JUDAEA, the name given to the southern part of Palestine as occupied by the Jewish community in post-exilic days under Persian, Greek and Roman overlordship. In Luke and Acts the term is sometimes used loosely to denote the whole of western Palestine. The limits of Judaea were never very precisely defined and--especially on the northern frontier--varied from time to time. After the death of Herod, Archelaus became ethnarch of Samaria, Idumea and Judaea, and when he was deposed Judaea was merged in Syria, being governed by a procurator whose headquarters were in Caesarea. For a description of the natural features of the country see PALESTINE; for its history see JEWS and JUDAH. Cf. T. Mommsen, _The Provinces of the Roman Empire_, ch. xi. JUDAH, a district of ancient Palestine, to the south of the kingdom of Israel, between the Dead Sea and the Philistine plain. It falls physically into three parts: the hill-country from Hebron northwards through Jerusalem; the lowland (Heb. _Shephelah_) on the west; and the steppes or "dry land" (Heb. _Negeb_) on the south. The district is one of striking contrasts, with a lofty and stony table-land in the centre (which reaches a height of 3300 ft. just north of Hebron), with a strategically important valley dividing the central mountains from the lowland, and with the most desolate of tracts to the east (by the Dead Sea) and south. Some parts, especially around Hebron, are extremely fertile, but the land as a whole has the characteristics of the southern wilderness--the so-called "desert" is not a sterile Sahara--and was more fitted for pastoral occupations; see further G. A. Smith, _Hist. Geog. Holy Land_, chs. x.-xv. Life in ancient Judah is frequently depicted in the Bible, but much of the Judaean history is obscure. In the days of the old Hebrew monarchy there were periods of conflict and rivalry between Judah and Israel--even times when the latter incorporated, or at least claimed supremacy over, the former. Later, from the 5th century B.C. there was a breach between the Jews (the name is derived from Judah) and the Samaritans (q.v.). The intervening years after the fall of Samaria (722 B.C.), and after the destruction of Jerusalem (586 B.C.), were probably marked by closer intercourse, similar to the period of union in the popular traditions relating to the pre-monarchical age. The course of Judaean history was conditioned, also, by the proximity of the Philistines in the west, Moab in the east, and by Edom and other southern peoples extending from North Arabia to the delta of the Nile. Judah's stormy history, continued under Greek and Roman domination, reached its climax in the birth of Christianity, and ended with the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (see JEWS, PALESTINE).