Paralia (Palestine)
The Paralia (Greek: Παραλία) was the coastal eparchy of Palestine during Hellenistic and Roman times.[1] According to Josephus, the inhabitants of the region were primarily Greek city-dwellers.[2]
The region was originally set up by the Seleucids.[3] Josephus wrote that the Paralia was outside Jewish / Judean (Ioudaioi) jurisdiction throughout the Second Temple Period except for a short period under the Hasmoneans and during the reign of Herod the Great and the Agrippas.[4]
History
The region was first conquered by Jews / Judeans (Ioudaioi) under the Hasmoneans.[4]
Simon Thassi captured Jaffa in 143 BCE, John Hyrcanus captured Jamnia and Ashdod in 125 BCE, and between 103-99 BCE Alexander Jannaeus conquered the areas from Dora North to Acre and from Gaza south to El Arish.[4] Only Ashkelon was not conquered by the Hasmoneans.[4]
The region was described in 1 Maccabees (11:59; 15:38) and 2 Maccabees (13:24).[5]
In earlier Halakha it was described at "Medinat HaYam" (cities of the sea).[6]
External references
- Rosenfeld, Ben-Zion, "Flavius Josephus and His Portrayal of the Coast (Paralia) of Contemporary Roman Palestine: Geography and Ideology", The Jewish Quarterly Review (University of Pennsylvania Press) 91 (1): 143–183
Footnotes
- ↑ The Myth of a Gentile Galilee, Mark A. Chancey, p.36
- ↑ Rosenfeld, p. 168.
- ↑ Rosenfeld, p. 143.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Rosenfeld, p. 146.
- ↑ The Apocrypha, edited by Martin Goodman, John Barton, John Muddiman, p.154
- ↑ Social Life and Social Values of the Jewish People, Haim Hillel Ben-Sasson, Samuel Ettinger, 1968, p.70