The book of Maccabees I is an apocryphal work recounting the victories of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE, the stories behind the holiday of Chanukkah. Written in Hebrew by a Jewish author who may have been an eyewitness to the events he describes, the work is considered an important source for the period. It has no official religious status in Judaism but it is often studied to enrich one's understanding of the events commemorated on Chanukkah.