In the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church's Old Testament canon, they include three books of Maccabees , which are unrelated to the three Greek books of Maccabees in the Eastern Orthodox OT canon (two of which are in the Catholic canon). I'm curious how this situation came about. Are there ancient or pre-modern sources which note the difference? Wikipedia floats a hypothesis that the Ethiopian Maccabees were composed in the late medieval period. Is there good evidence for this? Why would someone create these books and put them in the canon?

The [Books of the Maccabees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_the_Maccabees) recount the history of the [Maccabees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabees) which include historical-theological narratives of the [Maccabean Revolt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabean_Revolt) . The major events and characters within the revolt itself have solid historicity, even by modern standard. While theological narratives are usually biased, the theological elements cannot be disproven by historiography. Instead, I'm looking for a scholarly evaluation of the **historical elements** in [1 Maccabees](https://ebible.org/pdf/eng-web/eng-web_1MA.pdf) , [2 Maccabees](https://ebible.org/pdf/eng-web/eng-web_2MA.pdf) , and [3 Maccabees](https://ebible.org/pdf/eng-web/eng-web_3MA.pdf) that are *more likely* to be fictional than factual, so we can assess the overall historical reliability of the books.

Throughout 1 Maccabees in the NRSV, "Friends" is capitalized when referring to the King's friends. Why is this? My only guess is it's an official title. Specifically, I would like to ask about 1 Maccabees 2:18: > Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the > Gentiles and the people of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem > have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the Friends > of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and > gold and many gifts.” [NRSV]

1 Maccabees 16:23-24 -------------------- > The rest of **John's acts**, the battles he fought and the exploits he > performed, the city walls he built, and all his other achievements, > from the day he succeeded his father as high priest, **are recorded in > the annals of his pontificate**. Have these annals ever found?

From 1 Maccabees 13:25–30: > Simon sent and recovered the bones of his brother Jonathan, and > ***buried him in Modein***, the town of his ancestors. > > All Israel kept solemn mourning for him and long bewailed him. > > Over the tomb of his father and brothers, Simon raised a monument high > enough to catch the eye, using dressed stone back and front. > > ***He erected seven pyramids facing each other***, for his father and mother and his four brothers, surrounding them with a structure consisting of tall columns surmounted by trophies of arms to their everlasting memory and, beside > the trophies of arms, ships sculpted on a scale to be seen by all who > sail the sea. > > > Such was the monument he constructed at Modein, and it is still there > today. Wikipedia provides an image of Tomb of Mattathias: But, it doesn't say anything about the authenticity of the tomb or seven pyramids. - Are these seven pyramids still there? - Are there any studies conducted regarding this?