Based on "Jewish Antiquities" as a single source, the rebellion of the Nehardea brothers is examined in the context of the weakness of the Parthian kingdom, the possible financing mechanisms (including suspicion of taking over the half-shekel money), and its implications for the Nehardea community and historical memory.
And... let's begin with a personal, somewhat historical-personal confession. While I was preparing and writing my research paper, the dissertation for a master's degree in humanities (history) at Tel Aviv University about the city of Nehardea ("Nehardea, a city and mother in Babylon during the Mishnah and Talmud", February 1972) under the guidance and supervision of the late Prof. Shmuel Safrai, several assumptions, misconceptions, arose within me regarding the revolt in question, namely - the Hanilai and Hasinai revolt - which at the time were perhaps considered "historiosophical impudence." And quite recently I dared to examine the aforementioned rebellion in light of that "audacity," about which I will expand later. Therefore, it occurred to me to examine that rebellion from a historiological and historiographical starting point, perhaps somewhat revolutionary and at least quite bizarre. Indeed, over the years and in the span of time, I found myself observing the aforementioned rebellion from a comprehensive historical starting point, the cave within which also includes a more comprehensive and more in-depth observation, while also examining the events from an environmental, somewhat post-Nahdaean starting point.
Well, it should be noted that the above-mentioned parsha was discussed in great detail in the work of Josephus ben Matityahu, namely "The Ancestors of the Jews", and in this work alone, without any correlation or mention in external literature, in the literature of the Sages and the Midrashim on the one hand, and in foreign literature on the other. And from it, from "The Ancestors of the Jews" and especially between its lines, and in its content, a rather interesting and surprising picture emerges, which not everyone who has dealt with the parsha up to our own day has paid attention to. It should be noted right away that, as strange as it may seem, this is a single source, without the possibility of examining it in light of other, independent sources such as external literature, the literature of the Sages, the Midrashim and, of course, external, foreign literature.
According to Josephus' detailed description, a rebellion took place in ancient Babylon at the beginning of the first quarter of the first century CE, led by two Jewish brothers, Hasinai and Hanilai, two leaders who shook up life in that region for a long period. The brothers' rebellion, its causes and factors, its course and conclusion are detailed by Josephus in his work "The Antiquities of the Jews", 18:310 ff., which opens with the following sentence: "And upon the Jews in Mesopotamia, and especially upon the Jewish population in Babylon, a severe calamity befell the Jews in Mesopotamia, and especially upon the Jewish population in Babylon, a calamity that was not befallen by any calamity whatsoever (and they were exposed to a great slaughter the like of which had never been recorded before). Again, and to emphasize, this is an "orphan source" and that alone, which makes it difficult for us to reach any real research conclusions.
And I will say the following, and this in terms of analyzing the aforementioned source, that we do not know, we truly do not know, and this in light of the aforementioned statement of Josephus, what disaster is in question? Does that "severe tribulation that befell the Jews in Mesopotamia" discussed by Josephus exempt from liability the rebellion of the two brothers? Of the disaster in general that occurred in Mesopotamia and perhaps of the brothers' revenge in light of some event, obviously personal, that befell them? Of the Mesopotamian reaction as a result of the aforementioned? Of combining all of the aforementioned data together? We do not know, and in particular that in the case at hand, i.e. the outbreak of the rebellion led by the pair of brothers in the year 26 CE, we have before us, as stated, only one source. Namely – the writings of Josephus, without any other external or internal historical evidence, which, despite the certain objectivity that characterizes the nature of his writing, contains and is deeply problematic in analyzing all the events of the rebellion from beginning to end, from beginning to end, and this at the beginning of the first century CE.
Well, here are some important details that will clearly clarify for us the background to the outbreak of the rebellion of the two brothers in Nehrada and from there into the Parthian kingdom, that is, between the years 26 and 36 CE.
