Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut

Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut (Hebrew: מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is a city partly in Israel and partly in what the 1949 Armistice Agreement with Jordan left as a no man's land, and occupied in 1967 by Israel together with the West Bank proper. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of Modi'in and Maccabim-Re'ut. Modi'in is located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv and 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In 2008, the population was 75,000.

Etymology

The name "Modi'in" derives from the village "Modi'im" of the high priest Mattathias and his five sons, which was located in the same area as the modern city. The name "Maccabim" is Hebrew for the Maccabees and is a common nickname given to Mattathias and his five sons.

History

Modi'in

Ancient Modi'in was the place of origin of the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty that ruled Judea in the 1st and 2nd centuries BCE, and it is where the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Greeks started.