According to Yitzakh Magen's reconstruction, he was commander of a garrison force who rose to be appointed governor of Samaria, the first of the Israelites to achieve this rank, sometime prior to Nehemiah's return from exile, and arrival in Judea in 444 BCE. In order to unite Samaria and its populations, he thought a sacred site was necessary. The Levite priesthood had migrated to Judea, and the priests of Baal were idolatrous, and he chose from tradition Mount Gerizim, over whose site he chose a high priest from a noble family in Jerusalem, a grandson of Eliashib, to preside, and to whom he gave his own daughter in marriage. He established a temple to YHWH on Mount Gerizim, over which his own descendants, as born into priestly blood, could minister. Josephus describes his construction of the Samaritan temple and says it was based on a copy of the Jerusalem temple. He also relates that many Israelites married to Samaritans moved to Samaria, causing much bewilderment in Jerusalem.