History of Israel: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

In the 10th century BCE, the Israelite kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] and [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] emerged. The [[Hebrew Bible]] states that these were preceded by a [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|single kingdom]] ruled by [[Saul]], [[David]] and [[Solomon]], who is said to have built the [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]]. Archaeologists have debated whether the united monarchy ever existed,<ref name="United Monarchy debated" group="Notes">The debate is described in Amihai Mazar, "Archaeology and the Biblical Narrative: The Case of the United Monarchy" (see bibliography), p.29 fn.2: "For conservative approaches defining the United Monarchy as a state “from Dan to Beer Sheba” including “conquered kingdoms” (Ammon, Moab, Edom) and “spheres of influence” in Geshur and Hamath cf. e.g. Ahlström (1993), 455–542; Meyers (1998); Lemaire (1999); Masters (2001); Stager (2003); Rainey (2006), 159–168; Kitchen (1997); Millard (1997; 2008). For a total denial of the historicity of the United Monarchy cf. e.g. Davies (1992), 67–68; others suggested a ‘chiefdom’ comprising a small region around Jerusalem, cf. Knauf (1997), 81–85; Niemann (1997), 252–299 and Finkelstein (1999). For a ‘middle of the road’ approach suggesting a United Monarchy of larger territorial scope though smaller than the biblical description cf.e.g. Miller (1997); Halpern (2001), 229–262; Liverani (2005), 92–101. The latter recently suggested a state comprising the territories of Judah and Ephraim during the time of David, that was subsequently enlarged to include areas of northern Samaria and influence areas in the Galilee and Transjordan. Na’aman (1992; 1996) once accepted the basic biography of David as authentic and later rejected the United Monarchy as a state, cf. id. (2007), 401–402".</ref><ref name="garfinkel2012">{{cite web |last1=Garfinkel |first1=Yossi |last2=Ganor |first2=Sa'ar |last3=Hasel |first3=Michael |date=19 April 2012 |title=Journal 124: Khirbat Qeiyafa preliminary report |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623021750/http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1989 |archive-date=23 June 2012 |access-date=12 June 2018 |website=Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |ref=garfinkel2012}}</ref><ref name="fink2012">{{cite journal |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |last2=Fantalkin |first2=Alexander |date=May 2012 |title=Khirbet Qeiyafa: an unsensational archaeological and historical interpretation |url=http://archaeology.tau.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Qeiyafa_Unsensational_Interpretation.pdf |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=39 |pages=38–63 |doi=10.1179/033443512x13226621280507 |access-date=12 June 2018 |ref=finkelsteinfantalkin2012 |s2cid=161627736}}</ref> with those in favor of such a polity existing further divided between maximalists who support the Biblical accounts,<ref>{{cite book |last=Dever |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-VxwC5rQtwC |title=What Did the Biblical Writers Know, and When Did They Know It? |publisher=Eerdmans |year=2001 |isbn=9780802821263}}</ref> and minimalists who argue that any such polity was likely smaller than suggested.<ref name="Zachary">{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Zachary |date=2016-04-22 |title=Debating the United Monarchy: Let's See How Far We've Come |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146107916639208 |journal=Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=59–69 |doi=10.1177/0146107916639208 |issn=0146-1079 |s2cid=147053561}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Crying King David: Are the ruins found in Israel really his palace? |language=en |newspaper=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-crying-king-david-not-his-palace-1.5324620 |access-date=2021-07-18 |quote=Not all agree that the ruins found in Khirbet Qeiyafa are of the biblical town Sha'arayim, let alone the palace of ancient Israel's most famous king}}</ref>[[File:Kingdoms of Israel and Judah map 830.svg|thumb|upright|Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]]]

