1. Were the people of monarchic era Israel and Judah and Persian period Yehud “Jews”? What about their Hellenistic period descendants? At what point in history did that term become appropriate? State your criteria for each term used to describe the people. The land of Israel was the birthplace of Judaism. Before the Jewish people lived in Israel there was no organized religion, there were Jews but there was no real place to pray or to make sacrifices. In Israel and Judah the Jewish people gained independence, prayed to G-d freely, and developed Judaism as a culture and not just as a religion. A Yehud Jew became a way to describe a Jewish person that did not have political autonomy of the land in which they were residing. Being a Yehud Jew meant that the Jewish people “would have to find ways to preserve their indigenous traditions in political contexts ruled by other peoples,” (Efron 2009: 37). Monarchic era Israel and Judah were the periods where Israel was ruled by Jewish kings, also known as the Davidic Dynasty. For a time all of Israel was united under the rule of King Saul his son-in-law, King David and then his son King Solomon. Israel under the Davidic Dynasty was The United Kingdom of Israel and during this period the land of Israel flourished and the Jewish people were united. It was not until after Solomon’s death that the United Kingdom of Israel split into the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. Soon after Israel and Judah split into two kingdoms, “Judah lost its independence, and the political destiny of its inhabitants would henceforth be shaped by foreign rule,” (Efron 2009: 33). As a result of Judah losing its independence the Kingdom of Israel eventually lost its independence as well. For the first time in the history of the Jewish people they turned to the bible to keep their religion and culture alive in a society in which they were under foreign rule and it was here that the term “Yehud” first appears as a way to describe a Judahite that had to accept new cultural influences. The Jewish people during the Hellenistic period had not experienced Judaism as a culture and not just as a religion. It is very hard to form a Jewish culture when there is no formal place of prayer and when the Jewish people had lived under other cultures rule. It was not until the Davidic Dynasty under King Solomon that the First Temple was built that a very structured Jewish religion came to be. A “Yehud” Jew is a way to describe a Jewish person living under foreign rule, but it is also a Jewish person that is a descendant of Judah, and their Hellenistic period descendants were not from Judah. During the Hellenistic period the Kingdom of Israel and Judah did not exist yet and it was not until The Davidic Dynasty and the division of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah and “Yehud” became a way to classify Jewish people. During the Davidic Dynasty Israel was one great nation-state where the Jewish people flourished and were able to fully develop Judaism as a religion and more importantly as a way of life. The First Temple was built, then destroyed, and the Kingdoms divided, Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. As a result of the division Israel and Judah were both weakened states. Eventually Judah lost its independence and as a result the Jewish people of Judah looked for ways to keep their culture alive and prominent in their lives while