Modi'in (ancient city)

A Jewish burial cave unearthed at Khirbet Midiyeh, near Mevo Modi'im, one of several proposed sites for the ancient city of Modi'in

Modi’in (Hebrew: מוֹדִיעִין, Mōdīʿīn; also transliterated as Modein), also Modi’im (Hebrew: מוֹדִיעִים, Mōdīʿīm), and later, Moditha (Greek: Μωδιθα), was an ancient Jewish city located in Judea, near the modern city of Modi'in, Israel. First mentioned in the Books of Maccabees,^[1] it was the hometown of the priestly Hasmonean family, who assumed leadership over Judea following the victorious Maccabean uprising.^[2]

Modi’in was known in ancient times for housing the mausoleum of the Hasmonean family, commonly referred to as the Tomb of the Maccabees. This monumental structure, erected in the 2nd century BC by Simon Thassi, is described in both the Book of Maccabees and the writings of Josephus. During the Byzantine period, Eusebius noted its continued existence. However, its remains were lost over time.^[1]

The precise geographical location of Modi’in remains a subject of scholarly dispute, with various proposed sites including Tell er-Ras near al-Midya,^[3] Givat HaTitora, Umm el-Umdan, and Khirbet Midya, all located in the vicinity of the modern city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, which takes its name from the ancient city.^[1] The remnants of the Hasmonean mausoleum, once linked to several sites now attributed to the Byzantine era, remain undiscovered, and its precise location still unknown.^[1]^[4]^[5]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Zissu, Boaz; Perry, Lior (2015). "Hasmonean Modi'in and Byzantine Moditha: A topographical-historical and archaeological assessment". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 147 (4): 316–337. doi:10.1179/0031032815Z.000000000137. ISSN 0031-0328.
^ Jacobs, Steven L. (2023). A Short History of Judaism and the Jewish People (First published ed.). London New York Oxford New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-350-23646-2. In 165 BCE, guerilla warfare broke out against the Seleucids, led by a family of Hasmonean priests from Modi'in, under the leadership of a father Mattityahu (Mattathias) and his eldest son Yehuda (Judah), nicknamed Ha-Maccabee ("The Hammer") due to his and his followers' guerrilla tactics (strike and pull back). One year later, they had achieved victory over their hated enemies and reconsecrated and rededicated their Temple with, ... For the next 130 years, the Hasmoneans would remain central to the leadership of the peoples of Judea.
^ Zaharoni, Irit (1983). Derekh erets (in Hebrew). Vol. 1. Tel-Aviv: Ḳetsin ḥinukh rashi--"Ba-maḥaneh". p. 75. ISBN 9789650500887. OCLC 10375126.
^ Schwartz, Joshua J. (1991). Lod (Lydda), Israel: From its Origins through the Byzantine Period (5600 B.C.E. - 640 C.E.). British Archaeological Reports, International Series 571. Oxford: Tempus Reparatum. pp. 61–65.
^ Jacobson, David M. (2013). "Military Symbols on the Coins of John Hyrcanus I". Strata: Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. 31: 26.

[:0-1] Zissu, Boaz; Perry, Lior (2015). "Hasmonean Modi'in and Byzantine Moditha: A topographical-historical and archaeological assessment". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 147 (4): 316–337. doi:10.1179/0031032815Z.000000000137. ISSN 0031-0328.

[2] Jacobs, Steven L. (2023). A Short History of Judaism and the Jewish People (First published ed.). London New York Oxford New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-350-23646-2. In 165 BCE, guerilla warfare broke out against the Seleucids, led by a family of Hasmonean priests from Modi'in, under the leadership of a father Mattityahu (Mattathias) and his eldest son Yehuda (Judah), nicknamed Ha-Maccabee ("The Hammer") due to his and his followers' guerrilla tactics (strike and pull back). One year later, they had achieved victory over their hated enemies and reconsecrated and rededicated their Temple with, ... For the next 130 years, the Hasmoneans would remain central to the leadership of the peoples of Judea.

[3] Zaharoni, Irit (1983). Derekh erets (in Hebrew). Vol. 1. Tel-Aviv: Ḳetsin ḥinukh rashi--"Ba-maḥaneh". p. 75. ISBN 9789650500887. OCLC 10375126.

[:6-4] Schwartz, Joshua J. (1991). Lod (Lydda), Israel: From its Origins through the Byzantine Period (5600 B.C.E. - 640 C.E.). British Archaeological Reports, International Series 571. Oxford: Tempus Reparatum. pp. 61–65.

[:7-5] Jacobson, David M. (2013). "Military Symbols on the Coins of John Hyrcanus I". Strata: Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. 31: 26.

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