The Maccabean Revolution of what form of ideology or religious belief led to it become largely point-
less.
We may leave out of account here those cult acts or other actions (like
eating pork) which were forcibly imposed on the population solely in order
to make them break the Mosaic law, and concentrate on what little is actu-
ally attested of the new cult forms in the Temple. For the reasons mentioned
above, the order of treatment must be chronological.
Firstly, Daniel , though it refers to the ‘‘abomination of desolation’’
(v. ) and to the establishment in Jerusalem of a foreign garrison worship-
ping a foreign god (v. ), cannot provide us with any specific information
about the cult.
Secondly, Macc. is much more helpful. It records the dedication (on
the orders of Antiochus) of the Temple to Zeus Olympius and of that on
Mount Gerizim to Zeus Xenius, the latter on the request of the inhabitants
(see above). Orgies involving intercourse with women (i.e., ritual prosti-
tution?) took place in the Temple precincts. Unlawful sacrifices were made
on the Altar of Burnt Offering. The royal birthday was celebrated, as were
feasts of Dionysus. Chapter reveals that pagan altars had been placed in
the market-place of Jerusalem and sacred precincts established.
Thirdly, Macc. reveals that many Israelites sacrificed to idols (v. ) and
that the king’s order involved the construction of ‘‘altars, sacred precincts,
and shrines for idols.’’ The ‘‘abomination of desolation’’ was set on the Altar,
and other altars were built in the cities of Judaea (). Verse shows that
the ‘‘abomination’’ was a pagan altar placed on the Altar of Burnt Offering.
Fourthly, Diodorus /, (see above), under the impression that the
Temple contained a cult statue of Moses, as Founder, records that Antiochus
sacrificed a sow to him on ‘‘the open-air altar.’’
Fifthly, Josephus, inBJ, , also relates that a sow was sacrificed on the
Altar, and more specifically, inAnt. , , that he built a pagan altar over
the Altar and sacrificed swine on it.
This evidence is all that we have from sources reasonably close in time to
the events. It is noticeable that they tend to concentrate on the new form of
sacrifice on the Altar of Burnt Offering. None makes any reference to the
Holy of Holies or to the establishment in the Temple of any pagan cult statue.
Later sources, however, do make specific assertions relating to cult statues.
Sixthly, Jerome’sCommentaryon Daniel, using Porphyry’s detailed dis-
cussion of it written in the later third century.., makes a number of de-
tailed statements about the cults imposed: Antiochus established a statue of
Zeus Olympius in the Temple (on :–); later he states that as well as the
simulacrum(image) of Zeus statues of Antiochus himself were placed in the