The Muscle Song XNUMXth - Olympics in Tyre

There is a theory that holds that the Olympic Games were brought to Greece from Phoenicia, when already in the 15th century BC quasi-Olympic Games were held in the north of the latter.

Yason, the high priest on behalf of the Seleucid government in Judah, built, as is known, a gymnasium and an epibion ​​in Jerusalem, as these include the essential foundation of the accepted education system in the Greek-Hellenistic city, but it seems that a study of the case of the Tire games may illuminate Yason's work in an interesting light.

Let's first read the passage that appears in Baal Maccabim 20: "While the fifth year was being played in Tyre, and the king (Antiochus IV, "Epiphanes") was there, the abominable Jason sent Antiochian observers in the name of Jerusalem, who brought three hundred drachmas to the sacrifice of Heracles, and the bringers asked not to He took them out for the sacrifice, because it is not nice to take them out for another need. Well, these were intended by the will of the sender for the sacrifice of Heracles, and for the sake of those who were present they were taken out for the works of the ships" (18 Maccabees XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX).

This section will be examined in light of the following sections:

Tzur games
There is a theory that holds that the Olympic Games were brought to Greece from Phoenicia, when already in the 15th century BC quasi-Olympic Games were held in the north of the latter. It was Alexander of Macedonia who founded and instituted the Tire Sports Games after the conquest of the city in 332 BC, and it should be noted that this move was sometimes acceptable in Hellenic policy, and Alexander, who wanted to present his Hellenism (enough of coercion and artificiality), jumped at every opportunity of this kind. The Tire Games were intercity and were dedicated to the central Tyrian god - Melkeret, who was identified with Heracles (who was, by the way, the mythological patron of the classical Greek gymnasium) and the head of the Greek gods - Zeus (who was the supreme patron of the Olympic Games).

It is known that the Hellenistic cities used to hold joint agonistic games, Rabi-Par and Hadar and send their representatives to more famous competitions in Greece. For example, in 270 BC the representatives of the cities of Sidon and Byblos won the wrestling competitions that took place on the famous island of Dilos, and in an inscription dated to 200 BC we read about the participation of athletes from Sidon in the wrestling games held in Greece under the supervision of the Argos.

In any case, even when the Olympic Games were announced in Gofa Greece, the honor of the Phoenician Games was not diminished, and their revival gained light and strength mainly in the Hellenistic period when the center of gravity moved from Greece to the East.

"The Fifth Year Game"
It is known that the Olympic Games and the other sacred intercity competitions were held once every four years for mythological reasons and even in an agricultural context. If so, why does the Book of Maccabim XNUMX convey that the games of Tire were held once every five years ("Pantatris" in the language of the source)? Well, the Greeks used to name the year of the games as the first year and as the "fifth" year ending the previous Olympics. So it turns out that the year of the games was counted twice, and why? To create a spiral continuity of all the games as a kind of chain consisting of well-hugging links. This was due to sacred reasons, in order not to offend the patron of the games, aka the head of the gods, Zeus himself. The crowning of the Tzur Games as the "Games of the Fifth Year" testifies to the respectability of the competitions and the ritualistic cloud that hung over them.

The time of the games
It must be assumed that the Syrian games took place in 173 BC, and this according to the Maccabean context, in which the passage in question is immersed. This dating may serve as a chronological peg in relation to the Jerusalem gymnasium, the fruit of Yason's work. Hela received the permission to build the Jerusalem gymnasium from the Seleucid king Antiochus IV, in 175 BC, and if we assume for a moment that the Maccabean testimony hints at the active participation of Jerusalem's athletes in the games of Tyre, as we will discuss later, we can assume that from 175 BC onwards Yason approached the Mishna with vigor and determination to establish the gymnasium (or at least the foundation of it, in the form of the "Palestra" - the Greek studio for wrestling) and trained his representatives for the Tyre competitions, which were very important, as evidenced by the fact that the Seleucid king himself used to patronize the games, watching them From the seat of honor.

