The Forgotten Queen: Salome Alexandra (76-67 B.C.E.)

Information on my forthcoming historical biography:

Queen Salome: Jerusalem’s Forgotten Ruler and the Mysterious Women of the Dead Sea Scrolls

To most people the name Salome evokes the story of the infamous dancing girl of the Gospels. In antiquity, however, there was a much more important and famous Salome who is virtually unknown today. She was so well-known in antiquity that generations of mothers named their daughters Salome in her honor. Moreover, this Salome was the only woman to have ever governed Judea as its sole monarch. While in office, she presided over many religious reforms that shaped the Judaism of Jesus’ time as well as our own. This Salome was so prominent that she is one of eighteen people, and the only woman, to have been mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Archaeologists have uncovered her vast palace in the oasis of Jericho. Centuries later the writers of the Talmud described her reign as the golden age of Jewish history.

The Middle East during the first century B.C.E. was undergoing traumatic change. The land of Judea (also known as Israel and later called Palestine) had long been embroiled in a struggle over modernity. This strife began when the famed Macedonian general Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.E.) conquered the Middle East. In the wake of his conquests, the Jewish community of Judea became divided between traditionalists, who adhered to their ancestral faith, and modernists, who wanted to adapt their religion to Greek culture. As a result, many Judeans had adopted the Greek way of life: a phenomenon scholars call Hellenism. The problem was that Hellenism’s chief hallmark was cultural and religious tolerance. For many pious Jews, Hellenism constituted nothing less than a direct threat to Judaism’s survival since God had demanded: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). This debate brought war to the people of Judea and threatened their very existence. During this dark period of turmoil and crisis arose a woman largely erased from history—Queen Salome Alexandra of Judea.

I am currently writing the first biography of Salome Alexandra’s life and times, tentatively titled: Queen Salome: Jerusalem’s Forgotten Ruler and the Mysterious Women of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In my book, I plan to reconstruct Queen Salome’s lost years and the hitherto unknown story of her deeds and her contributions to history. Born into a privileged family, Queen Salome survived the intrigues of her time to become the only legitimate woman ruler in Jewish history during an age when women began to rule over men. Her world was a time of great confusion as different religions and cultures increasingly clashed, and gender roles began to change. Influenced by a long line of Jewish and Egyptian women, Queen Salome presided over what the Talmud centuries later deemed a golden age. She was, moreover, the last ruler of an independent Palestine before the Roman conquest (63 B.C.E.). Shortly after her death (67 B.C.E.), the Romans conquered her people—her nation would not become independent again until 1948! One of the great figures who shaped our modern world, I hope to share the many exciting discoveries that I have made about this remarkable woman in this book.

My book will focus on many of Queen Salome’s neglected and unknown accomplishments, as well as how she overcame the odds to become Judaism’s only legitimate ruler, and shaped her faith to the present day. I plan to write it as a semi-popular book for the public, since her story is so intriguing and important that I believe it deserves to be read by a wide audience. An accompanying academic book will detail additional discoveries and include many of my findings related to the chronology of the period, which is not represented accurately in current reference works. Studying Salome Alexandra’s life is difficult. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 C.E.)—a contemporary of such New Testament figures as Paul and James—provides us with the sole surviving accounts of her life and times. He is oftentimes reluctant to tell us much about this unique woman; He does not even provide such basic facts as when or where she was born or the names of her parents. In fact, until recently, we were not even certain if Salome Alexandra was her actual name. Uncovering Salome Alexandra's life and times has been quite an adventure. When I began, I did not believe that there was enough to fill a book. Fortunately, in my quest I found many exciting stories about amazing women, who are virtually unknown today. The world of the first century B.C.E., unlike our contemporary American society, was a time when women could aspire to the highest offices of the land and rule over men. Salome Alexandra was one of the last, and greatest, of these warrior queens of the ancient world.

