Archaeological surveys of Judah in the 10th century confirm only a handful of small villages/hamlets - on the order of a dozen or so - and an economy which was based on herding. The estimate for the total population of Judah is on the order of 20,000. One might reasonably speculate that the primary reason the area was not overrun by some conqueror is that it was poor and of no value to anyone. People like to claim it was "strategically located" but this is really not true. It is inland, well away from the coast, and the most vital stretch of real estate went through Philistia towards Megiddo where the trade routes were located. Judah wasn't worth shit until it began to build up....and then it became a rather hapless target.
Anything is possible but Herodotus was at best a very small child while Xerxes' army was marching into Greece and we have to assume that his history dates from a later period when the Persians had been defeated and expelled. Therefore, wherever the number came from, Herodotus' use of it sounds more like Greek propaganda ( Look what WE did!) than anything else.
Anything is possible but Herodotus was at best a very small child while Xerxes' army was marching into Greece and we have to assume that his history dates from a later period when the Persians had been defeated and expelled. Therefore, wherever the number came from, Herodotus' use of it sounds more like Greek propaganda ( Look what WE did!) than anything else.
