The nature of the transition from the Iron Age to the Persian period in the Land of Judah, namely the nature of the Neo-Babylonian period (the 6th century BCE) has been the subject of much discussion in recent years. It was customary in the past to view the transition as crisis-like, but in recent years several researchers, mainly biblical scholars, are attempting to depict the period as one of continuation. A meticulous examination of the archaeological evidence concerning settlement continuity, the settlement models, demography, architecture and burial practices proves that the transition between the periods under discussion in the region of Judah was accompanied by an extreme calamity. An examination of the settlement and social reality in Judah during the 6th century BCE, as well as afterwards, shows that Judah was in a situation of “post collapse”, that is to say a society in a deep crisis, and that the recovery from the destruction took hundreds of years and it is only in the Hellenistic period that one actually can identify the end of the crisis. The characterization of the situation in Judah also has implications on understanding the reality in neighboring regions, and it seems that the Assyrian and Babylonian military campaigns caused similar crises in most of the regions in the country.