Before the conquests of Alexander, all Jews (so far as we are aware) resided within the confines of the Persian Empire. Stretching from Anatolia in the west to Afghanistan in the east and from the Caspian steppe in the north to Upper Egypt in the south, the multiethnic domain of the Achaemenid dynasty sustained numerous Jewish communities. Most of these are known to us only through indirect or retrospective testimony. Thus, our present understanding of Jewish life on the eve of Alexander’s