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Judea after the Babylonian conquest

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Biblical text suggests that the area of Judah remained in an empty state of ruins during the exile

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almost every urban and military installation from the 7th century in Judah was destroyed or abandoned

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with few exceptions these remained unoccupied until well into the Persian period

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scholars seem to agree on the point that there was an urban discontinuity in the 7th century

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the sites more on the perimeter, however, the urban rural sites are more in question

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have not been subjected to intensive excavations as have the urban sites

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the rural sector in Judah probably experienced minimal destruction

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a large part of Judah's population before the Babylonian onslaught lived in the rural sector

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Judah's society could be said to be characterized during this time with more continuity than discontinuity

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problems with this view

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small sites in the rural sector in most cases did not continue into the Persian period

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the rural sector depended on the urban sector in many ways

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and so it could not have persisted in the same way when the major sites were destroyed

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there are many items of material culture from the Judah (late Iron Age) which did not continue into the Persian period

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e.g. a new type of burial which emerged in Judah: tombs that were hewn into rock with benches, called bench tombs

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probably used by families or clans for generations

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became important spaces for their clan identity

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this type of burial disappears in the Persian period

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the same is true of the four-roomed house

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common throughout the Iron Age within Israel and Judah

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these exist up until the Babylonian destruction, but are not attested in the Persian period

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similarly with the Judahite pillar figurines

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very widespread throughout Judah up to the Babylonian conquest

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so widespread throughout the Judahite territories that they are understood to represent a Judahite identity

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all of this shows that something in the material culture had drastically changed

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the epigraphical and linguistic evidence also changes significantly with the Babylonian destruction

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the measuring weights, widely attested like the Judahite pillar figurines

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they disappear with the Babylonian conquest

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suggesting a collapse in the economic structure

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we don't see Greek pottery in Judah after the Babylonian conquest

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international wares that are brought from the East Aegean throughout the Mediterranean

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suggesting a collapse in economy and trade

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life had radically changed, no more a market or a demand for international prestige objects

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the demographic change from the late Iron Age to the Hellenistic Age is highly debated

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but it is safe to say that the level of prosperity that Judah achieved in the 7th century sank precipitously with the end of the Iron Age.

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recovery was extremely slow and gradual

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it was not until the Hellenistic period, which comes after the Persian period that conditions returned to an economic level of how they were

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the population after the destruction was probably only one tenth of what it was during the monarchy period