Judaea, also spelled Judea, was an ancient region in the southern Levant, traditionally the southernmost of the three divisions of ancient Palestine, alongside Galilee in the north and Samaria in the center. Geographically, it encompassed a mountainous area including the Judean Hills, the Judean Desert to the east, and extended southward to the Negev, with Beersheba marking its traditional southern boundary. No precise demarcation separated Judaea from Samaria, but the region was historically centered around Jerusalem, which served as its cultural and religious hub.
The name Judaea derives from the Hebrew Yehudah, referring to the Tribe of Judah, one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. In biblical accounts, after the death of King Solomon around 930 BCE, the united Kingdom of Israel split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah, which roughly corresponded to the territory of Judaea. The Kingdom of Judah endured until its conquest by the Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE, when Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem and exiled much of the population in the Babylonian Captivity.
Following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great allowed Jewish exiles to return, establishing the province of Yehud Medinata under Achaemenid rule. This Persian Yehud province was a small autonomous region centered on Jerusalem, where the Second Temple was rebuilt around 516 BCE. After Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 BCE, Judaea fell under Hellenistic influence, first under the Ptolemaic Kingdom and later the Seleucid Empire from 198 BCE. Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes imposed Hellenization, desecrating the Second Temple in 167 BCE, sparking the Maccabean Revolt led by Judas Maccabeus. The revolt succeeded, leading to the independent Hasmonean Kingdom (140–37 BCE), which expanded Judaea's borders and restored Jewish autonomy.
In 63 BCE, Roman general Pompey conquered Judaea, incorporating it into the Roman Republic as a client state. Herod the Great, appointed king in 37 BCE, ruled as a Roman vassal, rebuilding the Second Temple into a grand complex and developing infrastructure in Jerusalem and Caesarea Maritima. After Herod's death in 4 BCE, his kingdom fragmented; his son Archelaus governed Judaea and Samaria until deposed in 6 CE, when the region became the Roman province of Judaea, governed by prefects like Pontius Pilate (26–36 CE). This province included Judea proper, Idumea, Perea, and parts of Samaria, with Caesarea Maritima as the administrative capital.
The province faced tensions, culminating in the First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE). Triggered by Roman corruption and religious desecration, rebels seized Jerusalem, defeating Syrian governor Cestius Gallus. Emperor Nero dispatched Vespasian, who subdued Galilee, including sieges of Jotapata and Gamla. Vespasian's son Titus captured Jerusalem in 70 CE, destroying the Second Temple and razing much of the city. The war ended with the fall of Masada in 73 CE.
The Kitos War (115–117 CE) and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE), led by Simon bar Kokhba against Emperor Hadrian's policies like banning circumcision and building Aelia Capitolina on Jerusalem's ruins, devastated Judaea. Roman forces under Sextus Julius Severus crushed the revolt, resulting in massive casualties and enslavement. In response, Hadrian renamed the province Syria Palaestina in 135 CE, erasing the name Judaea to suppress Jewish identity, and barred Jews from Jerusalem. The region remained under Roman and later Byzantine rule until the Muslim conquest in 636 CE.
Throughout its history, Judaea was a cradle of Judaism, site of key events like the ministries of prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the life of Jesus of Nazareth in the 1st century CE. Its population was predominantly Jewish, with minorities of Samaritans, Idumeans, and Greco-Romans. Economically, it relied on agriculture (olives, grapes, grains), trade, and pilgrimage to the Temple.
For further reading: Britannica: Judaea, Wikipedia: Judaea (Roman province), Wikipedia: Judea.