Hasmonean Judaea, 140–37 BCE

The descendants of the Maccabean leaders combined high-priestly and political authority and expanded Judaean territory. Their state navigated rivalry among Hellenistic kingdoms, internal religious divisions and the growing power of Rome.

Alexander Jannaeus ruled as king and high priest through warfare and severe domestic conflict. His widow Salome Alexandra then reigned in her own right, stabilising the kingdom for a time and becoming one of the few independently ruling queens in Jewish history.

Jerusalem’s Queen reconstructs Salome Alexandra’s path from vulnerable girl to ruler. Fiction necessarily fills large gaps in the evidence, but her reign, marriage and political importance belong to the documented history of the Hasmonean monarchy.