Map of United Monarchy period (10th century B.C.E)

The Kingdom of Israel () (KJV Israel in Samaria^[1]) was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy (also often called the 'Kingdom of Israel'). It existed roughly from the 930s BC until about the 720s BC. This article follows its history until its destruction by the Assyrian Empire, and considers the fate of its population and territory following its destruction. Capital cities (in order): Shechem, Tirza, and Shomron (Samaria).

Historians often refer to ancient Israel as the Northern Kingdom to differentiate it from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Hebrew Scriptures sometimes referred to the separate kingdom idiomatically as the "House of Joseph"^[2] in order to distinguish it principally from the "House of Judah".^[3]

History

Origins of the United Monarchy

The United Monarchy was formed out of the territories of the twelve Hebrew tribes living in the area in and around modern Israel and Palestinian Territories.

United Monarchy

The Kingdom of Israel was one of two successor states to the older Kingdom of Israel, which existed from around 1050 BCE to around 930 BCE. The other successor state bore the name Kingdom of Judah which existed from 931 BCE to 586 BCE. Both Eusebius and Josephus place the division in 997 BC and lunar dates of Venus can be mistaken as 64 years later. (Crossing of sun over Mars as Tamuz would be 10 July 997 BCE.)

Divided Monarchy

Kingdom of Israel

Soon after the death of King Solomon, the prophecy of Ahijah () was fulfilled with the division of the kingdom. Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, was scarcely seated on his throne when the old jealousies between Judah and the other tribes broke out anew, and Jeroboam was sent for from Egypt by the malcontents.()

Rehoboam insolently refused to lighten the burdensome taxation and services that his father had imposed on his subjects,() and the rebellion became complete. The Tribe of Ephraim and all Israel raised the old cry, "Every man to his tents, O Israel".() Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:1-18; 2 Chronicles 10), and in 930 BCE to 920 BCE, Jeroboam was proclaimed king over all Israel at Shechem, with the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Benjamin remaining faithful to Rehoboam. War continued, with varying success, between the two kingdoms for about sixty years.

At around 850 BCE the Mesha Stele, written in Old Hebrew alphabet, records a victory of King Mesha of Moab against king Omri of Israel and his son Ahab ( cf.),

An artist's depiction of a royal palace in the Kingdom of Israel.

The conflict between Israel and Judah was resolved when Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, allied himself with the house of Ahab through marriage. Later, Jehosophat's son and successor, Jehoram of Judah, married Ahab's daughter Athaliah, cementing the alliance. However, the sons of Ahab were slaughtered by Jehu following his coup d'état around 840 BCE.

Shechem was the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 12:25). Afterwards it was Tirza (14:17). Samaria was later chosen as the capital (16:24) and continued as such until the destruction of the Kingdom by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:5). During the three-year siege of Samaria by the Assyrians, Shalmaneser V died and was succeeded by Sargon II of Assyria, who himself records the capture of that city thus: "Samaria I looked at, I captured; 27,280 men who dwelt in it I carried away" into Assyria. Thus, around 720 BCE, after a duration of two centuries, the kingdom of the ten tribes came to an end.

Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah, or the Southern Kingdom, existed as an independent state from about 930 BCE until 586 BCE when it was conquered by the Babylonian Empire.

Post Conquest Developments

Lost Tribes of Israel

The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Israel were scattered throughout the East, and are popularly known as the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.

"Judah held its ground against Assyria for yet one hundred and thirty-four years, and became the rallying-point of the dispersed ones of every tribe, and eventually gave its name to the whole race. Those of the people who, in the last struggle, escaped into the territories of Judah or other neighbouring countries naturally looked to Judah as the head and home of their race. When Judah itself was carried off to Babylon, many of the exiled Israelites joined them from Assyria. They swelled that immense population, making Babylonia a second Judah".

After the deportation of the ten tribes, the vacated land was colonized by various eastern tribes, especially Syrians whom the King of Assyria had sent there (Ezra 4:2, 10; 2 Kings 17:24-29).

In 537 BCE, the ruler of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, permitted exiled populations within the newly conquered Babylonian Empire to return to their native lands, marking the end of the so-called Babylonian Captivity. Israelite exiles who had retained their national identity, had joined their fellow exiles from the Kingdom of Judah, and possessed the will to return to their old territories would have begun returning to the territories of the former Kingdom of Israel at this time.

Samaritans

The emergence of the Samaritan people as an ethnic group distinct from Jewish people, with a religion distinct from Judaism yet bearing much in common with it can be traced to the political changes in the area when it was occupied by the Assyrians. The removal of the old ruling structure of the Kingdom of Israel, together with the influx of a foreign population in an area already devastated by foreign conquest led to the emergence of a new identity distinct from that of the Kingdom of Judah to the south. This population has persisted as a separate ethnic entity through the restoration of an autonomous Jewish nation in the area by Cyrus the Great, and on into the present.

Culture

Religion in the Kingdom of Israel

The religious climate of the Kingdom of Israel appears to have been divided between two major trends. The first, that of Yahweh detailed in the Hebrew Bible, and the second the cult of Baal as detailed in the so-called "Baal Cycle" discovered at Ugarit.

Notable Personalities

Prophets Active in the Kingdom of Israel

• Elijah, opponent of religious reforms under Ahab and Jezebel
• Elisha, chosen successor of Elijah
• Amos
• Hosea
• Jonah
• Nahum

Extent of the Kingdom

The Kingdom of Israel was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben and Gad, and was named after Israel, son of Isaac.

Its capital was Samaria. http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/Kings.html http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/Judah.html

Royal Houses of Israel

The genealogy of the kings of Israel, along with the kings of Judah.

References

See also

• Government of ancient Israel
• History of ancient Israel and Judah
• Israel
• The Bible Unearthed

External links

• About Israel - The Information Center About Israel
• Biblical History The Jewish History Resource Center - Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Complete Bible Genealogy A synchronized chart of the kings of Israel and Judah

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