GIUDEA. — Appellation (Gr. Ἰουδαία, Lat. Iudaea) used absolutely or with γῆ (Io. 3, 22) or χώρα (Mc. 1, 5), in use from the earliest Hellenistic period (F.-M. Abel [V. BIBLICA.], I, p. 314 ff.) in pagan writings, in the Books of the Maccabees, in Flavius Josephus, and in the New Testament (Mt. 2, 1.5.12, etc.; Lc. 1, 65; etc.), to indicate the region west of the Jordan, comprising the territories of the ancient tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and part of Ephraim (cf. Pliny, Hist. natur., V, 14). In a broader sense, all Palestine was called G., according to Roman usage (Lc. 1, 5; 4, 44; etc.; cf. Tacitus, Hist., II, 78; V, 9; Suetonius, Claud., 28).
Judaea properly so called lay between Idumea to the south (following a line which, starting from the sea between Azotus and Ascalon, passed through Bethsur and ended at Engaddi), Samaria to the north, and the Jordan and the Mediterranean.
It is for the most part a mountainous region (cf. Lc. 1, 65), between 700 and 1000 m. above sea level; rugged, with ravines; it slopes gradually toward the west, with the fertile plain known by the term Išphelāh. The eastern slopes, on the other hand, which often descend precipitously toward the Dead Sea, from el-'Aṣūr to its southern extremity (about 80 km.), passing near Ephrem, Bethel, Jericho, and Bethlehem, constitute the “desert of Judah” (Mt. 3, 1), of about 1700 sq. km. (F.-M. Abel, I, pp. 104 ff., 436).
Upon their return from exile, the approximately 50,000 repatriated, almost all from the tribe of Judah (whence the appellation “Jew,” which only Jeremiah used, but as a simple synonym for “people of Israel” [Ier. 31, 12] and in opposition to the Moabites [ibid. 40, 11 ff.], the Chaldeans [ibid., 38, 19; 41, 1], and the Egyptians [ibid. 44, 1]), concentrated within a radius of about 20 km. around Jerusalem, with the exceptions of Lydda, about 44 km. northwest of Jerusalem, and Jericho and Senaa (at the strong position of Hirbet el-'Awğā el-Fōqah: cf. F.-M. Abel, II, p. 455) to the east. To the south they reached Nefūrah, about 7 km. farther south than Bethlehem; while to the southeast they stopped at Hebron. To the north, after Anathoth, Rama, and the four cities of the Gibeonite confederation—that is, Gabaon (el-Ĝib), Cariathiarim, Cephira (Kefīrah), and Beroth—they reached Bethel (Bejūn), with the nearby Hai (Estd. 2, 20-25).
The reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah eliminated the contamination of foreign elements, and G., together with Jerusalem, remained ever the true hearth of Judaism, the center of religious and national life. The wealthiest and most illustrious families, the priestly and lay aristocracy, lived there. In the time of Jesus it was almost entirely populated by Israelites by race and religion, who were conscious of this superiority; they were exclusivist and rigid observers of the Law and traditions; harsh and severe, like their region; narrow-minded and contentious, suspicious toward others (L. Szczepanski [V. BIBLICA.], p. 218).
Nothing is known of the territorial development of the reborn nation until the glorious Maccabean revolt. The valiant Judas led his warriors into Idumea and against other neighboring peoples (cf. I Mach. 5, 3-6, 65; II Mach. 10, 16), solely to liberate or avenge the persecuted Yahwists. Ionathan was able to annex to G. the three districts of Ephraim, Lydda, and Ramathaim, on the border with Samaria (I Mach. 11, 34), and that of Accaron (ibid. 57; cf. 10, 89). The successful John Hyrcanus (135-104 B.C.) conquered Idumea in 126 B.C. and compelled its remaining inhabitants to merge with the Jews; in 109 Samaria was destroyed and Scythopolis (Bejsān) conquered, possession of which gave Hyrcanus control of the plain of Esdrelon and access to Galilee (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XIII, 250-80). The impetuous Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 B.C.) annexed a broad strip of Transjordan as far as above the Lake of Tiberias and conquered Galilee.
When, therefore, Herod (37-4 B.C.) conquered the kingdom granted to him by the Romans, it already extended from Idumea to Galilee. In 30 B.C. he received from Augustus the cities of Jericho, Gadara, Hippo, Samaria, Anhedon, Joppa, and Turris Stratonis (= Caesarea of Palestine); in 23 B.C. he received the Trachonitis, Batanea (with the adjoining regions); in 20 B.C. the tetrarchy of Zenodorus north of the Lake of Genesareth. His kingdom (G. in the broad sense: Lc. 1, 5) therefore encompassed all of cisjordanian Palestine (with the exceptions of the districts of Ascalon and Scythopolis); to the north it reached as far as the Wādī el-Karn, from which point eastward the boundary extended to Bānijās. In Transjordan he possessed the entire region between Hermon and the Jarnūk, as well as Peraea (from the city of Pella to the Arnon). It thus comprised six regions: Idumea, G., Samaria, Galilee, Batanea, and Peraea.
At Herod’s death, Archelaus (4 B.C.-6 A.D.) received the first three, with the title of ethnarch; Herod Antipas (4 B.C.-39 A.D.) received Galilee and Peraea, with the title of tetrarch; Philip (4 B.C.-34 A.D.), as tetrarch, received Batanea (with Trachonitis, Auranitis, Gaulanitis, and Ulatha, that is, the Ituraea of Lc. 3, 1). Salome (4 B.C.-10 A.D.) received the cities of Azotus, Jamnia, Archelais, and Phasaelis. After Archelaus was deposed, the province of Iudaea was established from his territories, a district dependent upon the imperial province of Syria but governed directly by the Roman procurators (v.) (6-41, 44-66 A.D.). Herod Agrippa I, with the title of king (37-44 A.D.), received Batanea (from 37), Galilee and Peraea (from 39), and finally Idumea, G., and Samaria with all the maritime cities (from 41); he thus possessed the entire kingdom of Herod, but only for a few years.
From the death of Herod Agrippa I (44 A.D.) onward, the entire territory passed to the Roman procurators, with the exception of Chalcis, given to Herod, the brother of his predecessor (41-48 A.D.), and thereafter to Agrippa II (50-100 A.D.), who from 53 until his death also possessed Batanea with Abilene. After the Jewish revolt and Titus’s victory (66-70 A.D.), the province of G., made independent of Syria, was governed by a legatus Augusti pro praetore of senatorial rank (cf. Fl. Josephus, Antiq. Ind., XIII-XVII). — Vedi tav. LI.