JUDAEA
Judaea is the southern region of Palestine adjoining Jerusalem, where the Jews re-inhabited after their return from Babylonian captivity. Samaria surrounded it in the North, Jordan in the east, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and the town of Beersheba in the south. When the Israelites conquered the Canaanites and settled in Palestine, it was predominantly the tribe of Judah who had settled there. Later, King David captured Jerusalem in the tenth century B.C. from the Jebusites and made it the capital of the unified 12 tribes of Israel. After his son King Solomon’s death, the northern 10 tribes separated from Judaea, even as Jerusalem continued to be the capital of Judaea. Jesus used to go to the Jerusalem Temple for feasts and preached there as well. Because of the wide popularity of Jesus, people from all over Judaea also came to Galilee to listen to him.