Elizabeth of Jerusalem, Queen Alexandra II

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Alexandra Hasmonean (dau. Hyrcanus II)

Hebrew: אלכסנדרה החשמונאית, Dutch: Alexandra Maccabaeus
Also Known As: "Esther (Elizabeth) of Jerusalem (bat Hyrcanus) Hasmonean Princess Alexandra II )"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Judea
Death: circa -28
Jerusalem, Judea (Killed by King Herod The Great)
Place of Burial: Jerusalem, Judea
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Hyrcanus II Hasmonean, King & High Priest of Judea and wife, Hyrcanus II Hasmonean
Wife of Alexander II Hasmonean, High Priest and King Antigonus II Mattathias, [Last Hasmonean King of Judaea]
Mother of Queen Mariamne (Hasmonean); Jonathan Aristobulus III Last Hasmonean High Priest and N.N. ., Hasmonean Princess, 1st wife of Pheroras

Managed by: Yigal Burstein
Last Updated:

About Elizabeth of Jerusalem, Queen Alexandra II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Maccabeus

Alexandra the Maccabee (died ca. 28 BC) was the daughter of Hyrcanus II (died 30 BC), who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus.[1] She married her cousin[2] Alexander of Judaea (died 48 BC), who was the son of Aristobulus II. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus.[3] Their daughter was the Hasmonean Mariamne.

Alexandra opposed her son-in-law Herod, and when he became sick with grief after having Mariamne executed, Alexandra tried to seize power, but was unsuccessful and was herself executed.

http://www.kittymunson.com/GEDbrows/g1113.html#I22279

  • Alexandra Maccabeus birt: bef 63 BC; deat: 28 BC
  • Her Father: Hyrcanus-II Maccabeus birt: bef 78 BC; deat: 30 BC
  • Her Husband: Alexander Maccabeus birt: bef 63 BC; deat: 48 BC

Highly Speculative

Prince Mattathias and Princess Alexandra II - The Paternal Grandparents of the Maiden, Miriam

Mary’s father, Heli or Alexander Helios III as he was known in history, was a Prince of David, whose father, Prince Mattan or Mattathias was renown, if for nothing else but his marriages to three notable women in Judea. His 1st wife was Esther of Jerusalem, his 2nd, Rachel of Arimathea, and his 3rd wife was Salome of Jerusalem, an Idumean Herodian princess, who was called “The Proselyte”.

His 1st wife, Esther of Jerusalem, became the mother of Heli ben Mattat or Prince Alexander Helios III. He became the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Esther of Jerusalem can be identified as the future Maccabee Queen known by her Greek name as Queen Alexandra II, who was the great grandmother of Yeshua (Jesus). Yet, who were the other step-mothers, of Jesus’ grandfather, Heli, and who were Heli’s other siblings?

                       Wives and Children of Mattathias, (Mattat ben Levi)
                                                                                    Prince of David
                                                                       Three Wives of Prince Mattat
                  ___________________________ |____________________­___
                  |                                                      |                                              |

Princess Alexandra II Rachel of Arimathea Salome of Jerusalem (Elizabeth of Jerusalem) “The Proselyte” Maccabee Daughter of King Hyrcanus

                        |                                                 |                                              |
Heli (Alexander III HeliosI)           Joseph of Arimathea                     Prince Gjor
Alexandra III  |                                                 |                                              |
 The “Temple Virgin” Miriam                 Josephes                      “King of the Jews”   
                       |                                          Enygeus                       Simon V Bar Gjora Yehoshua ben Miriam (Jesus son of Mary)

Though the evidence is only circumstantial, it is suggested by David Hughes and other genealogist that the wife of Mattan ben Levi, called Esther of Jerusalem, was actually the Jewish name of the last Maccabee Queen, whose later Greek regnal name was Queen Alexandra II. Before Alexandra became a Maccabee Queen with her 2nd marriage to Maccabee King Alexander II, her cousin, and later her 3rd marriage to Maccabee King Antigonus, also her cousin, she was married to a Nasi and Prince of Israel, called Mattathias. Was this Mattathias also the person as Mattan ben Levi, the father of Heli, the grandfather of Mary, and the great grandfather of Yehoshua (Jesus)? The evidence suggests the affirmative.

The name of the children of this union between Mattathias, the Nasi and Prince of Israel and Princess Alexandra II, prior to 49 BCE was Prince Alexander III Helios (the Biblical Heli) and his sister, Princess Alexandra III. This young Davidian and Maccabee princess later became the wife of Ptolemy Bar Mennius, a Babylonian Exilarch whose descendants are traced to Europe today.

We ask again, was this Davidian Nasi Prince Mattan ben Levi, the same Nasi as Prince Mattathias, who married the Maccabee Princess, and future Maccabee Queen, as the daughter of the Maccabee Priest-King Hyrcanus II and through this union had a son called Prince Alexander III “Helios”?

