What was the strategic importance of Judea?
score:8
Judea has always been a key part of the "land bridge" that connects what we now know as the Arab world, specifically north Africa and the Middle East.
In biblical times, Judea was the gateway by which Egypt attacked Middle Eastern countries, and vice-versa. In 146 BC For instance, Ptolemy VI, aided by Jonathan Macabee, had invaded Syria and captured Selucia. That's why Antiochius VII Sidetes found it necessary to bring Macabee's nephew, John Hyrcanis to heel.
Earlier on, Nebuchadnezzar of Assyria had dissolved the Judea of its last king, Zedekiah, when the latter had allied with Egypt in order to start a rebellion.
Your earlier recollection about mountain fortresses is correct. Judea is located on a plateau, through which north-south trade routes pass through (and can therefore be blocked by) strongly fortified cities. Perhaps the strongest, and certainly the most famous of these cities is Jerusalem. According to Wikipedia:
During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.
This gives one an idea of the strategic importance of this city, and others around it.
Upvote:7
The area had multiple claims to fame.
From a strategic viewpoint, it connected the Tigris and Euphrates basin to the Nile basin, as already mentioned by Tom.
It was also part of the fertile crescent, a moist and fertile tract of agricultural land compared to its otherwise arid and semi-arid surroundings:
The Eastern Mediterranean wasn't as hot and dry back then as it is today. Rather, it was a rich agricultural tract that produced large quantities of food. (It began to decline in this respect around the 10th century.)
Anecdotally but no less importantly, the area additionally was home to Olive trees, Mediterranean cypresses (a scented hard wood commonly used in rituals) and Cedars of Lebanon (a strategic resource for construction and shipbuilding). The Eastern Mediterranean coast hosted abundant forests at the time - particularly in modern-day Lebanon. One of these was home of the gods in Mesopotamian mythology.
More post
- 📝 Confirmation of existence of a historical document about French revolution and Lyon?
- 📝 What is the Thalassic Age?
- 📝 Was Colonel Thomas Butler actually arrested?
- 📝 How well were early WW2 naval tactics and strategy accounting for the importance of aircraft carriers?
- 📝 Was Mid-Night always considered the transition point between two days in Gregorian/Julian Calendars?
- 📝 How do archaeologists date cave paintings?
- 📝 What does the following picture represent in historical context?
- 📝 What did the CIA think about the partition of Pakistan in 1971?
- 📝 Did Peter the Great support a Russian circumnavigation?
- 📝 Identify these Cold War speeches from a movie trailer
- 📝 Did ancient Rome have slave hunters?
- 📝 Why did the Romans change Europe's language, but the barbarians didn't?
- 📝 Why was the Greek alphabet not adopted by other languages, given the Greek influence?
- 📝 Why did the Indian National Congress fail to convince Indian minorities to support united India
- 📝 Which 'march across the ice' had comparatively the most casualties?
- 📝 How common was it for un-documented ships to bring settlers to the American colonies 1700-1750
- 📝 Why does religion eventually disintegrate into sects?
- 📝 What was the foreign policy of 1791 France?
- 📝 What's the meaning of a knight fighting a snail in medieval book illustrations?
- 📝 Were there inns and hostels in medieval Europe?
- 📝 What were the effective dates of this 1968 Delaware law and this 1967 Nevada law?
- 📝 Did ninjas ever use a costume like the one we usually see in films?
- 📝 What was the American policy on colonisation and why?
- 📝 Did the end of the British Raj in India create an economic loss for Britain?
- 📝 How many days have elapsed since October 23, 4004 B.C.?
- 📝 (Why) are there two different versions of the photograph of inmates at the Buchenwald concentration camp?
- 📝 When did the Greeks stop calling themselves "Roman"?
- 📝 What kind of suspension did Roman carrucae have?
- 📝 Does the reversal of the ribbon on a military medal (South Africa / UK; WWII) carry meaning or is it simply an error?
- 📝 Did the 49 star USA flag see significant adoption by the American public?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What was the strategic importance of Moscow to the Soviet Union in Dec 1941?
- 📝 What was the strategic importance of Judea?
- 📝 What was the importance of the patrician class in the Roman Empire?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?
- 📝 What was the historical context of the 2nd amendment to the US Constitution?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 What was the typical peasant's diet like in Europe during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 What led some people to (correctly) believe that there was no land under the ice cap at the North Pole?
- 📝 What was the status of Arab Christians during the crusades?
- 📝 What was the religion of the Arabic people before conversion to Islam?
- 📝 What was the purpose of Nazi extermination camps?
- 📝 What was the internal Soviet reaction to the moon landing?
- 📝 What was the function of the walls of Jericho?
- 📝 What was the pound (unit of weight) initially equal to?
- 📝 At what point was the Byzantine Empire's decline irreversible?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 What was the point of horse armour?
- 📝 What was the first solar eclipse that was demonstrably predicted in advance?
- 📝 What was the role of the Soviet Navy during WWII?
- 📝 What was the plan for an abort of the Enola Gay's mission to drop the atomic bomb?
- 📝 What was the economic basis for West Berlin?
- 📝 Was the Italian campaign a strategic mistake?
- 📝 What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under "kingdom", "republic" and "empire"?
- 📝 What was the average height of Roman men and women?
- 📝 What was the longest a World War II submarine stayed at sea without being resupplied at a port?
- 📝 What was the cleanest war ever fought?
- 📝 What was the Seven Years War called at first?
- 📝 What was the first battle in history fought by vast-majority-% "distance-shooting" non-mechanized force?
- 📝 What / When was the first use of concentration camps in history?
- 📝 What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?