The Christian faith began in Palestine, regarded by the Jews as their ‘Promised Land’, but ruled by foreign powers for much of its history because of its favourable strategic location. Egypt and Assyria had fought over it for centuries, then Babylon conquered Assyria, and with it Palestine. The Persians allowed some Jews to return from exile to Palestine, before the Greeks under Alexander the Great conquered the land around 300 BC. There followed rule by the Seleucid