Galilee

===Hasmonean period===
During the expansion of the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean kingdom of Judea]], much of the Galilee region was conquered and annexed by the first Hasmonean king [[Aristobulus I]] (104–103 BCE). Following the Hasmonean conquest, there was a significant Jewish influx into the area. Sites including [[Yodfat]], [[Meiron]], [[Sepphoris]], [[Shikhin]], [[Kafr Kanna|Qana]], [[Bersabe]], [[Selamin|Zalmon]], Mimlah, [[Magdala|Migdal]], [[Arbel]], Kefar Hittaya, and Beth Ma'on have archeological-chronological evidence for this settlement wave.<ref name="Leibner2009" /> 
[[File:Almog_IL5_Yodfat.jpg|thumb|The hill where ancient [[Yodfat]] stood]]
[[Josephus]], who based his account on [[Timagenes|Timagenes of Alexandria]], claimed that Aristobulus I had forcibly converted the [[Iturea|Itureans]] to Judaism while annexing a portion of their territory. Schürer believed this information to be accurate and came to the conclusion that the "Jewish" Galilee of Jesus' day was actually inhabited by the offspring of those same Iturean converts. Other scholars have suggested that the Itureans underwent a voluntary conversion to Judaism in the Upper Galilee, or at the very least in the Eastern Upper Galilee. However, archeological information does not support either proposal, as Iturean material culture has been identified clearly in the northern Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, and not in the Galilee, and it is clear that this area remained outside Hasmonean borders.<ref name="Leibner2009" />