Anilai and Asinai
Anilai and Asinai (חנילאי וחסינאי; "Hanilai and Hasinai") were two
They were apprenticed by their
One
They then built
After Asinai had been poisoned by his brother's wife for his intolerant utterances, Anilai assumed the leadership of his troops. He sought to divert them with wars, and succeeded in capturing Mithridates, governor of Parthyene, and son-in-law of the king. He soon, however, released Mithridates, fearing that Artaban might take vengeance on the Babylonian Jews for his death. Being signally defeated by Mithridates in a subsequent engagement, he was forced to withdraw to the forests, where he lived by plundering the Babylonian villages about Nehardea, until his resources were exhausted and the little robber-state disappeared.
Babylonians' discontent with the Jews, so far restrained because of their fear of Anilai, now broke forth afresh, causing the Jews to flee from the persecutions to Seleucia, yet without finding the desired peace in the exile, either.
The name Anilai is identical with "Ḥanilai" in Talmudic literature. This was, for example, the name of the father of the well-known haggadist Tanḥum b. Ḥamilas (Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. iii.627).
Sources
- Josephus, Antiquities, xviii.9.
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Anilai". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.