Political History of Judea from 609 Bce to 135 Ce

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 str...