Maccabean Biblical Widow's Mite (135-37 BCE) Prutah NGC

Judah the Hammer--Maqqaba in Aramaic; hence Maccabeeled a rebellion against the forces of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had slaughtered thousands of Jerusalem Jews by invading on the Sabbath. Judah and his brave warriors liberated the Temple from the profane Seleucids, removing the idols placed there, and dedicating a new altar. Although there was only enough oil to burn for a single day, the Menorah stayed lit for eight daysa miracle that demonstrated divine protection. It is from this event that Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, derives. Antiochus IV died a year later, in 164 BCE, and Jerusalem was liberated. Judah was the patriarch of the Maccabean, also known as the Hasmonean, dynasty.