 During the period of Persian imperial rule in the region ( c . 550 – 330 BCE ) , the Qedarites exercised control over the desert areas bordering Egypt and Israel and the traffic related to Arabian incense trade upon which Gaza depended . Herodotus ( c . <unk> – 425 BCE ) writes of their presence in the northern Sinai near the Egyptian border where they may have been engaged by the <unk> , the Persian imperial authorities , to keep that border secure as well as their control of the city of Gaza . 
