ACRA:

(Redirected from BIRAH.)

Fortress built by Antiochus Epiphanes in the year 173 B.C. at Jerusalem, on an outlying spur of the Temple mount toward the south, where he placed a garrison, stored provisions, and kept armor. The Greek (I Macc. i. 33) reads "Acra," which has been translated as if it were not a proper name.

Bibliography:
  • Josephus, B. J. v. 4, § 1; vi. 6, § 3; xii. 5, § 4;
  • Schürer, Gesch. i. 154.
G. B. L.
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