Historians and archaeologists agree that the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|northern Kingdom of Israel]] existed by {{Abbr|ca.|circa}} 900 BCE<ref name="Finkelstein2">{{cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |title=The Bible unearthed : archaeology's new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its stories |last2=Silberman |first2=Neil Asher |date=2001 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-86912-4 |edition=1st Touchstone |location=New York}}</ref><ref name="Wright">{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Jacob L. |date=July 2014 |title=David, King of Judah (Not Israel) |url=http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/2014/07/wri388001.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301164250/http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/2014/07/wri388001.shtml |archive-date=1 March 2021 |access-date=15 May 2021 |website=The Bible and Interpretation}}</ref> and the [[Kingdom of Judah]] existed by {{Abbr|ca.|circa}} 850 BCE.<ref name="Pitcher2">[https://books.google.com/books?id=tu02muKUVJ0C&pg=PA229 The Pitcher Is Broken: Memorial Essays for Gosta W. Ahlstrom, Steven W. Holloway, Lowell K. Handy, Continuum, 1 May 1995] Quote: "For Israel, the description of the battle of Qarqar in the Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III (mid-ninth century) and for Judah, a Tiglath-pileser III text mentioning (Jeho-) Ahaz of Judah (IIR67 = K. 3751), dated 734–733, are the earliest published to date."</ref><ref name="Finkelstein, Israel, (2020)">Finkelstein, Israel, (2020). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wH3-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 "Saul and Highlands of Benjamin Update: The Role of Jerusalem"], in Joachim J. Krause, Omer Sergi, and Kristin Weingart (eds.), ''Saul, Benjamin, and the Emergence of Monarchy in Israel: Biblical and Archaeological Perspectives'', SBL Press, Atlanta, GA, p. 48, footnote 57: "...They became territorial kingdoms later, Israel in the first half of the ninth century BCE and Judah in its second half..."</ref> The Kingdom of Israel was the more prosperous of the two kingdoms and soon developed into a regional power;{{sfn|Finkelstein|Silberman|2002|pp=146-7|ps=:Put simply, while Judah was still economically marginal and backward, Israel was booming. ... In the next chapter we will see how the northern kingdom suddenly appeared on the ancient Near Eastern stage as a major regional power}} during the days of the [[Omride Dynasty|Omride dynasty]], it controlled [[Samaria]], [[Galilee]], the upper [[Jordan Valley]], the [[Sharon plain|Sharon]] and large parts of the [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]].<ref name="Finkelstein-2013a">{{Cite book |first=Israel |last=Finkelstein |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/949151323 |title=The forgotten kingdom : the archaeology and history of Northern Israel |isbn=978-1-58983-910-6 |pages=74 |oclc=949151323}}</ref> [[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]], the capital, was home to one of the largest Iron Age structures in the Levant.<ref name="Finkelstein-2013b">{{Cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/880456140 |title=The Forgotten Kingdom: the archaeology and history of Northern Israel |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-58983-911-3 |pages=65–66; 73; 78; 87–94 |oclc=880456140}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |date=2011-11-01 |title=Observations on the Layout of Iron Age Samaria |url=https://doi.org/10.1179/033443511x13099584885303 |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=194–207 |doi=10.1179/033443511x13099584885303 |issn=0334-4355 |s2cid=128814117}}</ref> The Kingdom of Israel's capital moved between [[Shechem]], [[Penuel]] and [[Tirzah (ancient city)|Tirzah]] before Omri settled it in Samaria, and the royal succession was often settled by a military coup d'état. The Kingdom of Judah was smaller but more stable; the Davidic dynasty ruled the kingdom for the four centuries of its existence, with the capital always in Jerusalem, controlling the [[Judaean Mountains]], most of the [[Shephelah]] and the [[Beersheba]] valley in the northern [[Negev]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lemaire |first=André |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1017604304 |title=The Oxford Illustrated History of the Holy Land |date=2018 |others=Robert G. Hoyland, H. G. M. Williamson |isbn=978-0-19-872439-1 |edition=1st |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |pages=61–85 |chapter=Israel and Judah |oclc=1017604304}}</ref>