Josephus reported this as follows: "...and there were two brothers from Nehardea, by origin and named Hasinai and Hanilai, orphans of their father and who, thanks to their mother, instructed them to learn the craft of weaving, weaving wool, a profession that was quite acceptable and respectable in the eyes of the population at that time" (ibid. 314). The two rebelled due to a work incident, for which they were punished by the work manager. As a result, the two brought out many weapons that were hidden with them, and many young men joined them, and thus the two became leaders of a rebellion in the area called "Parashat Naharot" (and perhaps the origin of the name of the city "Nehardea" is hidden here), which was characterized by good pastures and hay that could be stored for the winter. The poor among the youths accompanied them, the two brothers mentioned above (probably on the basis of financial temptations and/or enjoyment of all kinds of loot), and they armed them with weapons and became (their) strategists (military commanders with political missions) and nothing stopped them (and this was against the background of the problematic situation that prevailed in Mesopotamia at that time) from serving as leaders for every evil thing (as originally stated). And when they reached the point where no one stood against them in battle and they built (them) a fortress, they sent messengers everywhere to the shepherds and demanded a tax from them for their livelihood, adding that if they obeyed them, they were guaranteed friendship and protection from their enemies wherever they might come from. And (on the other hand) they were guaranteed the slaughter (annihilation) of the herds if they refused and did not obey them, according to their instructions. Since there was no other way left (before them) but this (only, the above-mentioned option of punishment), the shepherds listened and sent some of the animals They were ordered (to be sent), and thus a great and growing power was accumulated in the hands of the brothers (Hassinai and Hanilai) and they already had the ability to immediately attack anyone they wanted and commit criminal acts, since everyone who came across them began to serve them, and they were also terrifying to those who wanted to try (their power against them) until their news had already reached even the Parthian revolt. And I would add as a concise summary – a criminal exploitation of comprehensive historical circumstances that simply winked at a kind of "all the dalits were men...".
Clear and immeasurably important information are the events to which Josephus ben Matityahu dedicated his discussion in connection with the two brothers, Hassinai and Hanilai. There we find ourselves learning that a severe calamity befell the Jews of Mesopotamia and a great slaughter took place among them, the likes of which had not been recorded before, against the same pair of brothers, Hassinai and Hanilai, sons of Nehardea. The two rebelled due to a work incident in the weaving industry, for which they were punished by the work manager. As a result, the aforementioned took out many weapons that were hidden with them, and many young men joined them, and thus the two became "strategists", as Josephus ben Matityahu says, that is, senior military commanders. The case seems strange and raises several questions: Did the two brothers take revenge by rebelling because of the aforementioned dismissal? Did they not prepare the rebellion in advance and only expect some "logical" trap? Did not the collection of weapons and training in it symbolize the trend of the rebellion that was only "waiting" for the right time? And more of these kinds…
That uprising will be explained against the backdrop of raids by the Roman army into the Euphrates River regions and its neighbors; against the backdrop of the Parthian kingdom's organizational weakness, such as the division of the country into two regions, each region governed by a royal emissary; and against the backdrop of the invasion of nomadic tribes into Mesopotamia, which undoubtedly increased the weakness of the region in question, all of which served as a backdrop to the rebellion of the two brothers, Hanilai and Hasinai.
Thus, there is no doubt that in this situation the image of the aforementioned Jewish brothers rebelled was well woven. It would be ridiculous and far from historical logic to think that the two brought about the outbreak of a rebellion due to a purely personal incident. On the contrary, they had apparently plotted to rebel not long before, in light of the weakness of the Parthian kingdom, and were merely waiting for a suitable pretext to arrive and even, it seems, helped to cause it to erupt, such as an act of negligence by being late for work. We also witness in this context that the two had prepared well for the outbreak of the rebellion, when "suddenly" they were found, their weapons drawn, ready for rebellious use, and that many young men joined the ranks of the rebels, all of which indicates that the rebellion was prepared and planned in advance.
As mentioned, the center of the rebellion took place and was conducted in the city of Nehardea, which was the mother city of the Jews of Babylon, in the center of the Euphrates River opposite the large city called Netzibin, far, far to the north at the eastern fork of the Euphrates River.
