<p>This volume lays out the charged complicated beginnings of the independent Jewish state founded by the Maccabees in the second century BCE. Contributors offer focused analyses of&nbsp;the archaeological epigraphic numismatic and textual evidence framed within a wider world of conflicts between the Ptolemies of Egypt the Seleucids of Syria and the Romans. The result is a holistic view of the Hasmonean rise to power that acknowledges broader political developments evolving social responses and the particularities of local history. </p>