 When the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, the Hasmonean kingdom was established in present-day Israel, consisting of three regions which were Judea, Samaria, and the Galilee.In the pre-exilic First Temple Period the political power of Judea was concentrated within the tribe of Judah, Samaria was dominated by the tribe of Ephraim and the House of Joseph, while the Galilee was associated with the tribe of Naphtali, the most eminent tribe of northern Israel.At the time of the Kingdom of Samaria, the Galilee was populated by northern tribes of Israel, but following the Babylonian exile the region became Jewish.