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(100 BC - 43 BC)
Cyprus (I). Herod’s father, Antipater the Idumean, was the son of forced converts who became Jews during the reign of John Hyrcanus (135–104 C.E.). His acceptance of Judaism seemed to have been syncretistic and cosmopolitan. His marriage to Cyprus, the daughter of a Nabatean aristocrat, is proof of this. The issue that interests scholars most about Cyprus is the extent to which her foreign extraction influenced Herod’s Jewish or non-Jewish identity. This question is motivated by the matrilineal principle that governs Jewish identity today. The issue was of no interest to Josephus. His only comments about her, aside from genealogical references, depict her as an active ally of her daughter Salome in their pursuit to the death of Herod’s wife, Mariamme the Hasmonean (e.g. Ant. 15:80; 184–185). http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/herodian-women
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