On account of the persecutions under Antiochus IV., Onias IV. fled from Jerusalem to Egypt, won the favor of Ptolemy VI., and built there a temple (Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 10, § 4). Ananias and his brother Helkias were held in high esteem by Cleopatra III. Owing to her regard for them, the Judeans of the province Onion, between Pelusium and Memphis (compare "Ant." xiv. 8, § 1; "B. J." i. 9, § 4), remained true to her when she was abandoned on the island of Cyprus by all her soldiers (Strabo quoted by Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 10, § 4). When she went to Palestine to help the king of Judea, Alexander Jannæus, against her son, Ptolemy Lathirus, and succeeded in dislodging him (about 100), Ananias and Helkias were her generals; and Ananias dissuaded her from incorporating Judea as an Egyptian province, at the same time inducing her to form an alliance with Alexander Jannæus (Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 13, § 2; Schürer, "Gesch. d. Jüd. Volkes," i. 220).
A. Bü.
