Herodian estates east and west of the Jordan River

Dr. David Fiensy

 
 

In most of the societies of the world, people own land that is exclusively their own. But in the ancient near east that was not the case. In Egypt, for example, all land was considered the property of the Pharaoh. When the successors to Alexander the Great (died in 323 BC) came to rule Egypt, they too considered all the land as their property. Since these successors, called the Ptolemies, ruled Palestine as well, they regarded all of that land as theirs. All future rulers of Palestine, east and west of the Jordan river, accepted the same notion.

In practice, however, these rulers (whether Ptolemies 320-198 BC, Seleucids 198-164 BC, Hasmoneans 164-31 BC, or Herodians 31 BC-AD 70) tended to appropriate only the best lands for themselves and to allow the peasant freeholders to farm small plots if they paid the ruler taxes or rents. Such a practice resulted in several huge landed estates which belonged to the ruler and which were passed on to the next ruler.

By the time Herod the Great came to power (31-4 BC) there were already several established royal estates in Palestine. At least one of these began in the Persian period, but most of them were established by the Ptolemies and Seleucids. As the new ruler, Herod inherited these estates and the enormous income that came with them.