powerful kingdoms of the Ptolemies in Egypt and of the Seleucids in Syria and Mesopotamia that succeeded Alexander. Much of this material is specifically focused on the events of 167–164 B.C.E., when a crisis in the relationship between the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the Jews of Judea led to savage violence, resulting in the ravaging of Jerusalem and the desecration of the temple and other acts of religious repression. These final chapters of the book embody a new form of resistance