troops to fight the rebels. Demetrius sent another army, led by Nicanor. Nicanor at first attempted to make a peace deal with Judas; 2 Maccabees reports that Alcimus sabotaged the deal by complaining to Demetrius I. Nicanor then attempted to arrest Judas and eventually went into the countryside to fight the Maccabees; he was defeated and killed, however. A third army, under Bacchides again, was dispatched, and Judas was defeated and killed at the Battle of Elasa. Alcimus's position as high priest was reinforced and strong garrisons were left in Jerusalem and the other cities of Judea to maintain Seleucid rule. Alcimus did not long enjoy his triumph, since he died soon after. The authors of the Books of Maccabees say his last act was to order the wall of the temple that divided the Gentiles from the Jews pulled down. His death is recorded in May 159 BCE, the month Sivan in the Hebrew calendar. Name and similar figures in tradition Josephus writes that Alcimus was "also called Jakeimos." Jews in the Hellenistic era usually adopted dual names, a Greek and a Hebrew one: Alcimus was likely the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Eliakim" and Jakeimos the Greek form of Hebrew "Yakim" The midrashes Genesis Rabbah and Tehillim briefly discuss a figure named "Jakum of Zeroroth" (or "Jakim", "Yakim"). In the story, a man named Joseph Meshita robs a golden artifact from the temple, then is sawed in half. Rabbi Jose ben Joezer is Jakum's uncle; Jakum mocks Joezer during his hanging, but then experiences remorse and commits suicide. Due to Jakum's similarity to Jakeimos, some scholars believe it is describing Alcimus, albeit after hundreds of years of the story drifting. In this view, Meshita is Menelaus, who allowed the Temple to be robbed by Antiochus IV and stole from it himself, allegedly. Other midrash indicate that Joezer was executed by General Bacchides, suggesting that Alcimus's alliance with Bacchides led to his own family's death, if the identification of the two figures is correct. However, not all scholars are convinced of the connection; Robert Doran argues that the identification of the two Yakims as the same person is "highly speculative and debatable", as Yakim was not a rare name at the time, and the manner of death greatly differs in the two accounts. An ossuary discovered in a burial cave by Eleazar Sukenik in the Gophna region has