Overview

The geopolitical history of the Middle East in antiquity is principally the story of the continuing struggle for domination of the trade routes of the eastern littoral of the Mediterranean Sea, some of the most valued of which passed through the relatively narrow strip of territory stretching from the Egyptian frontier in the Sinai desert to southern Syria, and from there to Mesopotamia. That strip of territory, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Jordan River to the east, known as Cisjordan, constituted the primary land-bridge between northeastern Africa and southwestern Asia. As a consequence of its geopolitical role as a buffer zone between Egypt and the major powers of antiquity, it was always in the interests of the dominant powers of the region to keep that strip of territory divided into numerous small city-states that would be dependent on one or the other of the major powers for their political survival. The present study is primarily concerned with the political history of the Jewish states that emerged in Cisjordan in antiquity, in effect continuing the narrative of my previous study, The Rise and Fall of the Ancient Israelite States, which concluded with the final destruction of the First Hebrew Commonwealth by the Babylonians, including the Temple built in Jerusalem by Solomon, in 586 BCE. This study begins with a brief discussion of the circumstances that led to that disastrous event and its aftermath. The subsequent Persian conquest of Babylonia unexpectedly led to the emergence of what is frequently spoken of as the Second Hebrew Commonwealth or the Second Temple period. The present study reviews the political history of the Jews in the Land of Israel between the destruction of the First Temple to the destruction of the Second Temple, nearly seven hundred years later, and its aftermath, until the early second century CE.