Mariamne (second wife of Herod)
Encyclopedia
Mariamne I, also called Mariamne the Hasmonean (died 29 BCE) was the second wife of Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...

. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus. Ultimately this was the main reason for the downfall of the Hasmonean dynasty
Hasmonean
The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...

 of Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...

.

Her name is spelled Μαριάμη (Mariame) by Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...

, but in some editions of his work the second m is doubled (Mariamme). In later copies of those editions the spelling was dissimilated
Dissimilation
In phonology, particularly within historical linguistics, dissimilation is a phenomenon whereby similar consonant or vowel sounds in a word become less similar...

 to its now most common form, Mariamne. In Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, Mariamne is known as מִרְיָם, (Miriam), as in the traditional, Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 name (see Miriam, the sister of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

 and Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...

).

Family

She was the daughter of the Hasmonean Alexandros, and thus one of the last heirs to the Hasmonean dynasty
Hasmonean
The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...

 of Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...

. Her mother, Alexandra
Alexandra Maccabeus
Alexandra the Maccabee was of Hyrcanus II , who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus. She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea , who was the son of Aristobulus II. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus...

, arranged for her betrothal to Herod in 41 BCE, but the two were not wed for four years, in Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...

. Mariamne bore Herod four children: two sons, Alexandros
Alexander, son of Herod
Alexander, son of Herod was born about 35 BC; died about 7 BC. His mother was the Hasmonean princess Mariamne.The unfortunate fate which persistently pursued the Hasmonean house overtook this prince also. As heir presumptive to the throne by right of descent on his mother's side, he was sent to...

 and Aristobulus
Aristobulus IV
Aristobulus IV was a prince of Judea from the Herodian dynasty, and was married to his cousin, Berenice, daughter of Costobar and Salome...

 (both executed in 7 BCE), and two daughters, Salampsio
Salampsio
Salampsio was the eldest daughter of Herod the Great by his royal Hasmonean wife, Mariamne I. She was married to Phasael ben Phasael, Herod's nephew . The marriage resulted in five children--Antipater, Herod, Alexander, Alexandra, and Cypros. Cypros married Agrippa I, the son of Aristobulus and...

 and Cypros. Mariamne's only sibling was Aristobulus III of Judea
Aristobulus III of Judea
Aristobulus III was the last scion of the Hasmonean royal house, brother of Herod the Great's wife Mariamne, and paternal grandson of Aristobulus II. He was a favorite of the people on account of his noble descent and handsome presence, and thus became an object of fear to Herod, who at first...

. Her father, Alexander of Judaea
Alexander of Judaea
Alexander , or Alexander Maccabeus, was the eldest son of Aristobulus II, king of Judaea. He married his cousin Alexandra Maccabeus, daughter of his uncle, Hyrcanus II. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus...

, the son of Aristobulus II
Aristobulus II
Aristobulus II was the Jewish High Priest and King of Judea, 66 BC to 63 BC, from the Hasmonean Dynasty.-Family:Aristobulus was the younger son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome. After the death of Alexander in 76 BC, his widow succeeded to the rule of Judea and...

, married his cousin Alexandra
Alexandra Maccabeus
Alexandra the Maccabee was of Hyrcanus II , who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus. She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea , who was the son of Aristobulus II. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus...

, daughter of his uncle Hyrcanus II
Hyrcanus II
Hyrcanus II, a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, was the Jewish High Priest and King of Judea in the 1st century BC.-Accession:Hyrcanus was the eldest son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome...

, in order to cement the line of inheritance from Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, but the inheritance soon continued the blood feud of previous generations, and eventually led to the downfall of the Hasmonean line. By virtue of her parents' union, Mariamne claimed Hasmonean royalty on both sides of her family lineage.

Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...

 writes that it was because of Mariamne's vehement insistence that Herod made her brother, Aristobulos, High Priest
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...

. Aristobulos, who was not even eighteen, drowned within a year of his appointment; Alexandra, his mother, blamed Herod. Alexandra wrote to Cleopatra, begging her assistance in avenging the boy's murder. Cleopatra in turn urged Marc Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...

 to punish Herod for the crime and Antony sent for him to make his defense. Herod left his young wife in the care of his uncle Joseph, along with the instructions that if Antony should kill him, Joseph should kill Mariamne. Herod believed his wife to be so beautiful that she would become engaged to another man after his death and that his great love for Mariamne prevented him from enduring a separation from her, even in death. Joseph became familiar with the Queen and eventually divulged this information to her and the other women of the household, which did not have the hoped-for effect of proving Herod's devotion to his wife. Rumors soon circulated that Herod had been killed by Antony, and Alexandra persuaded Joseph to take Mariamne and her to the Roman legions for protection. However, Herod was released by Antony and returned home, only to be informed of Alexandra's plan by his mother and sister, Salome. Salome also accused Mariamne of committing adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...

 with Joseph, a charge which Herod initially dismissed after discussing it with his wife. After Herod forgave her, Mariamne inquired about the order given to Joseph to kill her should Herod be killed, and Herod then became convinced of her infidelity, saying that Joseph would only have confided that to her were the two of them intimate. He gave orders for Joseph to be executed and for Alexandra to be confined, but did not punish his wife.

