John Hyrcanus (Yohanan Girhan) (reigned 134 BCE - 104 BCE, died 104 BCE) was a Hasmonean (Maccabeean) leader of the 2nd century BC. The Hasmoneans (/hæzməˡniən/ חשמונאים Hashmonaiym, Audio were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom ( 140 &ndash 37 BCE The word leadership can refer to Those entities that perform one or more acts of leading The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. Apparently the name "Hyrcanus" was taken by him as a regnal name upon his accession to power. A regnal name, or reign name, is a formal name used by some Popes and Monarchs during their Reigns Since Medieval times monarchs

Coin of John Hyrcanus

Life and work

He was the son of Simon Maccabaeus and hence the nephew of Judas Maccabaeus, Jonathan Maccabaeus and their siblings, whose story is told in the deuterocanonical books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, and in the Talmud. Simon Maccabaeus (died 135 BCE was a son of Mattathias and thus a member of the Hasmonean family Judas Maccabeus (or Judah Maccabee, also spelled Machabeus or Maccabaeus Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, Yehudah HaMakabi, Judah the Hammer Jonathan Maccabaeus was leader of the Hasmonean Dynasty of Judea from 161 to 143 BCE " Deuterocanonical books " is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages 1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book written by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom probably about 100 BC. 2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible which focuses on the Jews revolt against Antiochus and concludes with the defeat of the The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history John was not present at a banquet at which his father and his two brothers were murdered, purportedly by his brother-in-law Ptolemy. He attained to his father's former offices, that of high priest and king (although some Jews never accepted any of the Hasmoneans as being legitimate kings, as they were not lineal descendants of David). Kohen Gadol or Kohen ha-Gadol ( Heb כהן גדול "Great Priest" is the title of High Priest of early Israelite PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ David, Arabic: داوود or داود dawud, "beloved" was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible

His taking a Greek regnal name - "Hyrcanus" - was a significant political and cultural step away from the intransigent opposition to and rejection of Hellenistic culture which had characterised the Maccabaen revolt against Seleucid rule. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i It reflected a more pragmatic recognition that Judea, once having attained independence, had to maintain its position among a milieu of small and large states which all shared the Hellenistic culture. All subsequent Hasmonean rulers followed suit and adopted Greek names in their turn.

Hasmonean Kingdom under John Hyrcanus
     situation in 134 BC     area conquered

Achievements

John Hyrcanus apparently combined an energetic and able style of leadership with the zeal of his forebears. He was known as a brave and brilliant military leader. He is credited with the forced conversion of the Idumeans to Judaism, which was unusual for a Jewish leader; Judaism was not typically spread by the sword. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut He also set out to resolve forcibly the religious dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans; during his reign he destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim (although their descendants still worship among its ruins), which served further to deepen the already-historic hatred and rivalry between the two groups. Mount Gerizim ( Samaritan Hebrew Ar-garízim, Arabic جبل جرزيم Jabal Jarizīm, Tiberian Hebrew הַר גְּרִזִּים Many historians believe that the apocryphal book of Jubilees was written during his reign; some would suggest even at his behest. Jubilee The Book of Jubilees (ספר היובלים sometimes called the Lesser Genesis ( Leptogenesis) is an ancient Jewish religious work considered Some writers, particularly Christian ones, have dated the division of Judaism into the parties of Pharisees and Sadducees to his era; most Jewish writers and some Christian ones suggest that this split actually well predates him. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth The word Pharisees ( lat. pharisæ|us, - i) comes from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "separated" The Sadducees were members of a Jewish sect founded in the second century BC, possibly as a political party Some historians would go so far as to identify him, as a priest, predominantly with the Sadducee party, which was closely associated with the Temple worship and the priestly class.

Peak and decline of the kingdom

John Hyrcanus represented in some ways the highest point of the Hasmonean Dynasty. The restored Jewish "kingdom" approached its maximum limits of both territory and prestige. Upon his death, his offices were divided among his heirs; his son Aristobulus succeeded him as high priest; his wife as "Queen regnant". For other people with this name see Aristobulus (disambiguation Aristobulus (reigned 104-103 BC was a king of the Hebrew List of current queens regnant A queen regnant (plural "queens regnant" is qualifying reference to a female Monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchal The son, however, soon came to desire the essentially unchecked power of his father; he shortly ordered his mother and his brothers imprisoned. This event seems to mark the beginning of the decline of the Hasmonean Dynasty; in just over four decades they were removed from power by the Roman Republic and none of them ever began to approach the level of power or prestige that had pertained to John Hyrcanus or his predecessors. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the

Modern Commemoration

Tel Aviv has a Yochanan Hyrcanus Street (רחוב יוחנן הורקנוס), as do several other cities in contemporary Israel. Tel Aviv-Yafo (תֵּל ־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ تل أبيب Tal ʾAbīb) (usually Tel Aviv) is the second-largest city in Israel For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. In the ealy decades of the 20th century, the Zionist historical perception of the Jewish past tended to approve of and revere strong warrior kings of both Biblical and later periods, and Hyrcanus' exploits earned him a place in that pantheon. History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the

External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia: HYRCANUS, JOHN (JOHANAN) I.