Well, the circumstances for the rebellion and takeover were these: there was leadership, physical-military capability existed, and the rebellion even had clear goals. What remained was the financial side, namely the financing of all the aforementioned actions. Furthermore, it is said that it cannot be ruled out that the most prominent impulse and motive for the brothers' rebellion, beyond the political, social, and personal aspects - revenge for their dismissal, was undoubtedly the economic aspect. In other words, the desire to take over, literally, the financial center of the Babylonian Jews in Nehardea, where the money and gifts donated by the Babylonian Jews for the benefit of the center in Jerusalem accumulated.
How, then, and this is a very important point, could the pair of brothers finance the scope of their rebellion and, moreover, establish a kind of independent political structure in the region with defined borders, which could function for a relatively long period of time?
Well, we have heard and read that payments were imposed on every region and territory that the pair of brothers took over (a kind of "war tax from 'will') so that they could finance the goals of their operations, and just as an example, we will note that in those regions where local shepherds were operating and beating their flocks, the two brothers made a threatening demand backed by military force to explicitly finance their activities, and did not hesitate to threaten to destroy their flocks if they did not put the required funds into the rebellion's coffers.
Indeed, the outbreak of the aforementioned rebellion was perhaps understandable given the situation into which the two brothers were thrown, but "with food comes appetite," the brothers lost sight of their purpose and demands and became greedy for power, rule, and especially money.
Where, indeed, did the above seem to be able to realize their goals? It was clear that the above funds were not sufficient to satisfy their policy needs and the implementation goals for this. So how did the above-mentioned people manage to fill their coffers with money? My basic assumption is, on the one hand, to the extent that this may/may surprise the readers, and on the other hand to confirm it on the basis of the character of the brothers and probably also on the basis of their moral entanglement as we will see immediately below. Well, my assumption is, despite the questions it raises and in general in the absence of any solid informative support for my assumption, and even in the absence of support from historical sources, such as the testimonies of Josephus in his work The Antiquities of the Jews, as cited above. However, I have difficulty understanding how their rebellion succeeded, at least in its beginnings, without the financial infrastructure to fuel it. But from what? A historiosophical feeling, an understanding of the reality of the development of the rebellion, its persistence and the mobilization of all its supporters, especially from the farmers on one side and the shepherds on the other, led me to present my assumption on the matter.
And again, with all due respect and compassion, I raise the above hypothesis, although it has no factual and clear basis in the sources, and it is the exploitation of the large sums of money that the pair of brothers, Hanilai and Hasinai, may have taken over, in the form of the exploitation of the money that was hidden and buried in the brothers' treasury. And where did the money come from? In my humble opinion, this is the case, although there is no conclusive "golden evidence" for this. This is the theft of the donations that were made by the Jewish public in the area controlled by the city of Nehardea, and the reference is to the half-shekel money that was supposed to be sent to the Temple in Jerusalem by holy emissaries from Judah. The "tanna demsaiy" for this was the fact that in the ancient Babylonian kingdom there were two centers known for collecting the proceeds for the Temple. One in the northern Naz'ivin and the other in Nehardea, which, according to the above source, served as "treasure houses," that is, safes (Yosef ben Matityahu, Kadmoniot HaYehudi, 18). 331-325).
Let us turn again to the historiographical source of Josephus ben Matityahu and apologize for the following dramatization, which we will quote from the aforementioned work of Josephus ben Matityahu (18:310 onwards) as a support for "Tana Damsaeyi": "And upon the Jews in Mesopotamia, and especially upon the inhabitants of Babylon, came a terrible calamity that had not befallen any calamity whatsoever, and there was a great slaughter among them, the like of which has never been recounted before. After I have told everything in detail about these matters, I will also explain the reasons why that disaster occurred (and I refer to the sad affair of the pair of brothers Hanilai and Hasinai, which will lead to difficult consequences for the Jews of Nehardea). There is a city in Babylon (and its name is) Nehardea ... It also has a good and wide land and is full of people. Along with other virtues. Nor is it convenient for an enemy to assassinate it. Since it is entirely surrounded and contained in the middle by the (river) Euphrates and by built walls. Near that bend of the river lies "So did the city governors. Therefore the Jews trusted in the nature of these places and deposited here the (money) of the half shekel (donations to the temple in Jerusalem) ... and all the other holy gifts and used these cities as treasuries. From here, when the time came, the gifts were sent and brought up to Jerusalem, and tens of thousands of people participated in the shipment of the money, since they feared the robberies of the Parthians, for Babylon is a tax collector to them."