Because of this conflict between Mariamne and Salome, when Herod visited Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 in Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

, he separated the women – he left his sister and his sons in Masada
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...

 while he moved his wife and mother-in-law, Alexandra, to Alexandrium
Alexandrium
Alexandrion or Alexandrium, sometimes referred to as Sartaba, was a fort constructed by the Hasmoneans on a mountain between Scythopolis and Jerusalem, near the Jordan Valley...

. Again, Herod left instructions that should he die, the charge of the government was to be left to Salome and his sons, and Mariamne and her mother were to be killed. Mariamne and Alexandra were left in the charge of another man named Sohemus, and after gaining his trust again learned of the instructions Herod provided should harm befall him. Mariamne became convinced that Herod did not truly love her and resented that he would not let her survive him. When Herod returned home, Mariamne treated him coldly and did not conceal her hatred for him. Salome and her mother preyed on this opportunity, feeding Herod false information to fuel his dislike. Herod still favored her; but she refused to have sexual relations with him and accused him of killing her grandfather, Hyrcanus II
Hyrcanus II
Hyrcanus II, a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, was the Jewish High Priest and King of Judea in the 1st century BC.-Accession:Hyrcanus was the eldest son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome...

, and her brother. Salome insinuated that Mariamne planned to poison Herod, and Herod had Mariamne's favorite eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...

 tortured to learn more. The eunuch knew nothing of a plot to poison the king, but confessed the only thing he did know: that Mariamne was dissatisfied with the king because of the orders given to Sohemus. Outraged, Herod called for the immediate execution of Sohemus, but permitted Mariamne to stand trial for the alleged murder plot. To gain favor with Herod, Mariamne's mother even implied Mariamne was plotting to commit lèse majesté
Lèse majesté
Lese-majesty is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.This behavior was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome...

. Mariamne was ultimately convicted and executed in 29 BCE. Herod grieved for her for many months.

Talmudic Legends

There is a Talmudic legend concerning the marriage and death of Mariamne, although her name is not mentioned. It is to the effect that when the whole house of the Hasmoneans had been rooted out, she threw herself from the roof and was killed (B. B. 3b). Out of love for her, Herod is said to have kept her body preserved in honey for seven years (ib.; S. Geiger, in "Oẓar Neḥmad," iii. 1). In the Talmud this sort of mental derangement is called a "deed of Herod" (Sanh. 66b). Josephus relates also that after her death Herod tried in hunting and banqueting to forget his loss, but that even his strong nature succumbed and he fell ill in Samaria, where he had made Mariamne his wife ("Ant." xv. 7, § 7). The Mariamne tower in Jerusalem, built by Herod, was without doubt named after her; it was called also "Queen" (Βασιλίς "B. J." ii. 17, § 8; v. 4, § 3).

Mariamne in the Arts

From the Renaissance to contemporary times, there has been a long tradition of works of art (dramas, operas, novels, etc.) devoted to Mariamne and her relationship with Herod the Great. The list includes:
  • Marianna (1565), an Italian drama by Lodovico Dolce
    Lodovico Dolce
    Lodovico Dolce was an Italian theorist of painting. He was a broadly-based Venetian humanist and prolific author, translator and editor; he is now remembered for his Dialogue on Painting.-Biography:...

  • Mariam, the Faire Queene of Jewry (1613) an English drama by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary
    Elizabeth Tanfield Cary
    Elizabeth Cary, Lady Falkland , née Tanfield, was an English poet, translator, and dramatist. Precocious and studious, she was known from a young age for her learning and knowledge of languages.-Life:...

  • Herod and Antipater, with the Death of Faire Mariam (1622), an English drama by Gervase Markham
    Gervase Markham
    Gervase Markham was an English poet and writer, best known for his work The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman first published in London in 1615.-Life:Markham was the third son of Sir Robert Markham of Cotham, Nottinghamshire, and was...

     and William Sampson
  • Mariamne (1636), a French drama by François Tristan l'Hermite
    François Tristan l'Hermite
    François l'Hermite was a French dramatist who wrote under the name Tristan l'Hermite. He was born at the Château de Soliers in the Haute Marche....

  • La mort des enfants d’Hérode; ou, Suite de Mariamne (1639), a French drama by Gathier de Costes de la Calprenède
  • Herod and Mariamne (1673), an English drama by Samuel Pordage
    Samuel Pordage
    Samuel Pordage was a 17th century English poet. He is best known by his Azaria and Hushai , a reply to John Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel.-Life:...

  • La Mariamne (1696), an Italian opera by Giovanni Maria Ruggeri (mus.) and Lorenzo Burlini (libr.)
  • Mariamne (1723), a French drama by Elijah Fenton
    Elijah Fenton
    -Life:Born in Shelton , and educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, for a time he acted as secretary to the Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery in Flanders, and was then Master of Sevenoaks Grammar School.In 1707, Fenton published a book of poems...

