As for Jewish settlement elsewhere in the Ptolemaic Empire (apart
from Palestine), we have no direct third-century evidence. The book of
1 Maccabees, probably composed in the late second centuryb.c.e.,con-
tains a list of cities and countries, including Cyrene and many other com-
munities that fell within the zone of Ptolemaic hegemony (1 Macc. 15:22-
23). This list, which refers to a Roman request that the addressees extradite
any Jews who may be seeking asylum among them, has sometimes been
construed as evidence for Jewish habitation in those places. This, however,
is neither stated nor implied in the passage, which is itself historically sus-
pect. It is possible that Jews penetrated the islands and coasts of the
Ptolemaic-controlled Mediterranean by this time or earlier, but firmer
statements to this effect must await new discoveries.
Our two primary sources for the history of Ptolemaic Palestine itself are
Josephus and the so-called Zenon Papyri. Numismatic and archaeological
data contribute to the assessment of this written testimony but also compli-
cate its interpretation. Josephus’s narrative focuses upon the fortunes of the
Tobiads, a clan of Jewish notables who achieved prominence as collaborators
and mediators of Ptolemaic rule. These colorful tales depict Judea as a dis-
tinct ethnic unit within Palestine whose tributary relations with Alexandria
are mediated by the high priest in Jerusalem — until, that is, this role is
transferred to the Tobiads. Tensions with his countrymen (possibly coinci-
dent with the conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids) eventually prompt
Hyrcanus, one scion of the family, to withdraw to Transjordan, where he es-
tablishes himself as an independent strongman (Ant.12.154-222).
Josephus’s account suffers from historical inaccuracies, and many fea-
tures of the Tobiad cycle are patently folkloric. The Zenon Papyri, a dossier
detailing the economic activities of an agent of the chief finance minister for
Ptolemy II, reveals a much more centrally controlled fiscal regime than that
envisioned by Josephus (see fig. 16). Being occasional by its very nature,
Zenon’s correspondence can offer only vignettes of Ptolemaic Palestine, not
a comprehensive panorama. No reference is made in them, for example, to
the high priest (or the Tobiads) as the nexus of Ptolemaic administration.
Strikingly, though, one papyrus does verify a Tobiad military presence in
Transjordan a half century prior to Hyrcanus’s settling in that region. Exca-
vations have positively identified ‘Araq el-Amir and its environs with the for-
tified estate Josephus attributes to Hyrcanus (and possibly with the military
colony of Hyrcanus’s ancestor, Tobias, associated by Zenon with “Birta in
Ammanitis”). But scholarly consensus on the chronology of the surviving
structures has yet to be achieved. What does emerge with certainty is that the35Jewish History from Alexander to HadrianEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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