• Jewish population ‘worldwide’: approximately 7 million (but heavily in the greater Mediterranean and Mesopotamian areas.
• Total world population: 750 million
• So, the Jewish population as a percentage of total world population: approximately 1 percent. The vicissitudes of subsequent history will very significantly and steadily lower that percentage.
• Percentage of world’s total Jewish population living in Herod’s Judea: approximately 33 percent (2.31 million of the 7 million total “worldwide”)
***
The most sophisticated societies at this point in time in the Americas, are apparently located along the Andes Mountains of Peru and in the central valley of Mexico.
The ancient city of Teotihuacán (Mexico) was built—probably by the Totonac people—in central Mexico starting 200 BCE. The largest pyramid of the city, the Pyramid of the Sun, was completed by 100 CE. The city reaches its zenith around 150–450 CE, when it is the center of a powerful culture, possibly radiating well over a thousand miles.
At its peak, the city housed 150,000–250,000 people, covered over 11.5 square miles, was laid–out in very broad avenues at right angles, and had a sophisticated underground water–conduit system. Most interestingly, the city had no fortifications or military structures.
The city contained a special district for religious worship, with the above–noted Pyramid of the Sun—214 feet, or 17 stories high—dominating the horizon.
The religious district centerpiece is a spectacular “Avenue (in honor) of the Dead,” with an associated major plaza at its terminus, complete with architectural pond.
Note that the iconic Peruvian city of Machu Piccu (“the Lost City of the Incas”), with the nearby Cuzco administrative nexus, only comes into existence over a thousand years later, around 1450 CE.