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During the final days of the Second Temple period, Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel reached its peak in population. The Jewish population, concentrated mainly in the hilly areas of Galilee and Judea, constituted the majority among all the inhabitants of the region. There were three main groups of non-Jews: Samaritans in Samaria, Nabateans in Transjordan and the Negev, and the residents of the Hellenistic cities along the coast and in Transjordan. Hellenistic culture continued to exist in the East even during the Roman period. The rising political and cultural status of the Hellenistic cities and the mingling of different groups led to cultural blending, yet also, at times to alienation and opposition.

Archaeological sites dating from this period, among them Caesarea, Samaria, Jericho, Masada, and Herodion, have revealed the remains of impressive construction by King Herod. His crowning achievement, from the viewpoint of his Jewish subjects, was the Temple Mount and the Temple at its center. Jerusalem - the capital of the Jewish people - reached the height of its spiritual development at the end of the Second Temple period. As attested in the archaeological finds, the achievements of Jewish society are recognizable even in the material culture of the period. Graves, ossuaries, houses, ritual baths (miqvaot), mosaics, wall paintings, and the magnificent vessels of clay, glass, and stone. The archaeological finds, in addition to the historical documents, also testify to the destruction and ruin, that befell Judea following the Great Revolt (66-70 CE).