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A newly discovered sling stone in Israel that tells the story of war, blood shed and death some 2,000 years ago provides more evidence of the Hanukkah story.
Hanukkah, an eight-day Jewish celebration, honors the rededication during the second century BC of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where Jews rose up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt.
The stone features the name Diodotus Tryphon, an ancient Greek king who reigned over the Seleucid Empire between 142 and 138 BC.
Tryphon is said to have executed Jonathan, one of Mattathias' sons, who was Judah Maccabee's successor as leader of the Maccabees and High Priest of Judea.
A newly discovered sling stone in Israel that tells the story of war, blood shed and death some 2,000 years ago provides more evidence of the Hanukkah story. The stone features the name Diodotus Tryphon, an ancient Greek king who reigned over the Seleucid Empire between 142 and 138 BC
Hanukkah commemorates the Maccabean, or Hasmonean, victories over the forces of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes who reigned from 175 to 164 BC and rededication of the Temple.
The revolt was led by Mattathias Maccabee and his son Judas, who were the first Jews who fought to defend their religious beliefs rather than their lives.
The Maccabean revolt led to the capture