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In 185 BCE, Ankhmakis and Seleucus IV Philopator signed the Judean Treaty that stated Egypt and Persia would respect their current holdings and to no longer war against each other. As the new pharaoh is recorded to have said in private, “I have no interest in a rotting Greek’s dead empire.” His interests were directed inward, specifically on making Egypt impervious to foreign domination. To accomplish this he maintained a relatively large standing army and navy and fortified the Sinai Peninsula, dotting it with forts at critical choke points, especially the entrance to the delta, the verdant heart of Egypt. While the army was large relative to the size of Egypt’s population, widespread use of Ptolemaic watermills, better irrigation practices, and consistent good Nile floods made Ankhmakis’ policies feasible.

When Egypt and Seleucid Persia agreed to respect their holdings in the Levant, there was a certain tension between the two empires. Both suspected the either of one day breaking the peace to reconquer lost land but the treaty did introduce a new dynamic to the eastern Mediterranean. Both sides were initially skeptical that the peace would hold but Ankhamis’ actions of inward reformation dispelled the worst of Persia’s fears. With the Levant border secured, the Seleucids turned westward and starting in 172 BCE, waged a series of campaigns against Macedon, weakening their position in Asia Minor and using diplomacy and force to spread Persian influence in the peninsula. By 165 BCE, the Seleucids controlled the entire southern coast of Asia Minor and Macedon clung only to the western coast of the peninsula. Encouraged by their success against the Macedonians in Asia Minor, the Seleucids prepared for the next assault to drive them from the peninsula and eventually conquer the Grecian homeland. In time, Antiochus IV planned to invade the Nile Valley to reunite Alexander’s empire and then perhaps extend it past its original bounds further down the Nile to bring the land of Kush under his sway. During this time, the Persians feared a counterattack by the Macedonians or perhaps eventual war with a resurgent Roman Republic or Egyptian Empire, but discord came from the east. Taking advantage of the Seleucid’s concentration of forces in its west and preoccupation with defeating the Macedonians, Mithridates I enlarged the borders of Parthia to the east, south and west from 163 to 148 BCE, conquering the region of Mesopotamia. Losing such a densely populated and productive region would prove to be a fatal blow to the Seleucid dynasty, though it would be several more decades before this became apparent and over a century before their end came.

To secure Egypt’s Levant territories, Egyptians were encouraged to immigrate to the area to hopefully eventually constitute a large section of the local population. To the Jews of the Levant, the migration of the Egyptians and the erection of their temples in Judea looked to some to be a near reversal of the covenant between them and Yahweh. This had the effect of causing Judaism to simultaneously gain more extremist and more pagan elements to it as people searched for answers on how to reverse this invasion. Thus the Levant became one of the greatest mosaics in the Mediterranean world, with Jews, Greeks, Egyptians, and Persians all interacting and exchanging ideas on philosophy, technology, and most far reaching, religions. In 150 BCE, Ankhmakis’ successor decided to mount an offensive against Meroe with the hope of acquiring strategic depth and securing its natural resources of timber. The conquest was a failure, partially due to generals underestimating the forces needed to subdue Meroe and partially due to the famed skill of the Nubian archers.

By 120 BCE, Carthage was the undisputed master of the Western Mediterranean. Trade with the Sahel was immensely profitable and gold, and to a lesser extent slaves, flowed into the city-state and its surrounding territory. Though Carthage rarely attempted to integrate the surrounding people into its empire, it was able to buy their loyalty with their wealth, giving them considerable influence over the locality in Hispania and the Libyan chiefs. With the gold from the trans-Saharan trade, Carthage was able to routinely pacify the Numidian Berbers and maintain a larger mercenary Berber presence in their cavalry. Over time, the Berber people had managed to unify into two loosely organized kingdoms that were intent on expanding in the Atlas Mountains: the eastern kingdom of Massylii, which was loosely allied with Carthage and the western state of Masaesyli, which was nominally so. Though they shared significant ancestry with the people of Carthage, both Carthage and Massylii and Masaeslyi regarded the other as more stranger than kinsman, due to the Phoenician roots that so influenced Carthaginian society. Because of this, though the two Barbary kingdoms would war against each other, there was a great sense of kinship between the two states that would later trouble the Punics to no end. Carthage could not easily expand into the interior of the mountains due to the Berber presence and while relations were currently warm, that was due more to Sahelian gold as than the renewed diplomatic overtures by Carthage. As was discovered during the aftermath of the Mercenary War and the Second Punic War, the Berbers were more than willing to turn on Carthage if its position seemed weak. Always looking to for new trading opportunities, the Carthaginians focused on expanding abroad by turning the Western Mediterranean into a Punic lake.

Intrepid diplomats and merchants established alliances with the local Gauls of the region and established trading towns on the southern coast. During this time, after initial hostilities, the Greek town of Massilia became a vassal of Carthage and was obligated to serve as a port for Punic ships that were used for general transportation of people, goods and war supplies. In later years, it would become a fortified military base to serve as a bulwark against Romans and any hostile Gauls and Germanics looking to plunder the riches of the Mediterranean. By 80 BCE, Carthage solidly controlled the coastal region of the Atlas Mountains, nearly the whole of Iberia and the entire southern coast of Gaul as well as the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. As the trade with the Mandinka polities expanded, Carthage grew wealthier and Egypt saw a potential ally in Carthage. Carthage was interested in keeping the Mediterranean, especially the section west of Sicily out of Greek domination and Egypt was intent on remaining independent from Persia.

At the same time Egypt was observing the expansion of Carthage in the west and the Seleucids in the east with increased trepidation. Persia’s actions against the Macedonian empire stoked fears of an ambitious Persian campaign to conquer Egypt and thus unite the rest of Alexander’s empire. And while Carthage and Persia had little history of cooperation, the pharaoh Merenre (158 - 90 BCE) was primarily concerned with the increased indirect limiting of Egypt’s sphere of influence and eventual encirclement. Egypt saw a perfect opportunity to destabilize Persia through the Parthians. They covertly supplied the fledging empire with powerful weapons and taught Parthian forces battle formations proven to be effective against Seleucid forces to ensure Persia was too preoccupied with fighting draining wars against the Parthians to consider invading Egypt. To counter against greater Punic financial influence against its eastern borders, Egypt increased its own ties with the Libyan chiefs that controlled the most powerful cities through nobility intermarriage and periodic military expeditions to what they called the “desolate coast” to aid allies in order to reinforce its bonds and power in the region. While Egypt later formed a pact of mutual defense with Carthage against Persia, it began to build up its own navy and reinforced its military base located just south of the city of Abiad, formerly known as Balagrae in the province of Cyrenaica. For its part, Carthage was far more preoccupied with establishing and maintaining its trade network that connected the Mediterranean Sea with the Niger River. There was also the matter of the water-mining Garamante civilization that also served as middlemen, carrying the goods of the Niger to the Nile Valley.

The mixture of religions in the cultural mosaic of the Levant caused many “hybrid” religions to spring up that combined Judaism with the polytheism of the Greeks or Egyptians. A notable individual influenced by these cults was a simple man born to a typical Jewish family. Around 10 BCE, a Jewish carpenter named Meir began to preach a new faith. Central to his belief was the idea that there were two supreme gods, not one. After a short stint in Judea, he gathered a modest following and traveled to Avaris, Egypt to continue spreading his faith.