Reading Quiz 2 (pg.42-50/Matt. 5-7)

Question 1

Who took over the Middle East after Cyrus’s Persian Empire began crumbling in 4th Century BC?

Answer 1

Alexander the Great

Question 2

Was Cyrus successful in expanding Persian borders into Greece (explain)?

Answer 2

No, they pillaged Athens, but had to withdraw back to Asia Minor after a naval defeat at the Sea of Salamis (480 BC)

Question 3

Was Alexander successful in establishing Greek borders (explain)?

Answer 3

Yes! In order to avenge the temple of Athena, he established the rule of Greek civilization, which once belonged to Persia

Question 4

What were Alexander the Great’s military successors called?

Answer 4

Diadochi

Question 5

What areas were seized after Alexander’s death (and by whom)?

Answer 5

Antigonus Cyclops: whole of Asia Minor, including Syria and Palestine

Ptolemy: Egypt and North Africa

Seleucus Nicator: territory stretching from Mesopotamia east to India

Question 6

Who took Antigonus’s land (what battle)?

Answer 6

Battle of Ipsus; Seleucus

Question 7

Who founded the city of Antioch in Syria?

Answer 7

Seleucus after defeating Antigonus

Question 8

Who gained control of the Holy Land to the south of Syria?

Answer 8

Ptolemy

Question 9

Who allowed the conquered people to return to their homeland (what was this time called)?

Answer 9

Cyrus; time of restoration

Question 10

Who annexed Palestine into his territory in 198 BC (how)?

Answer 10

Antiochus the 3rd, the Great ruler of Syrian Empire, defeated his Ptolemaic rival at the Battle of Panias

Question 11

Who defeated Antiochus?

Answer 11

Scipio of Rome

Question 12

Who did Rome allow to become ruler of the Seleucid Empire in 175 BC?

Answer 12

Antiochus the 4th, Epiphanes

Question 13

What did Antiochus the 4th do that caused outrage for over two years (give examples)

Answer 13

He tried Hellenizing (forcing Greek ways) all territories including worshiping Greek gods in ways such as ACRA (pagan citadel in Jerusalem) which became an altar to Zeus

Question 14

Who resisted Antiochus the 4th and how?

Answer 14

A priest named Mattathias killed the king’s representative

Question 15

Who were Mattathias’s 5 sons?

Answer 15

John, Simon, Judas (Maccabeus meaning “the hammer”), Eleazer, and Johnathan

Question 16

Hasidim

Answer 16

a group of pious warriors

Question 17

Hasmoneans explained

Answer 17

Mattathias’s family and the Hasidim group who waged war against Syrians and ruled for the next 103 years until Pompey conquered Jerusalem

Question 18

Who took over after Mattathias died?

Answer 18

Judas (Maccabeus), his son

Question 19

Explain the Feast of Dedication (and what it is also called)

Answer 19

Also called Festival of Lights (Hannukah); under Maccabeus, the Syrians were defeated at Emmaus and Beth-Zur, the temple mount was cleansed and rededicated. The celebration lasted 8 days and they lit lamps in the temple.

Question 20

Hasmonean Dynasty

Answer 20

Mattathias - Simon - John - Alexander - Aristobulus - Antigonus

Question 21

Whom followed Judas?

Answer 21

Johnathan (re-established relations with Rome), then Simon (kept calm peace)

Question 22

Pharisees

Answer 22

descendants of Hasidim

Question 23

Who had a falling out with the Pharisees

Answer 23

Hyrcanus

Question 24

Where was Herod made king of?

Answer 24

Judea

Question 25

Who did Herod side/befriend with?

Answer 25

Octavian

Question 26

Herod’s rule timeline

Answer 26

Herod conquers Jerusalem, Herod defeats Nabateans, Herod confirmed as king by Octavian, Herod’s wife (Mariamme) executed, Herod rebuilds Samaria and renames it Sebaste, Herod begins to build Caesarea, Herod starts to build the temple, Herod’s sons have a falling out (Alexander and Aristobulus) that is solved by Augustus, dedication of Caesarea, Alexander and Aristobulus executed at Sebaste, Herod grows ill, Herod names Archelaus king and dies five days after Antipas’s execution

Question 27

Herod’s first descent

Answer 27

Archelaus: brutal and tyrannical

Question 28

Pontius Pilate

Answer 28

harsh and intensive ruler that was a Roman governor during the rule of Archelaus

Question 29

Herod’s second descent

Answer 29

Philip: quiet and calm ruler

Question 30

Herod’s third descent

Answer 30

Antipas: vain and arrogant

Question 31

Who engineered the death of John the Baptist (and why)?

Answer 31

Herodias (Antipas’s lover) did because John the Baptist denounced her and Antipas’s marriage as illegal

Question 32

Who is the Grandson of Herod the Great?

Answer 32

Herod Agrippa (son of Aristobulus)

Question 33

Who executed James (the apostle) and sent Peter to jail?

Answer 33

Herod Agrippa

Question 34

What started the Jewish war and destruction of Jerusalem?

Answer 34

A fire began in Caesarea where a synagogue was desecrated

Question 35

What caused the Jewish War?

Answer 35

Romans and Jews had conflicting political and religious views paired with a failing economy