Tobiads

[2] Though no complete history of the Tobiad family has survived, a partial narrative may be reconstructed, based on the many diverse literary and historical sources and archaeological remains upon which they left their mark.

[3] As Benjamin Mazar established, during the First Temple Period there were influential Judean families who held estates in Trans-Jordan, and these did not necessarily lose their lands even when the Kingdom of Israel ceased to exist.

[5] Based on the account in the book of Chronicles, he concluded that the Tobiad's rise to prominence and their ownership of land in Ammon occurred during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah and his son Jotham, who were said to have been victorious over the Ammonites.

[35] Rosenberg concludes that "Toubias was head of a mixed-nationality cleruchy or military community and indulged in breeding animals and slaves and supplying them to the Ptolemaic Court.

[39] According to this narrative, Joseph was granted the rights to farm taxes from Syria, Phoenicia and Samaria instead of his uncle Onias, by King Ptolemy, due to the former's refusal to pay tribute to the latter, and did so for twenty-two years.

[41] After killing two of his brothers in battle and being refused entry into Jerusalem, Hyrcanus fled across the Jordan river and set up the family estate where he lived in conflict with his Arab neighbors for seven years.

[41] Despite the many questions the complete narrative raises, the historicity of its main core brought above is not to be doubted,[42] and it can be viewed in light of the political upheavals in the region, which was a battleground for the Syrian wars between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids during the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE.

[41] It has been suggested that Onias was unwilling to pay tribute to Ptolemy due to the rise of the Seleucids and the fear of supporting their enemy, while Joseph was pro-Ptolemy.

"[45]Since its discovery in the nineteenth century the archaeological finds in Iraq al-Amir have been firmly tied to the description of the Tobiad estate given by Josephus.

[46] The most prominent building, known today as Qasr el-Abed, is a monumental, rectangular, two-story columned structure, built of massive stones weighing 15–25 tons each.

[47] The building consisted of a unit of four rooms surrounded by a wide corridor on the ground floor, above it was a second story of the same height, the interior of which collapsed.

[50] Evidence of an additional smaller monumental building, bearing architectural similarities to the main structure, was unearthed at a distance of about 240 meters.

[55] Following the path out of Iraq al-Amir is an aqueduct which was only a part of a larger water system from the time of Hyrcanus, portions of which are still used today for the irrigation of the fields in the area.

[56] In addition to the aqueduct, a doric columned structure containing a stepped tank and two channels was discovered to the north of the cave complex, it too has been dated to the time of Hyrcanus and may have been used as a ritual bath or a settling basin.

[61] In addition, the lions and eagles on the wide frieze were fashioned in a freer style than that of the stiff Persian decorations, further implying Hellenistic influence.

[61] The mixture of both eastern and western styles in the Tobiad estate is thus seen as an example of the considerable influence the Ptolemaic rule had on the development of Jewish art.

[61] During the reign of the Egyptian king Ptolemy and his wife Cleopatra, the high priest Onias refused to pay the Jewish tribute of twenty talents which his father, Simon the Just, had always given from his own means.

In his anger the king sent Athenion as a special envoy to Jerusalem, threatening to seize the land of the Jews and to hold it by force of arms if the money was not forthcoming.

Although the high priest disregarded this threat, the people were greatly excited, whereupon Onias' nephew Joseph, a son of Tobias and a man greatly beloved and respected for his wisdom and piety, reproached his uncle for bringing disaster upon the people, declaring, moreover, that Onias ruled the Jews and held the high priestly office solely for the sake of gain.

Shortly afterward Joseph started on his journey, having first raised a loan of about 20,000 drachmae in Samaria, although he was obliged to submit to the jeers of prominent men of Syria and Phoenicia, who were visiting Alexandria in order to farm the taxes, and who derided him on account of his insignificant appearance.

Not finding Ptolemy at Alexandria, Joseph went to meet him at Memphis, where the king graciously granted him a seat in his own chariot, together with the queen and Athenion.

His cleverness won for him the monarch's friendship; and by his offer of 16,000 talents against the 8,000 bid by his opponents he secured the contract for farming the taxes, the king and queen becoming his sureties, since he did not have sufficient ready money.

He left Alexandria with 500 talents and 2,000 soldiers, and by punishing all who opposed him in Ashkelon and Scythopolis and confiscating their estates, he made himself feared through all the cities of Syria and Phoenicia, while the great fortune which his extortions won was held secure by his continual presents to the king, queen, and courtiers, so that he retained his office of tax-farmer until his death, twenty-two years later.

Arion, Joseph's representative in Alexandria, however, refused to allow Hyrcanus money, and the latter accordingly put him in chains, not only escaping punishment from the king, but even winning both his favor and that of the courtiers, whose aid his brothers had secretly invoked against him.

[64] Nor was the period between Ptolemy V's marriage (193) and his death (182) sufficiently long to agree with the statement concerning the length of time during which Joseph farmed the taxes (twenty-two years), and still less could Hyrcanus have reached manhood in so short a space.

The account of Josephus, on the other hand, which represents Onias as a weakling and the Tobiads as the promoters of Israel's welfare, is drawn from Samaritan sources.

The third form of the tradition is that of Jason of Cyrene, on which the second Book of the Maccabees is based; and Schlatter is even of the opinion that Josephus himself drew his account of the Tobiads from this same source.