Dynastic Genealogies and Funerary Monuments: Nectanebo, Alexander, and Judas Maccabee and the Evidence of Ptolemaic Influence on the Hasmoneans

Abstract

Abstract When we compare the genealogical strategies of the Ptolemies, Seleukids, and Hasmoneans, those of the Ptolemies and the Hasmoneans display striking parallels, while the Seleukids followed a different policy. This article explores one facet of the parallels, the combined use of funerary monuments, festivals, and narratives (mythical and historical) to create prestigious dynastic ancestors. We commence with Alexander the Great and Nectanebo II, the last native king to rule before the Persian conquest of Egypt, who became putative ancestors of the Ptolemies by way of Alexander’s Sema in Alexandria, the Ptolemaic ruler cult, and four texts—the Demotic Chronicle, Nectanebo’s Dream and its “sequel”, and the Alexander Romance. The comparison between the Ptolemies and the Hasmoneans focuses on Alexander’s Sema and the Hasmonean funerary monument erected by Simon in Modi’in. Alongside their physical similarities, we show how the Modi’in monument was instrumental in turning the Hasmonean John Hyrkanos into the heir of all the tomb dwellers, particularly Judas Maccabee.