With conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedon, the area became dominated by Hellenistic rulers - first Alexander himself, later Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt and finally Seleucids. In second century before common era, the Jewish population of the area revolted against Seleucids and founded an independent Hesmonean kingdom. The Jewish kingdom expanded over the region in the next decades, conquering neighbouring Samaritans, Edomeans and Nabateans. Slowly however, the region became dominated by the Roman Empire.