"

There's also a little state called Judaea.  It was independent from about 160 BC to 6 AD, and again  from 41-44  (although it was a Roman client after 63 BC).  In the intermittent period, under the Persians, Ptolemies, and  Seleucids, the Jews largely ruled themselves through their high priest, although they didn't have political independence, so I wouldn't describe it as rule.  But certainly the Hasmoneans and the Herods were real ""rulers"" of the region.  "