Maccabean Revolt

167–160 BC Judea Status: ended Casualties: Tens of thousands across seven years

When Antiochus desecrated the Temple with a swine on the altar, the priest Mattathias raised the cry. His son Judah the Hammer broke Seleucid armies at Beth-horon, Emmaus, and Beth-zur. In 164 BC the Temple was cleansed; one cruse of oil burned eight days. Recorded in 1 & 2 Maccabees.

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Belligerents

Judah Maccabee & sons of Mattathias
Seleucid Empire (Antiochus IV Epiphanes)

Casualties

Tens of thousands across seven years

Key events

167 BC — Mattathias kills the king's officer at Modi'in
166 BC — Judah Maccabee defeats Apollonius and Seron at Beth-horon
165 BC — Judah breaks Lysias at Emmaus and Beth-zur
164 BC — Temple cleansed and rededicated; Hanukkah established
160 BC — Judah falls at Elasa against Bacchides; the brothers Jonathan and Simon continue

Aftermath

Hasmonean independence held for a century, until Pompey took Jerusalem in 63 BC. Hanukkah remains the festival of the cleansed Temple, kept by Christ ('Feast of Dedication', John 10:22).

Weapons & matériel

Guerrilla raids in the Judean hills
Captured Seleucid arms
Refusal to fight on the Sabbath — until they reformed it

Sources

1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
Josephus, Antiquities XII

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.