members of the delegation
The Maccabean text names the members of the delegation as "Antiochian observers in the name of Jerusalem". "Observers" (and in the Greek text - "Theodoi") were used in high political positions in Jerusalem, from Yason's campaign.
The question is, was it a delegation of dignitaries accompanying the participants, or were there also athletes among them?
Well, first of all, it was customary in the Greek-Hellenistic world, that a city that did not receive an official invitation from the city hosting the games, was prevented from taking part in the competitions. And if so, it would be easy for us to assume that two years after the beginning of the construction of the Gymnasium and Ephebion and the "registration of the people of Jerusalem as Antiochians" by Yason, Jerusalem, or at least part of it, was recognized as a "polis" city for all intents and purposes, and therefore received the honorable invitation.
Secondly, it was common in the Greek and Hellenistic world that every delegation of athletes, which represented a certain city, was accompanied by the dignitaries of the city and its leaders.
Thirdly, the evidence about the construction of the gymnasium and the Ephebion by Yasson clearly states that Hela chose "the most glorious of the boys" as the first apprentices of the gymnasium. If we accept the possibility that the "magnificent lads" were nothing but the robust and beautiful lads in their bodies, as was common in the Greek and Hellenistic world, the picture may be drawn as follows: in 175 BC, when Jason received the permission to build a gymnasium and an epibion, he clearly knew that in two years Agonistic, intercity games will be held in Tzur. I want to say, for two years he was supposed to, if he wanted to, train a certain number of athletes, those who could represent Jerusalem with honor in the Tzur Games.
What's more, apart from the fame and personal publicity that the winners of these competitions won, the sending city (such as Jerusalem) would also receive a considerable harvest of prestige, and perhaps even upgrade its political status. This element may explain Yasson's strong desire to train athletes from the Jerusalem aristocracy and expect that they will even win prizes in the Tzur Games.
It would therefore not be far from supposing that the Jerusalem athletes, graduates of the Yeson gymnasium, took part in the Tsur competitions (and perhaps some of them were even priests), and with them came the respected official representatives of Jerusalem, i.e. the representatives of the police.

The case of the victim
In the sources it is said that the expedition brought with it 300 drachmas of silver, but did not convert them into a sacrificial offering to Herakles-Melkerat, but to build ships for Tire or satisfy the needs of the Tyrian ships.
In the passage in question, three significant terms appear: "watching", "bringing" and "found". It is hard to imagine that Yeson's emissaries and his loyalists would dare to change his mouth and not testify the money according to the order of the originator of the idea.
Here are two suggestions for the interpretation of the somewhat puzzling move:
First - Ba'al Maccabim II, who was not one of Yeson's peace men and wanted to slander him as much as possible, had no difficulty exaggerating because Yeson ordered his emissaries to pledge the treasure to the victim.
Second - Yason ordered the "observers", the representatives of the Greek Jerusalem aristocracy, to dedicate the money to the sacrifice, but the "bringers", those "observers", or perhaps the Jerusalem athletes, refused to do so, and for the sake of the "ones" (probably the Jews of the city Tzur) devote the money to the needs of the Syrian triremes.

I believe, in light of the information we have about Jason and his reforms, that the first option is the most plausible, however, we cannot ignore the fact that the Maccabean source does mention the sacrifice. However, even if this is so, since it cannot be assumed that the angels would have betrayed Yason, and since Baal Maccabim II abhorred all of Yason's undertakings, the opinion is that this is a Maccabean exaggeration.

And to conclude, I would like to point out that I have not found, even once, among the variety of accepted practices in the Greek and Hellenistic competitions, where one of the cities sends respected "observers" to watch the athletic competitions, which took place in one of the main cities, without athletes and competitors.

If so, one of the two: either the "observers" were also athletes, members of the Jerusalem aristocracy, or Jewish competitors, trainees and graduates of the Jerusalem gymnasium, appeared along with the delegation of honor.

There is no doubt about it, that the Jerusalem expedition that was sent to Misachaki-Tzur, constitutes an examination of another stone in the mosaic of information about the culture of the body in the Hellenistic style, as it sinks in Judea.