Alexandra Salome, queen of Ancient Judea

Who could imagine that there was actually a female ruler in ancient Judea? Yes, over 2ooo years before Golda Meir became Israel’s first female prime minister, there was a beautiful woman who ruled ancient Judea in one of the most turbulent periods of her history— Alexandra Salome (Ἀλεξανδρα Σαλομε ), also known as Sholom-Zion—“the peace of Zion.” She belonged to the Hasmonean family. Indeed, no story of the Hasmoneans can really be mentioned without her.

You may recall that the Hasmoneans were the priestly family that took political control of Judea after defeating the Syrian Greeks. They were the heroes of the Chanukah story every Jewish child knows so much about.

Little is known about her, except for what little information Josephus provides about her.[1]

Queen Salome’s life sounds like a story made for the silver-screen. Born in 139 B.C.E., Alexandra Salome may have come from a Pharasaic family. Alexandra’s first husband was a madman named Aristobulus I (Definitely not a nice guy!), who had seized power from his mother, and even left her to starve in prison along with his poor brothers.  After her first husband’s death she recognizes that she too might end up the same way as her ill-fated mother-in-law, she engineers the death of Aristobulus’ brother and successor—Antigonus—and soon, she became Queen! For her first queenly act, she immediately frees her poor mother-in-law and brothers, and marries Aristobulus’ youngest son, Alexander Jannaeus (very bad idea!).

Although she expected him to be weak, she had hoped to influence him to become a part of the Pharisee party. However, all of this backfired against her. Jannaeus proved to be a great enemy of the Pharisees, and his policy led to a civil war that resulted in the death of 50,000 people.

Alexandra’s sons proved to be a life challenge. One good-natured son was named Hyrcannus II (who had become a loyal Pharisee); she also had a more aggressive son who definitely behaved a lot like her former ex husband, named Aristobulus II  (who remained loyal to the Sadducees). In her effort to keep the peace and to avoid the inevitable civil war that would soon follow, she decided to remain as Queen as long as she possibly could. She realized that in a man’s world, survival would prove to be a daunting task.

This conflict set the stage for Alexandra Salome’s reign. The Talmud, a codification of Jewish Oral Law, names her brother (or possibly cousin as some modern scholars now believe) was the famous Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach, one of the early Pharisees who popularized the oral tradition. Queen Salome is mentioned in a number of places in the Talmud.[2]

Queen Salome had a remarkable way of keeping family members from dismembering one another (pardon the pun).

Upon the death of her husband, she had to go through the proper burial rites, and for the sake of peace, she gave him an appropriate burial.

As the Pharisee party grew in popularity, Queen Salome took the steps to expand the influence of the Pharisees by appointing them to key positions throughout the country. The Sadducees soon realized that the political reality had begun marginalizing their influence.

Simeon ben Shatech once again assumed his position as head of the Sanhedrin. Under Queen Salome, the Sanhedrin focused exclusively upon religious issues and questions of justice; Judaism under Queen Salome started to become more of a populist religion for people of all ages, and was no longer viewed as just a priestly religion, as understood and taught by the priestly Sadducees.

Under her influence, Judea became a much stronger military power in the Ancient Near East.From time to time, she ordered military expeditions to secure the country. She also built strong garrison cities to ensure the safety of Judea’s borders. In addition, she saw to it that the widows and orphans were cared for by the State. Cities replaced dishonest and crooked judges with honest people who could not be corrupted. Witnesses had to be carefully cross-examined and investigated before a judge(s) arrived at a verdict.

It is unclear how exactly Queen Salome died. Was she poisoned by her ruthless son Aristobulus? Had she not died, she probably would have been forced off the throne by Aristobulus. In any event, after she died, both of her sons competed for control of Judea. Recognizing that Rome was the new world power, each brother tried to bribe Pompey. Pompey later met with both brothers and favored Hyrcannus II, who was also the rightful heir to the throne. Hyrcanus’ powerful chief minister named Antipater, who was Idumean, brokered a deal with Rome in 63 B.C.E.  and Judaea then became a Roman vassal state. Antipater’s second son later became the famous King Herod, who is mentioned in the NT and Josephus.

However, Aristobulus II was not about to give up his throne, so he engaged the Romans in battle. The results were disastrous: 12,000 dead soldiers. The Temple had become a battle zone. Pompey conquered Jerusalem, and Aristobulus II was taken as a prisoner to Rome. The Romans positioned Hyrcannus II as the High Priest, but the Romans banned him from politics.

In summary, Queen Alexandra Salome demonstrated to the world that a woman could do a man’s job and run the country better and more effectively than many believed possible. Jewish history has demonstrated since biblical days that women have always distinguished themselves in so many ways. Queen Salome joins the ranks of Miriam, Deborah, Esther, Golda Meir and others—as women who brought civility and courage to a people that needed compassionate and responsible leadership.