Syria-Palestine under Achaemenid rule

Abstract

In 539 BC Cyrus overcame Nabonidus, the last king of Babylonia; as a consequence, Syria-Palestine fell into the Persian king's hands, and thus began the period of Persian rule in the history of these countries. Until 525, Palestine marked the farthest limit of Persian rule. However, as a result of Cambyses' conquest of Egypt in that same year, the entire region west of the Euphrates took on a unique geopolitical significance in the context of the Persian Empire. This chapter explores the history of the region in the general context of the Achaemenid Empire from the standpoint of the imperial authorities. The area extending from the Euphrates to southern Palestine is designated in the Eastern sources from the Persian period by the territorial term 'Beyond the River', which is Mesopotamian in origin. One question of paramount significance for the history of Palestine in the Persian period concerns the ethnic composition of the population of the province of Samaria.

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