Mural of the Nativity at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem – Photo by Robert Mock


http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hasmonean-women

Elizabeth of Jerusalem - The Mother of Heli (Prince Alexandra Helios III) Queen Alexandra II à Alexander Helios III (Biblical “Heli”)

With this ancestral connection known, Jesus’ great-grandmother, Princess Elizabeth of Jerusalem, later known by her regnal name, Queen Alexandra II was remarried to King Alexander II, the 8th Maccabee king, who was executed in 49 BCE. They had two children; Prince Aristobulus III (Jesus’ great-great step uncle), who became the 58th High Priest as a Maccabee, and Princess Mariamme I. She became the Maccabee Princess that married King Herod the Great, as his 2nd wife. As the dynastic heiress of the Maccabee Dynasty, she gave King Herod, to his beliefs and not Torah law, the royal “right” to the Hasmonean throne of Judea.

We now know, that the Hasmonean, now Herodian Queen Mariamme I may be now be recognized as Jesus’ great-great step aunt and the Hasmonean High Priest Aristobulus III, was the great-great step uncle. It was in the year of 29 BCE, that Queen Mariamme I was murdered by the royal orders of Herod the Great. This was the year of Joseph’s, Jesus’ father’s birth.

Yet, Queen Alexander II married a 3rd time, this time to King Antigonus, who was the last Maccabee king. Together they had one daughter, Princess Antigone, who later married the son of Herod the Great, by his 1st wife, Doris of Jerusalem, the Herodian Prince Antipater. Just before the death of King Herod, he decided against living his throne to either of his two oldest sons; Aristobulus and Antipater. He instead, executed both of them; Aristobulus in 7 BCE, the supposed year of Yehoshua’s birth, and Antipater in 4 BCE, just before Herod’s own death. This fact so riled Caesar Augustus, that he made a joke that “it was preferable to be Herod's pig (hus) than his son (huios)”, a remark of extreme insult to any Jew.

Alexandra (d. 26 B.C.E.). We know more about this woman, as well as her name, because she lived much of her life in the Herodian court. Nicolaus of Damascus, Herod’s court historian, who usually documented Herodian women’s names, documented her actions. She was the daughter of Hyrcanus II, the Hasmonean who chose to ally himself with Rome. Yet in 55 B.C.E. she married her cousin, Alexander son of Aristobulus, who was a mortal enemy of Rome all his life. They had two children, Aristobulus III and Mariamme, Herod’s wife. In 49 B.C.E. she was widowed when her husband was executed by the Romans. This brought her directly into the Herodian court. In 37 B.C.E. her daughter married Herod.

In 36 B.C.E. Alexandra’s 17-year-old son, just nominated High Priest, drowned in mysterious circumstance in the winter palace at Jericho (Ant. 15:50-6). Nicolaus describes Alexandra’s attempts to accuse Herod of murder in these circumstances as a woman’s political network. She wrote to Cleopatra in Egypt about her suspicions and Cleopatra persuaded her lover Mark Anthony to summon Herod to explain the event (Ant. 15:62–64). Herod, however, succeeded in persuading Anthony of his innocence. Yet Nicolaus continues to describe Alexandra as an incessant intriguant. She attempted to escape to Egypt, fleeing Herod’s surveillance (Ant. 15:42–47). She persuaded her father to ally himself with the Nabatean king against Herod (Ant. 15:166–168). She persuaded her daughter to escape to the Roman legions when Herod was away and out of favor (Ant. 15:71–73). Thus she was, at least according to Nicolaus, responsible for Mariamme’s fall from favor with Herod. In order to further enhance the description of her vile nature, Nicolaus described her betrayal of her daughter when the latter was led to her execution, cursing her and reviling her on her way (Ant. 15:232–234).

However, Alexandra too, like all other Hasmoneans (male or female) in Herod’s court, found her death at the hands of Herod. After Mariamme’s execution, she once again attempted to gain control of the army and lead an insurrection against Herod. The plot was discovered and Alexandra executed, just one year after her daughter (Ant. 15:247–251).




Alexandra the Maccabee

Alexandra the Maccabee (died ca. 28 BC) was the daughter of Hyrcanus II (died 30 BC), who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus. She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea (died 48 BC), who was the son of Aristobulus II. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus.[3] Their daughter was the Hasmonean Mariamne and son was Aristobulus III.

Alexandra opposed her son-in-law Herod, and when he became sick with grief after having Mariamne executed, Alexandra tried to seize power, but was unsuccessful and was herself executed.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_the_Maccabee

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Elizabeth of Jerusalem, Queen Alexandra II's Timeline

-63
-63
Judea
-54
-54

Mariamme was the daughter of Alexander, Aristobulus II’s son, and Alexandra, Hyrcanus II’s daughter. Her grandfathers were the two rival Hasmoneans who invited Rome to intervene in Judaean internal affairs and eventually brought about the downfall of the Hasmonean kingdom. Abraham Schalit calculates that her father and mother could have been married only between 55 and 49 B.C.E., after Alexander’s revolt against Rome was crushed and before his own execution at the hands of the Romans (Ant. 14:125). She was thus probably born in 54 B.C.E.

-53
-53
-28
-28
Age 34
Jerusalem, Judea
-28
Age 34
Jerusalem, Judea
????