In fact, it appears that the person who brought them to Israel was none other than Antiochus IV Epiphanes – known to all of us from the story of Hanukkah.

The tradition originates in the 2nd-century B.C. triumph of a ragtag group of Judean rebels known as the Maccabees over the Syrian-Greek army of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Using this timeline, researchers said the hidden box was likely linked to the Maccabean Revolt and the beginning of the war against Antiochos Epiphanes IV, who created laws against Judaism.

As fellow Jews probably know, the Maccabees led the revolt against the ruler of the Syrian kingdom, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who tried to oppress the practice of Judaism across the reign.

In 167 B.C. the Judeans, led by a priest named Mattathias and his sons, rebelled against their Seleucid Greek overlord, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus’ idea of reform, the historian Diodorus ...

Coins of Antiochus Epiphanes IV found in the excavation in the Judean Desert, Israel, March 2025 (credit: JUDEAN DESERT SURVEY UNIT, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY) ...

In the second century B.C., the Holy Land was ruled by the Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes who told the Jewish people they must renounce their religion and accept Greek beliefs or be sentenced ...

Mysterious Pyramid, Papyrus Scroll, Fabrics and Weapons Discovered in Judean Desert Excavation ...

In the second century B.C., the Holy Land was ruled by the Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes who told the Jewish people they must renounce their religion and accept Greek beliefs or be sentenced ...

He entered the Second Temple of Jerusalem only to find a small jar of oil that had not been defiled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian kingdom who invaded the Jews.

In the second century B.C., the Holy Land was ruled by the Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes who told the Jewish people they must renounce their religion and accept Greek beliefs or be sentenced ...

He entered the Second Temple of Jerusalem only to find a small jar of oil that had not been defiled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian kingdom who invaded the Jews.