John Hyrcanus, Jewish king and high priest, reigned 134-104 BC. He was the son of Simon the Maccabee and the first of the second Hasmonean generation to assume the crown. He defeated the Edomites, giving them a choice of conversion or exile. Among the converts was Antipater, father of Herod the Great. Hyrcanus also defeated the Samaritans, destroying their cities and the temple on Mt. Gerizim. A Hasmonean – later Herodian – fortress in the Judaean desert was named after him.