=Victory at Bethsura.= During the following year the regent Lysias himself gathered together a picked army of sixty thousand infantry and five thousand horsemen and advanced against Judas. This time the Syrians avoided the northern passes and entered western Judah through the Valley of Elah, marched past the old battle-fields of Socoh and Adullam, which were now held by the Idumeans, and thence followed the road which led along a branch of the Wady es-Sur in a southeastern direction. By taking this southern route they reached without opposition Bethsura,^{(114)} on the height which marked the southwestern boundary of Judah, where the road from the west joined the main highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. Rallying ten thousand of his followers, Judas boldly attacked the huge Syrian army in front of Bethsura and again won an overwhelming victory. =Rededication of the Temple.= The retreat of their foes left the Jews free at last to enter Jerusalem, to tear down the heathen altar which had been reared by Antiochus, and to restore the temple and its service. Three years after it had been desecrated by Antiochus, the temple was rededicated. The strong fortress of Acra within the city still remained in possession of the Syrian garrison; but Jerusalem was fortified with high walls and strong towers, and joy and confidence again filled the hearts of the Jews. =Campaigns South and East of the Dead Sea.= Judas also employed this brief respite from Syrian attack to carry on campaigns against the foes who, doubtless at the instigation of the Syrians, were attacking the Jews on every side. The first battle was with the Idumeans and was fought at Akrabattine, which was probably the steep Scorpion Pass at the southeastern end of the Dead Sea, along which ran the road from Hebron to Petra. On the east-Jordan at this time the Ammonites, under their leader, Timotheus, apparently controlled the entire territory from the Arnon to the Yarmuk. Judas's first east-Jordan campaign was in the territory immediately north of the Arnon, where he conquered the ancient city of Jazer and its villages.