The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah Iron II Period

Traditional Chronology: Iron I ( BC): The Period of the Conquest and the Judges; Iron IIA ( BC): The Period of the United Monarchy, that is, the time of David and Solomon; Iron IIB ( BC): The Divided Monarchy: Israel in the north with its capital at Samaria; Judah in the south with its capital at Jerusalem; Iron IIC ( BC): The Northern Kingdom of Israel is no more; the Southern Kingdom of Judah continues until the Babylonians destroy it in 586 BC.

Biblical Data: 1 Kings Kings : The revolt of Jeroboam (against Solomon’s son Rehoboam); - 1 Kings : The end of the reign of Solomon; - 1 Kings 12: Political and Religious Schism: Jeroboam king of Israel and the setting up of the two golden calves at Bethel, just to the north of Jerusalem. - Now two kingdoms: Judah in the south with its capital at Jerusalem; - Rehoboam, a son of Solomon, is King of Judah (1 Kings14.21).

1 Kings: - Jeroboam, a former servant of Solomon, is King of Israel (1 Kings [“There was no one who followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah alone”]). - Israel in the north with its capital at Shechem – Israel separated from the House of David; - under the Omrides, the capital will later be transferred to Penuel, Tirzah, and finally Samaria; - Thus, two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

1 Kings: -1 Kings 14.25: “in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem….”; - 1 Kings : reign of Jeroboam. His death, and the “Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel”; - 1 Kings 14.30: “There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually”; - 1 Kings 14.29: “the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?” - 1 Kings 14.31ff: Rehoboam’s death and his successors;

1 Kings: -1 Kings 16.23: Omri began to reign over Israel; - 1 Kings 16.24: Omri and the city of Samaria; - 1 Kings 16.29: Ahab, son of Omri, began to reign over Israel in Samaria; - 1 Kings : Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu will be anointed king over Israel; - 1 Kings : King Ben-hadad of Aram …. Marched against Samaria (see also 20.26); - 1 Kings : death of Ahab and his acts written in the “Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel”, etc.;

2 Kings: - 2 Kings: opens during the short reign of Ahaziah king of Israel (mid-9 th century BC); - 2 Kings 1.1: “After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel” (see also 2 Kings 3: Israel, Judah, and Edom go to war against Moab); - 2 Kings 6: wars continue between Israel and Aram; - 2 Kings 10: Jehu king over Israel; - 2 Kings : The reign of Jeroboam;

2 Kings: - 2 Kings 17.5: the King of Assyria invaded all the land of Samaria, captured Samaria, and carried the Israelites away to Assyria; - 2 Kings 24: king of Assyria brought people and placed them in the cities of Samaria;.

2 Kings: - 2 Kings 18. 1: King Hezekiah (727/ /687 BC) king of Judah; - 2 Kings : King Shalmaneser BC) of Assyria besieged Samaria and took it; - 2 Kings 18.13: Shalmaneser came up against all the cities of Judah and captured them (during the reign of Hezekiah); - 2 Kings 18.15: Hezekiah pays tribute to Shalmaneser; the Assyrians did not take Jerusalem ( );

2 Kings: - 2 Kings : Josiah ( BC): a righteous king; a second Moses or Joshua to match the second David (Hezekiah); - 2 Kings : the Book of the Law (some form of Deuteronomy) found during repairs to the Temple; - 2 Kings : Josiah’s reform of religion; - 2 Kings : The end of Judah. - 2 Kings 24: King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, captured and destroyed it.

2 Chronicles 10-36: -The emergence, continuation, and fall of the kingdom of Judah. - the Chronicler concentrates his attention upon the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, who make up the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Finkelstein: What was the first Israelite territorial entity? No direct proof in the archaeological record for the existence of an elaborate polity (political organization) in the highlands in the late-Iron I period (the late-11 th and much of the 10 th centuries BC); Iron I sites, ca. 90% of them, continued to be inhabited in the Iron II period; Exception for area north of Jerusalem, that is, around Gibeon and Bethel; He attributes this to Pharaoh Sheshonq’s (Shishak) campaign (late-10 th century BC).

Finkelstein: The rise of an Israelites entity farther north; The Northern Kingdom in the time of the Omrides (early 9 th century BC); Extra-biblical Textual Evidence: Shalmaneser III ( BC), king of Assyria, mentions “Ahab the Israelite” as one of his opponents in the battle of Qarqar in western Syria in 853 BC; The Mesha Inscription (ca. 850 BC) mentions how the Omrides had conquered territories in Moab (mid-9 th century); Tel Dan Inscription (9 th or 8 th century; excavator date it to the mid-9 th century) states that Israel took land from Aram (mid-9 th century);

Tell Qarqur in the Orontes River Valley in Syria.

Tell Qarqur – An ASOR Sponsored Excavation.

Stele of Shalmaneser III that reports on Battle of Qarqar.

Tel Dan Inscription with phrase “House of David”.

Finkelstein: Archaeology: -Building operations on the part of the Omrides: - Megiddo: two or three ashlar palaces; - Samaria, Jezreel, and Hazor: monumental architecture with large-scale filling and leveling operations; -The palace at Samaria is the largest and most elaborate Iron Age structure known in the Levant.

Megiddo – artistic reconstruc tion.

Palaces: Nos. 1723, 6000, 338.

Mason Marks on Ashlar Blocks from Palace 1723 at Megiddo.

