Strategically situated between three continents, the region of Palestine (also known as the Land of Israel and the
In … See more

The region was among the earliest in the world to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization. In the Bronze Age, the Canaanites established independent city-states that were influenced … See more

The earliest human remains in the region were found in Ubeidiya, some 3 km south of the Sea of Galilee, in the Jordan Rift Valley. The remains are dated to the Pleistocene, c. 1.5 million years ago. These are traces of the … See more

In the Early Bronze Age (c. 3700–2500 BCE) period, the earliest formation of urban societies and cultures emerged in the region. The period is defined through archaeology, as it is absent from any historical re… See more

Following Cyrus the Great's conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, Palestine became part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. At least five Persian provinces existed in the region: Yehud Medinata, Samaria, Gaza, Ashdod, and Ascalo… See more

In the late 330s BCE, Alexander the Great conquered Palestine on his way to Egypt. The conquest was relatively uncomplicated as Persian control of the region had already waned. Tyre and Gaza were the only cities that did no… See more

In 63 BCE, a war of succession in the Hasmonean court provided the Roman general Pompey with the opportunity to make the Jewish kingdom a client of Rome, starting a centuries-long period of Roman rule. After … See more