Battle of the Ascent of Lebonah 167 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 167 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Palestine | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Maccabean Revolt | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Maccabees, Seleucid Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 32.0544, 35.2408 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Ascent of Lebonah (Hebrew: קרב מעלה לבונה) or Battle with Apollonius (Hebrew: קרב אפולוניוס) was the first battle fought between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Empire in 167 or 166 BCE. The Jewish forces were led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and the Seleucid army force was under the command of Apollonius, described by Josephus as "the strategos (general) of the Samaritan forces".
In the earliest stages of the Maccabean Revolt, Judas had a small band of guerrilla combat units in the hills of northern Judea and southern Samaria. Apollonius was sent with the local Samaritan armies to link up with Seleucid forces from Jerusalem. The exact location of the battle is not known, but presumably it was along a road between Samaria and Jerusalem. The date of the battle is not precisely known either, but occurred early in the revolt. It is the first battle discussed in the book of 1 Maccabees, hence generally being dated to 167–166 BCE.
The precise details of the battle are not known either, but 2 Maccabees writes that the rebels fought using guerrilla warfare in the early stage of the revolt, by "coming unexpectedly" on their foes and at night. It is reasonably possible that this battle was similar, with a surprise attack while the enemy was unaware.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Ascent of Lebonah (revision 1370597929), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Nablus (1918) 1918 · 19 km
- Battle of Nablus 2002 · 19 km
- Battle of Elasa 160 BC · 20 km
- Battle of Beth Horon (166 BC) 166 BC · 22 km
- Battle of Beth Horon (66) AD 66 · 22 km
- Battle of Adasa 161 BC · 25 km
Other battles of the Maccabean Revolt
- Battle of Beth Horon (166 BC) 166 BC
- Battle of Emmaus 165 BC
- Battle of Beth Zur 164 BC
- Battle of Beth Zechariah 162 BC
- Battle of Adasa 161 BC
- Battle of Elasa 160 BC
All 7 battles of the Maccabean Revolt →
Browse more: battles in Palestine · Asia · Ancient battles