Josephus called her Salome Alexandra whereas other writers referred to her by many other names such as Shel-Zion, Shalmonin, Shalmza, and Shlamto. Alexandra is Greek name while Salina is without parallel in Hebrew or Greek literature of the period. It is similar to the Greek name “Selene” borne by an Egyptian Salome Alexandra once tried to rescue. Later scribes and early Christian writers were confused by the presence of two women with similar names in Josephus’ narrative and consequently either changed the name of our Queen from Salome Alexandra to Salina Alexandra or vice versa. Back in 1899 the French archaeologist Charles Clermont-Ganneu, based on a name in a burial inscription, proposed that her name was Shelamzion. The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm his remarkable suggestion and refer to her by this very name! Because she appears together with her son Hyrcanus II and other members of her family in these texts, there is no doubt now as to her actual name: Shelamzion Alexandra. Although scholars have long been long been confused as to her correct name, this was not so in antiquity. After her death, Shelamzion, or its shorter version Salome, because the most popular name for young girls. Because Josephus used the conventional Greek transliteration of this Semitic name, Salome, I will continue to refer to her as Salome Alexandra.

In my book, I will highlight the many discoveries that I have made regarding Salome Alexandra, as well as the mysterious women mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some of the interesting items I have found include the following:

• Salome Alexandra married her husband when she was 29 and he was only 14 or 16!

•Salome Alexandra became sole ruler of her nation when she was 64 and ruled for 9 years. She was 73 when she died.

• Salome Alexandra was queen alongside her husband, who was Judea’s king for 27 years. During his absence, she often ruled the country.

• Salome Alexandra was a committed member of a Jewish movement known as the Pharisees while her husband and his family  belonged to the religious groups known as the Sadducees. She protected the Pharisees when her family persecuted (=crucified) them.

• Salome Alexandra changed the religion of Judea from the Sadducees to the Pharisees, thereby paving the way for the Judaism of Jesus’ day as well as our own.

• Salome Alexandra is the only woman to have selected the high priest, and in the process altered the way her religion was practiced to the present day.

• Salome Alexandra was known for her military might and participated in international incidents that have only recently been revealed through the Dead Sea Scrolls.

• Salome Alexandra lived at a time when women virtually ruled the neighboring countries. In my book, I plan to detail the lives of these pagan women who greatly shaped Salome Alexandra’s world, namely the Cleopatra’s of Egypt and Syria.

•During Salome Alexandra’s life, women played more important roles in religion than ever before. The Dead Sea Scrolls now reveal some of their achievements. My book will also explore these mysterious women mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as a groups of highly educated female ascetics in Egypt.

•Much of what is found in contemporary reference books regarding Salome Alexandra is wrong! I will show that many scholars confuse her with her sister-in-law, and in the process unjustly tarnish her image to the present day.

I plan to update this page occasionally, so please visit again to see what I have found. In the meantime, the following publications (in print and forthcoming) will give you a few highlights of what appear in my book (NOTE: I have not yet published the real interesting material I have found. I hope to have my book completed this summer, and plan to submit it for publication this fall. It will be the equivalent of an ancient soap opera and political drama combined, with murder, incest, cannibalism, sexual intrigue, dysfunctional families, political scandals, and much much more.!)

Publications:

Kenneth Atkinson, “Salome Alexandra.” Biblical Archaeology Review (forthcoming). Basic summary of a few findings that will be documented in my forthcoming book.

Kenneth Atkinson, “Representations of History in 4Q331 (4QpapHistorical Text C), 4Q332 (4QHistorical Text D), 4Q333 (4QHistorical Text E), and 4Q468e (4QHistorical Text F): An Annalistic Calendar Documenting Portentous Events?” Dead Sea Discoveries (forthcoming). This article focuses on calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls and suggests that the community of these texts regarded Salome Alexandra’s reign as a pivotal moment in history.

Kenneth Atkinson, “Women in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Evidence for a Qumran Renaissance During the Reign of Queen Salome Alexandra.” The Qumran Chronicle 11 (2003): 37-56. Brief survey of women in the Dead Sea Scrolls with a special focus on Salome Alexandra.

Kenneth Atkinson, “‘None of the Weakeness of Her Sex’: Uncovering a Lost Chapter in Women’s Studies.”             UNIversitas. UNI Graduate College Publication. Inaugural issue. Fall 2005. Brief introduction to Salome Alexandra. Click on the following link for this article: UNIversitas

Kenneth Atkinson, “Queen Salome Alexandra and the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Period of Enlightenment for Women in Ancient Judea During the First Century B.C.” In Proceedings of the Central States Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 4. Scott S. Elliott, ed. (Kansas City, MO: Central States Society of Biblical Literature, 2001), 15-29. Study of Salome Alexandra and women of the time as reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls.