Mariamne I

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Mariamne (second wife of Herod)
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Mariamne I
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum
Died29 BCE
SpouseHerod the Great
IssueAlexander
Aristobulus IV
Salampsio
Cypros
HouseHasmonean
FatherAlexander of Judaea
MotherAlexandra the Maccabee

Mariamne I (d. 29 BCE), also called Mariamne the Hasmonean, was a

Alexandra Maccabeus and Alexander of Judaea, were cousins who both descended from Alexander Jannaeus. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus III
. Herod's fear of his Hasmonean rivals led him to execute all of the prominent members of the family, including Mariamne.

Her name is spelled Μαριάμη (Mariame) by Josephus, but in some editions of his work the second m is doubled (Mariamme). In later copies of those editions the spelling was dissimilated to its now most common form, Mariamne. In Hebrew, Mariamne is known as מִרְיָם‎, (Miriam), as in the traditional, Biblical name (see Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron).

Life

Mariamne is taken away to be killed, engraving by Jan Luyken, 1704 (Rijksmuseum)

Mariamne was the daughter of the Hasmonean

Alexandra, daughter of his uncle Hyrcanus II
, in order to cement the line of inheritance from Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, but the inheritance soon continued the blood feud of previous generations, and eventually led to the downfall of the Hasmonean line. By virtue of her parents' union, Mariamne claimed Hasmonean royalty on both sides of her family lineage.

Her mother,

Cypros. A fifth child (male), drowned at a young age – likely in the Pontine Marshes near Rome
, after Herod's sons had been sent to receive educations in Rome in 20 BCE.

Salome. Salome also accused Mariamne of committing adultery
with Joseph, a charge which Herod initially dismissed after discussing it with his wife. After Herod forgave her, Mariamne inquired about the order given to Joseph to kill her should Herod be killed, and Herod then became convinced of her infidelity, saying that Joseph would only have confided that to her were the two of them intimate. He gave orders for Joseph to be executed and for Alexandra to be confined, but Herod did not punish his wife.

Because of this conflict between Mariamne and Salome, when Herod visited

lèse majesté. Mariamne was ultimately convicted and executed in 29 BCE.[2]
Herod grieved for her for many months.

Children

Talmudic reference

Jerusalem Model, Palace of Herod the Great, The three towers: Phasael, Hippicus, Mariamne from left to right

There is a Talmudic passage concerning the marriage and death of Mariamne, although her name is not mentioned. When the whole house of the Hasmoneans had been rooted out, she killed herself by throwing herself off a roof. She committed suicide because Herod had spared her life, so that he could marry her. If he were to marry her, then he would be able to claim that he was not actually a slave, but rather that he had royal blood.[3] Out of love for her, Herod is said to have kept her body preserved in honey for seven years. There is an opinion that he would use her to fulfill animalistic desires.[4] In the Talmud this sort of action is called a "deed of Herod".[5] Josephus relates also that after her death Herod tried in hunting and banqueting to forget his loss, but that even his strong nature succumbed and he fell ill in Samaria, where he had made Mariamne his wife.[6] The Mariamne Tower in Jerusalem, built by Herod, was without doubt named after her; it was called also "Queen".[7]

Mariamne in the arts

Mariamne Leaving the Judgment Seat of Herod, oil on canvas by John William Waterhouse, 1887 (Forbes Galleries)
De mulieribus claris, by Giovanni Boccaccio

She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris, a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.[8] From the Renaissance to contemporary times, there has been a long tradition of works of art (dramas, operas, novels, etc.) devoted to Mariamne and her relationship with Herod the Great.[9] The list includes:

See also

Notes

  1. Antipater III
    and with him during his trial before Varus in 5 BCE. See Antiquities, Book XVII, Chapter 5:2
  2. ^ Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 15.7.4–6.
  3. ^ B. B. 3b
  4. ^ Ib.; S. Geiger, in "Oẓar Neḥmad", iii. 1
  5. ^ Sanh. 66b
  6. ^ "Ant." xv. 7, § 7
  7. ^ Βασιλίς "B. J." ii. 17, § 8; v. 4, § 3
  8. ISBN 0-674-01130-9
    .
  9. ^ G. Boccaccini, Portraits of Middle Judaism in Scholarship and Arts (Turin: Zamorani 1992); M. J. Valency, The Tragedies of Herod and Mariamne (New York 1940).

Kiddushin 70 B

References

External links
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