Büyük Herod’un Mirası Meselesi
The Matter of The Will of Herod The Great

Summary/Abstract: Herod the Great, who was ruler of Judaea between the years of 37 and 4 B.C., is a significant figure in Jewish history. Though he had some opposers among the Jewish people of the era due to his family roots and some of his religious practices, he exhibited a successful governance in general. During his reign, he demonstrated great success in governmental matters, developmental activities, and relations with the Roman State. However, he was not able to mirror the success he displayed in governance in his family life. Herod, as far as is known, married ten women of varying social classes, and had many children from those marriages. This led to his wives and children to compete against each other on the matter of inheritance. Within the scope of this competition, there came problems in the relations between Herod and his wives, among the wives, and among the children that were mothered by different wives. As a result, the matters of who would be the successor of Herod, and how Herod’s heritage would be shared became a concern. This concern took on a form that kept the Jewish world and partly the Roman administration busy. Herod felt the need to change his will many times in the direction of the changing balances. Particularly, it is seen in the aforementioned testimonials, that some wives and children born of those wives are put to the forefront alternatively. The aim of this study is to examine the different wills of Herod, the reasons for the changing of these wills, the struggles between the heirs, the reasons for preferring the spouses and children who are named in the wills, the interest of the Roman administration with the will of Herod, and how Herod’s heritage were shared after his death.

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