Malthake

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Malthake (* around 45 BC in Samaria ; † 4 BC in Rome ) was the fifth wife of the Judean king Herod the Great . The later ethnarch Herodes Archelaos and the tetrarch Herodes Antipas (also mentioned in the New Testament ) and the daughter Olympias emerged from her marriage to Herod .

Life

Malthake came from Samaria. Her marriage to Herod ended around 27 BC. Closed. Because of the disdain for the Samaritans by the Jews, it is astonishing that Herod should even marry a woman from Samaria. Possibly the marriage with Malthake Herod should serve to bind the Samaria part more closely to his person. Since Herod placed great value on the professionalism of the partners when entering into marriages, Malthake probably came from one of the most distinguished families in the country and, as one must assume, also had personal qualities unknown to us.

Malthake's son Herodes Archelaus was born around 23 BC. Born in BC. Herod's second son Antipas was born around 21 BC. And the daughter Olympias around 19 BC Born in BC. The two brothers were later raised in Rome .

From the reports of the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus about the numerous intrigues at Herod's royal court, it (indirectly) emerges that Malthake and her sons have successfully stayed out of these dangerous power games, so that Malthake personally survived all entanglements and her sons finally - after all other competitors for the throne had been executed or disinherited - probably to their own surprise - as the main successors of the king († 4 BC) remained.

Death in rome

Malthake, who must have been around 40 years old when King Herod died, accompanied her sons to Rome, who wanted to have their inheritance claims confirmed by Emperor Augustus . She died there 4 BC. Before her son Herodes Archelaus was made ethnarch of Judea , Samaria and Idumea and her second son Herod Antipas was made tetrarch of Galilee by Augustus .

See also

swell

  • Flavius ​​Josephus: Jewish antiquities . (" Antiquitates iudaicae "). Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden o. J.
  • Flavius ​​Josephus: The Jewish War . (" De bello iudaico "). 2nd Edition. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 1982.

literature