countries, as Joseph, their ancestor, had done before them. Prosperity and refinement were the fruits of their enterprise. But commerce was not monopolised by the Judæans, nor was it their only pursuit. Their eagerness to learn and their aptitude enabled them to acquire the skill of the Greeks, and to succeed in the manufacture of delicate fabrics. Judæan artisans and skilled workmen were leagued in a kind of guild, and when labour was required in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Alexandrian-Judæan community supplied the master-hands. Moreover, the Alexandrian Judæans applied themselves to the Grecian arts of war and of statecraft. They acquired the melodious Greek tongue, and made a profound study of Greek learning, many of them reading and understanding Homer and Plato as easily as the books of Moses and the writings of King Solomon.
Prosperity, worthy pursuits, and culture inspired the Alexandrian Judæans with dignity and self-respect, and in this they may be compared with their descendants in Spain of a much later date.