  • Mariamne (1723), a French drama by Voltaire
    Voltaire
    François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

  • Mariamne
    Mariamne (Nadal play)
    Mariamne is a 1725 French tragedy by Augustin Nadal based around the Herodian dynasty.Nadal was encouraged to produce the play after his rival Voltaire's play on the same story had failed after only one performance the previous year...

    (1725), a French drama by Augustin Nadal
    Augustin Nadal
    The abbé Augustin Nadal was the author of plays, through the failure of which he became the butt of a withering public reply from Voltaire that has rendered the abbé immortal....

  • La Marianna (1785), an Italian ballet by Giuseppe Banti (chor.)
  • Marianne (1796), a French opera by Nicolas Dalayrac
    Nicolas Dalayrac
    Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac, known as Nicolas Dalayrac , was a French composer, best known for his opéras-comiques.- Biography :...

     (mus.) and Benoît-Joseph Marsollier (libr.)
  • Herod’s Lament for Mariamne (1815), an English song by Isaac Nathan
    Isaac Nathan
    Isaac Nathan was an Anglo-Australian composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who ended an eventful career by becoming the "father of Australian music".-Early success:...

     (mus.) and George Byron (libr.)
  • Erode; ossia, Marianna (1825), Italian opera by Saverio Mercadante
    Saverio Mercadante
    Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...

     (mus.) and Luigi Ricciuti (libr.)
  • Herodes und Mariamne (1850), a German drama by Christian Friedrich Hebbel
    Christian Friedrich Hebbel
    Christian Friedrich Hebbel , was a German poet and dramatist.-Biography:Hebbel was born at Wesselburen in Ditmarschen, Holstein, the son of a bricklayer. He was educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums...

  • Mariamne Leaving the Judgment Seat of Herod (1887), a painting by John William Waterhouse
    John William Waterhouse
    John William Waterhouse was an English painter known for working in the Pre-Raphaelite style. He worked several decades after the breakup of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which had seen its heydey in the mid-nineteenth century, leading him to have gained the moniker of "the modern Pre-Raphaelite"...

  • Herod and Mariamne (1888), an English poem by Amelie Rives
  • Myriam ha-Hashmonayith (1891), a Yiddish drama by Moses Seiffert
  • Tsar Irod I tsaritsa Mariamna (1893), a Russian drama by Dmitri Alexandrov
  • Mariamne (1911), an English poem by Thomas Sturge Moore
    Thomas Sturge Moore
    Thomas Sturge Moore was an English poet, author and artist. He was born on 4 March 1870 and was educated at Dulwich College, the Croydon Art School and Lambeth Art School. He was a long-term friend and correspondent of W. B. Yeats...

  • Herodes und Mariamne (1922), incidental music by Karol Rathaus
  • Lied der Mariamne (ohne Worte) (1927), incidental music by Mikhail Gnesin
    Mikhail Gnesin
    Mikhail Fabianovich Gnesin was a Russian Jewish composer and teacher.-Life:Gnesin was born in Rostov-on-Don and came from a musical family. His sisters founded the Gnessin State Musical College , in Moscow in 1895. He studied at the St...

  • Hordos u-Miryam (1935), a Hebrew novel by Aaron Orinowsky
  • Herod and Mariamne (1938), an English drama by Clemence Dane
    Clemence Dane
    Clemence Dane was the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton , an English novelist and playwright.-Life and career:...

  • Mariamne (1967), a Swedish novel by Pär Lagerkvist
    Pär Lagerkvist
    Pär Fabian Lagerkvist was a Swedish author who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1951.Lagerkvist wrote poems, plays, novels, stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from his early 20s to his late 70s...


See also

  • 1 Maccabees
    1 Maccabees
    The First book of Maccabees is a book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, about the latter part of the 2nd century BC. The original Hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the Greek translation contained in the Septuagint...

     and 2 Maccabees
    2 Maccabees
    2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work....

     for the family history.
  • Hasmonean Kingdom
    Hasmonean
    The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...

     for the history the Hasmonean dynasty.
  • Mariamne
    Mariamne
    Mariamne is a name frequently used in the Herodian royal house. In Greek it is spelled Μαριάμη by Josephus; in some editions of his work the second m is doubled . In later copies of those editions the spelling was dissimilated to its now most common form, Mariamne...

     for the derivation of her name.

External links

  • Mariamne entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
  • Mariamne entry in Jewish Encyclopedia by Richard Gottheil and Samuel Krauss
    Samuel Krauss
    Samuel Krauss was professor at the Jewish Teachers' Seminary, Budapest, 1894–1906, and at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Vienna, 1906-1938. He came to England as a refugee and spent his last years at Cambridge.He was a contributor to the Jewish Encyclopedia as S...

  • Kittymunson.com, the Hasmonean Maccabeus Mariamne family tree
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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