These fragments indicate the strength of the place and the security precautions taken by the Jewish residents to ensure the safe sending of the donation money to the Temple in Jerusalem, and it was precisely there that the disaster caused by the pair of brothers Hasinai and Hanilai occurred.
And perhaps these passages appear in Josephus, right before the presentation of the actions of the pair of brothers and their negative character, to indicate the magnitude of the disaster that the two brought upon the Jewish community in Nehardea.
It is true that I have no way of proving this, but the financial necessity on the one hand and the lack of funding sources on the other, which led the two brothers to do the same with the donations stashed in the "Nahradea vaults" as they do within their own, and in general to inflict terror on their surroundings... all of these could have financed their campaign of takeover in the region.
Another "tena demsaye" is found in my opinion in the harsh, cruel, greedy nature ... which was embodied in the actions and activities of the pair of brothers, one that did not shame the greatest criminals. These, the two brothers, were awarded various gifts from the Parthian king Artabanos III, including inflated positions of honor and even political, domineering positions. Ultimately, the pair of brothers became greedy for money and various favors from the Parthian royal house, were perceived as having various anti-moral desires. And their end, as a punishment for their actions, one of them - Hasinai was poisoned to death and Hanilai was executed by order of the Parthian ruler Mithridates
Before concluding this list, it is worth noting again that beyond the above information provided by Josephus, there is no echo, allusion, statement, etc., in the literature of the Sages, whether literally or figuratively, regarding the matter discussed here before us, and assuming that the above story did indeed occur in reality, it can be assumed that its memory was erased, "erased" from the literature of the Sages, and the one who understands will understand...
It remains for us a minor interest, perhaps in the context of the subject at hand, or perhaps not, to examine the meaning of the names of the leaders of the rebellion, namely Hasinai and Hanilai, which Josephus does not examine and verify. Well, according to the nomenclature and onomastics of the names of the Jews of Babylon, of the members of the Jewish communities in Babylon, we find, alongside the Hebrew names, quite a few foreign names such as Dimi, Bruna, Gidal, Bali, Bizna, Zabid, Madfati and many more like them, which indicates the social, explanatory, linguistic phenomenon of adopting local, typical – Babylonian names. And perhaps this is what indicates the origin of the names of Hasinai and Hanilai. And perhaps, if we seek to trace some similarity to biblical names, somewhat similar, such as Hanan, one of David's heroes, Hananel, Hanania... and perhaps Hosn in connection with Hasinai, we can be saved in this regard, and perhaps perhaps the origin is Babylonian, with no connection to the biblical source, but simply a logical assimilative product of assimilation in the foreign, alien environment?
And right at the end of this article and for the sake of the "goddess of history", namely the legendary Clio, one of the nine muses in Greek mythology, it is worth noting that there are scholars who doubt the reliability of the picturesque story of the brothers' rebellion and the establishment of their kingdom and attribute to it mythological-folk Babylonian foundations, perhaps, and there are those who see the story as a true representation of an ancient historical event and perhaps on the basis of the symbolic saying that "power corrupts", or: "... since we were expelled from the Garden of Eden...", which may continue to this day, and for God's sake...
4 תגובות
First, Avichai, thank you for your response, as the little that contains the many.
Secondly, it is interesting to note that this is an unusual rebellion in all the early Jewish resistance movements, the main focus of which was ideological rather than publicity on the one hand and monetary on the other. The episode of the rebellion in question tarnished the essence and ways of the early Jewish Kenila in Nehardea, about which I will briefly discuss in the following list, which I hope will be published, in relation to its leadership, which was led by Shmuel, who scientifically observed the properties of the stars in the sky.
Interesting article
Your response is strange. Model, explain, and detail, and then, perhaps, I can deal with the problem and find a solution to it that is as reasonable and logical as possible.
What language was the post written in?
Hebrew M Z A Z A T.