The next chapter of the Jewish history in Egypt opens out a wide view. The troubles in Palestine caused by the Hellenistic party seizing on the Temple, and the persecutions by Antiochus, had driven large numbers of Jews to settle in the Delta of Egypt; in fact, as later references seem to show, the Eastern Delta was largely occupied by Jews. It was the Hyksos occupation repeated, only in this case the settlement was probably not that of pastoral nomads, but of agriculturalists and traders. The extent of the settlement is indicated by the need for a national centre of worship on a large scale. At first Jerusalem would of course be entirely the focus of religion; but when the Temple fell into the hands of the Hellenizing party, and the High-Priesthood became entirely the prey of violence and bribery, it was more and more difficult to regard the Holy City as a religious home. This severance, and the distance across a long desert journey, would lead to an entire estrangement, and the practical cessation of all Temple worship. The loss of a religious centre, and the presence of an heir of the High-Priesthood, driven out of Jerusalem by the crimes of his relatives, would at last lead to the rise of a new national centre in the midst of the faithful who were thus living in exile.[31] There must have been a large support for the project before Oniah would venture to start so great an enterprise. The vast amount of work that was done in constructing the new city shows that there was a large and wealthy population involved. The letter of application for the site, and the reply granted by Ptolemy VII, seem quite in accord with the times, and there is no reason to suppose that this title-deed of occupation would be lost to sight, and then re-invented. The site having been granted, of a deserted city, with ruins of an Egyptian palace of Rameses III, and a massive fortification wall of the Hyksos period, there was abundant material for constructing the new city. A large area was laid out beyond the wall of the old city, deliberately modelled upon the plan of Jerusalem and the temple hill. So close is the copy that Professor Dickie in his study of Jerusalem could combine the plans to help in restoring the detail of Jerusalem. The old Egyptian site was adopted as equivalent to the town of Jerusalem, and the new hill was constructed to copy the Temple, and continued northward to imitate Bezetha, leaving a deep gap representing the Tyropœan valley. To throw up these great artificial hills, to face the temple hill with stone walling, up to 100 feet high, to lay out the new city and the fortifications covering six acres, must have needed a large body of supporters, and is the strongest evidence of the numbers and status of the Jews in this district, about twenty-eight miles north of Memphis.