Editing Alexander Balas (section)

===War with Demetrius II and death (147–145 BC)===
[[File:Coin of Demetrius II Nicator, Ptolemais in Phoenicia mint.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Demetrius II Nicator]]]]
In early 147 BC Demetrius' son [[Demetrius II of Syria|Demetrius II]] returned to Syria with a force of [[Cretan]] mercenaries led by a man called [[Lasthenes (Mercenary Leader)|Lasthenes]]. Much of [[Coele Syria]] was lost to him immediately, possibly as a result of the succession of the regional commander. Jonathan attacked Demetrius's position from the south, seizing [[Jaffa]] and [[Ashdod]], while Alexander Balas was occupied with a revolt in [[Cilicia]].<ref>I Maccabees 10.69–89; Josephus ''AJ'' 13.88–102</ref> In 145 BC Ptolemy VI of Egypt invaded Syria, ostensibly in support of Alexander Balas. In practice, Ptolemy's intervention came at a heavy cost; with Alexander's permission, he took control of all the Seleucid cities along the coast, including [[Seleucia Pieria]].<ref>[[I Maccabees]] 11.3-8</ref> He may also have started minting his own coinage in the Syrian cities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lorber |first1=Catharine C. |title=The Ptolemaic Era Coinage Revisited |journal=Numismatic Chronicle |date=2007 |volume=167 |pages=105–17}}</ref><ref name=C1334/>

While he was at Ptolemais Akko, however, Ptolemy switched sides. According to [[Josephus]], Ptolemy discovered that Alexander's chancellor, Ammonius, had been plotting to assassinate him, but when he demanded that Ammonius be punished, Alexander refused.<ref>Josephus ''Antiquities of the Jews'' 13.106-107; [[I Maccabees]] does not mention the episode and presents Ptolemy as planning to supported Demetrius II from the start. Josephus presents Ptolemy as genuinely supporting Alexander until this moment.</ref> Ptolemy remarried his Cleopatra Thea to Demetrius II and continued his march northward. Alexander's commanders of [[Antioch]], Diodotus and Hierax, surrendered the city to Ptolemy.<ref>[[I Maccabees]] 11; Josephus ''Antiquities of the Jews'' 13.106-107, 115</ref><ref name=C1334>{{cite book |last1=Chrubasik |first1=Boris |title=Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198786924|pages=133–134}}</ref>

Alexander returned from Cilicia with his army, but Ptolemy VI and Demetrius II defeated his forces in a [[Battle of the Oenoparus River]].<ref>Strabo 16.2.8.</ref> Earlier, Alexander had sent his infant son [[Antiochus VI Dionysus|Antiochus]] to an Arabian dynast called Zabdiel Diocles. Alexander now fled to Arabia in order to join up with Zabdiel, but he was killed. Sources disagree about whether the killer was a pair of his own generals who had decided to switch sides or Zabdiel himself. Alexander's severed head was brought to Ptolemy, who also died shortly after from wounds sustained in the battle.<ref>Diodorus 32.9d & 10.1; Zabdiel: I Maccabees 11.17; Josephus ''AJ'' 13.118.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chrubasik |first1=Boris |title=Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198786924|pages=134–5}}</ref>

Zabdiel continued to look after Alexander's infant son Antiochus, until 145 BC when the general Diodotus declared him king, in order to serve as the figurehead of a rebellion against Demetrius II. In 130 BC, another claimant to the throne, [[Alexander Zabinas]], would also claim to be Alexander Balas' son; almost certainly spuriously.<ref>Porphyry ''[[FGrH]]'' 260 F 32.21; {{cite book |last1=Chrubasik |first1=Boris |title=Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198786924|pages=142}}</ref> Alexander is the title character of the [[oratorio]] ''[[Alexander Balus]]'', written in 1747 by [[George Frideric Handel]].