Editing Samaritans (section)

==== Destruction of the temple ====
During the Hellenistic period, Samaria was largely divided between a Hellenizing faction based in Samaria ([[Sebastia, Nablus|Sebastia]]) and a pious faction in [[Shechem]] and surrounding rural areas, led by the High Priest. Samaria was a largely autonomous state nominally dependent on the Seleucid Empire until around 110&nbsp;BCE,{{efn|Josephus sets the date for the destruction at 128&nbsp;BCE. Israeli archaeology has established that the destruction levels are compatible only with a later date, around 110&nbsp;BCE {{harv|Kartveit|2009|p=193}}.}} when the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] ruler [[John Hyrcanus]] destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim and devastated Samaria. Only a few stone remnants of the temple exist today.{{sfn|Bourgel|2016|pp=505–523}}

Hyrcanus' campaign of destruction was the watershed moment which confirmed hostile relations between Jews and Samaritans. The actions of the Hasmonean dynasty resulted in widespread Samaritan resentment of, and alienation from, their Judean brethren, resulting in the deterioration of relations between the two that lasted centuries, if not millennia.{{sfn|Knoppers|2013|pp=173–174}}