Battle of Wadi Haramia

The Battle of Wadi Haramia was the first Hand to hand combat battle fought between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Empire in 167 BC. The Jewish forces were led by Judas Maccabaeus and the Seleucid army force was under the command of Apollonius.

After the Maccabean revolt started, Judas relocated his guerrilla combat units at the northern part of the Shomron. Apollonius, governor of Samaria, was sent with the local Samarian armies to link up with Seleucid forces from Jerusalem. Maccabaeus gained the element of surprise by ambushing the enemy army at Wadi Haramia and successfully destroyed the much larger Syrian Greek army and killing its commander. Another force was soon sent against Maccabaeus, which led to the Battle of Beth Horon.