Editing Jewish diaspora (section)

===Classical period===
After the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, Judah ({{lang|he|יְהוּדָה}} {{transliteration|he|Yehuda}}) became a [[Yehud Medinata|province of the Persian empire]]. This status continued into the following [[Hellenistic period]], when Yehud became a disputed province of Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria. In the early part of the 2nd century BCE, a revolt against the Seleucids led to the establishment of an independent Jewish kingdom under the [[Hasmonean]] dynasty. The Hasmoneans adopted a deliberate policy of imitating and reconstituting the Davidic kingdom, and as part of this [[Forced conversion#Judaism|forcibly converted to Judaism]] their neighbours in the Land of Israel. The conversions included [[Nabatean]]s ([[Zabadeans]]) and [[Itureans]], the peoples of the former [[Philistine]] cities, the [[Moabites]], [[Ammon]]ites and [[Edomites]]. Attempts were also made to incorporate the [[Samaritans]], following takeover of Samaria. The success of mass-conversions is however questionable, as most groups retained their tribal separations and mostly turned Hellenistic or Christian, with [[Edomites]] perhaps being the only exception to merge into the Jewish society under Herodian dynasty and in the following period of [[Jewish–Roman Wars]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBcheched/topic/263498/Herodian-dynasty|title=Herodian Dynasty |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>