JOHN HYRCANUS I

This article appears in Volume V14, Page 210 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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JOHN HYRCANUS I ., high priest of the

Jews

from 135 to 105 B.C., was the youngest son of Simon Maccabaeus. In 137 B.C. he, along with his brother Judas, commanded the force which repelled the invasion of Judaea led by Cendebeus, the general of Antiochus VII.Sidetes. On the assassination of his father and two elder

brothers

BROTHERS, RICHARD (1757-1824)

Ptolemy

PTOLEMY (
CLAUDIUS
PTOLEMAEUS)

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

of Jericho, his brother-in-law, in February 135, he succeeded to the high priest-hood and the supreme authority in Judaea. While still engaged in the struggle with

Ptolemy

PTOLEMY (
CLAUDIUS
PTOLEMAEUS)

, he was attacked by Antiochus with a large army (134), and compelled to shut himself up in Jerusalem; after a severe siege peace was at last secured only on

condition

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

of a Jewish disarmament, and the payment of an indemnity and an annual

tribute

TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

, for which hostages were taken. In 129 he accompanied Antiochus as a vassal prince on his ill-fated

Parthian

PARTHIAN

expedition; returning, however, to Judaea before winter, he escaped the final disaster. By the judicious mission of an embassy to Rome he now obtained confirmation of the alliance which his father had previously made with the growing western power; at the same time he availed himself of the weakened state of the Syrian monarchy under Demetrius II. to overrun Samaria, and also to invade Idumaea, which he completely subdued, compelling its inhabitants to receive

circumcision

CIRCUMCISION (Lat. circum, round, and caedere, to cut)

and accept the Jewish faith. After a

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

period of rest he directed his arms against the town of Samaria, which, in spite of the intervention of Antiochus, his sons Antigonus and Aristobulus ultimately took, and by his orders razed to the ground (c. 10q B.C.). He died in 105, and was succeeded by Aristobulus, the eldest of his five sons. The external policy of Hyrcanus was marked by considerable energy and tact, and, aided as it was by favouring circumstances, was so successful as to leave the Jewish nation in a position of independence and of influence such as it had not known since the days of Solomon. During its later years his reign was much distrubed, however, by the contentions for ascendancy which arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, the two rival sects or parties which then for the first time (under those names at least) came into prominence. Josephus has related the curious circumstances under which he ultimately transferred his personal support from the former to the latter.

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