Seleucid Greek warriors

I found this image of Seleucid Greek warriors online.

The Seleucid Empire (323 - 60 BC) was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great's dominion.

Khopesh, The Sickle Sword

If Wikipedia is to be believed, this Canaanite weapon was out of use by the time of the Maccabean revolt, unless I have my BCE dates mixed up. I don't think something like this would really be 'obsolete' until gunpowder came to town, but that's my opinion.

Link:
Khopesh from Wikipedia

Maccabee: The Movie!

Mel Gibson, of all people, is making a movie about the Maccabees. We'll see how this plays out...

An interesting discussion

Message board discussion of clothing and weapons. They point out that they would probably have used weapons similar to surrounding tribes and of their enemies.

Who did the Maccabees fight against?

The Seleucids came about after Alexander the Great died. Alexander had tolerated the Jewish people in the land of Canaan. After he died his generals broke up is empire. 150 years after Alexander's death the Seleucid ruler wished to conquer Egypt. He had to starts with the Jews in Israel. They tried to make them accept Greek culture but they revolted when the Greeks tried to force them to sacrifice and eat pigs. That's not kosher!

Link (PDF):
The Maccabees, 166 B.C., The Agrarian Wars by Meyer Levin

Maccabee Wargaming Miniatures

These Maccabee figures from Essex Miniatures suggest the Maccabees had spears, shields, and even horses and some armor. They also show what appear to be cloaks or togas.

Link to see more:
Maccabee Miniatures from Essex

Weapons of the Maccabean Revolt

According to this website, the Jews only had home-made slings and maces when they first went into battle against the Greeks. After defeating some of them they took the weapons of the better-equipped professional army.

Link:

The Battles Of The Maccabees