Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- I. Sources and Their Characteristics -- II. The Pre-Hasmonean High Priests of the Seleucid Period -- III. The Hasmonean Revolt and the High Priesthood of Menelaus -- IV. Judas Maccabeus and the High Priesthood of Alcimus -- V. Jonathan and the High Priestly Office: 159–152 bornc.e. -- VI. The High Priesthood of Jonathan: Part One (152–150 bornc.e.) -- VII. The High Priesthood of Jonathan: Part Two (150–145 bornc.e.) -- VIII. The High Priesthood of Jonathan: Part Three (145–143 bornc.e.) -- IX. The High Priesthood of Simon (142–140 bornc.e.) -- X. The Hasmonean High Priests and Their Priestly Descent -- Final Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Index of Ancient People -- Index of Ancient Sources.

In The Institution of the Hasmonean High Priesthood , Vasile Babota offers an interdisciplinary study of the establishment of the Hasmonean priests as high priests in Jerusalem, from their revolt in 167 down to 140. The Hasmonean high priests exercised both religious and civil powers until 37 B.C.E. and some acted also as kings. Previous studies looked at them mainly from a biblical /Jewish perspective. Vasile Babota persuasively argues that the first high priests Jonathan and Simon acted as Hellenistic high priestly rulers. This conclusion is based on an analysis of the activity of the high priests Jonathan and Simon on internal and external levels, a comparison with earlier Jewish high priests, and a comparison with Hellenistic (Seleucid and Ptolemaic) high priests.