biography
pronunciation:
[heerkaynus]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (?–30 BC)
|
| biography:
| Jewish high priest and ruler. On the death of his father (76 BC) he was appointed high priest by his mother, Alexandra, who ruled Judaea until her death (67 BC). He then warred for power with his younger brother Aristobulus, with varying fortune until Aristobulus died from poisoning (49 BC). In 47 BC Caesar made Antipater Procurator of Judaea with supreme power, and a son of Aristobulus, with Parthian help, captured Hyrcanus, and carried him off to Seleucia. But when Herod the Great, son of Antipater, came to power, the aged Hyrcanus was invited home to Jerusalem. He lived there in peace until, suspected of intriguing against Herod, he was put to death in 30 BC. |
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