'Province' in the Bible
Here is a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from the captivity, from those who had been exiled. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken them to Babylon. They came back to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his town,
Judges, envoys, officials, Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, the Elamites) and many other nations whom the great and honorable Osnappar deported and resettled in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the Euphrates River.
This is the text of the letter they sent. To: King Artaxerxes From: Your servants, the men of the province beyond the Euphrates River.
We certify to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will lose your land holdings in the province beyond the Euphrates River.
This is to inform the king that we traveled to the Temple of the great God in the Judean province, which is being built with large stones and reinforced with wooden beams in its walls. The work proceeds diligently and is in capable hands.
The following was found written on a scroll in Ecbatana at the summer palace of the province of Media:
together with all of the silver and gold that you can raise in the province of Babylon, plus the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests, contributed for the Temple of their God, which is in Jerusalem.