Hazor – Upper City.

Finkelstein: Northern Kingdom: -A territorial state comprised of both highland and lowland areas; - the hills of Samaria inhabited by 2 nd millennium sedentary and pastoralist population; - Cultural continuity of Canaanite traits: at Taanach, Megiddo (Textbook, p. 150); - Ethnic and cultural diversity: see in the Omride architecture; - Fortified compounds at Megiddo and Jezreel, and at Hazor on the border with Aram-Damascus, and on the border with Philistia at Gezer.

Finkelstein: Northern Kingdom: - A short period of time; - political circumstances changes dramatically; - a break in Assyrian pressure in the west led to the rise of Aram-Damascus; - result: the collapse of the Omride dynasty; - This in turn led to the rise of the first “national state” farther to the south, first and foremost in Judah (Textbook, p. 151).

Finkelstein: Judah: - In 10 th and early-9 th century (Textbook, p. 151): - Jerusalem: a relatively poor village; - ruled over a sparsely inhabited southern highland; - 9 th century: - first signs of statehood in Judah: - in the Shephelah in the west and the Beer-sheba Valley in the south;

Finkelstein: Judah: - In the Shephelah: Lachish and Beth-shemesh; - Lachish: the “second city” of Judah; - Beth-shemesh: massive fortifications and an elaborate water system; - in the Beer-sheba Valley: Arad and Beer-sheba; - both fortified for the first time in the 9 th century;

Lachish – Aerial View

Lachish – Ground Plan.

Finkelstein: Judah: - In Jerusalem: - first signs of significant building activity appear to date to the 9 th century: the “terraces” and the “Stepped Stone Structure”: both built on the eastern slope of the City of David, near the Gihon spring;

Gihon Spring and Hezekiah’s Tunnel

Finkelstein: Judah: -In early 9 th century: Judah under the northern Israelite, that is, Omride domination (see 2 Kings and the Tel Dan Inscription); - in first half of the 9 th century: a United Monarchy that stretched from Dan in the north to Beer-sheba in the south; - Change: the fall of the Omride dynasty under the pressure of Aram-Damascus in the 840s (Textbook, p. 152); - Israel’s grip over Judah ceased; - window of opportunity opened for Judah.

Finkelstein: Judah : - End of 9 th century and the beginning of the of the 8 th century BC; -In late 8 th century: Jerusalem grew to be the largest city in the entire country: massive fortifications; water from the Siloam pool; elaborate rock-cut tombs; evidence of an affluent elite; - monumental inscriptions: in the Siloam tunnel; on Siloam tombs; seals; seal impressions (bullae); ostraca; lmlk storage jars; - large-scale, state-controlled olive-oil production in the Shephelah.

Jerusalem in the 8 th Century BC

The Jebusite City that David Conquered – Artistic Reconstruction.

Finkelstein: Judah: - Reasons for Judah’s development: - the incorporation of Judah in the Assyrian global economy (begun in the 730s under Tiglath-pileser III); Judah participated in the Assyrian-dominated Arabian trade; -Sudden growth in population (Jerusalem in particular); - Jerusalem grew from ca. 5 ha to ca. 60 ha; and in population from 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants; - increase in settlements in the hill country south of Jerusalem (Textbook, p. 154); - a doubling of Judah’s population.

Finkelstein: Judah: - due to: a flow of refugees from the north following the conquest of Israel by Assyria in 722 BC; - A second wave of refugees in Jerusalem after the destruction of the Shephelah and the Beer-sheba Valley by Sennacherib in 701 BC; -Judah and Jerusalem: a mixed population of Judahite and ex-Israelites; - Archaeologically: a decline in settlements in the area between Shechem and Jerusalem;

Finkelstein: Judah: -Hezekiah ( BC): abolishing of shrines at Arad, Beer-sheba, and Lachish at the end of the 8 th century; - setting down the early history of Israel (1 Sam 16-1 Kings 2): the History of David’s Rise to Power and the Court or Succession History; - written as an apologia: to vindicate David of any wrongdoing and to explain “what really happened”; - the late 8 th century BC: a deuteronomistic writer or school; - Served to reconcile southerners and northerners within Judah.

Finkelstein: Judah: - Served to reconcile southerners and northerners within Judah; - served for the rise of a pan-Israelite ideology; - the desire to unite “all Israel” within the borders of Judah; - point of departure for 3 centuries of scribal activity resulting in the biblical history of Israel as we know it (Textbook, p. 157).

Mazar: - Extensive archaeological research in Israel and Jordan; - on settlement patterns, demography, town planning, etc.; - information on religious beliefs; - burial customs; - inscriptions, including seals and seal impressions (bullae), ostraca; - many of the finds can be related to biblical texts.

Mazar: - Controversy between the maximalists and the minimalists over the size of Jerusalem; - A debate about the chronology of Judean sites in the 8 th - 7 th centuries BC, e.g., Lachish;

Mazar: - Israel and Judah in the 9th century BC (Textbook, pp );

Mazar: - The Northern Kingdom of Israel (Textbook, pp );

Mazar: - Judah (Textbook, pp ); - The Status of Judah during the 8 th and 7 th centuries BC;

Mazar: -The Status of Judah during the 8th and 7th centuries BC (Textbook, pp ); - the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and its meaning for Judah; - Hezekiah’s (ca BC) rebellion against Sennacherib ( BC); -The Assyrian invasion of 701 BC; - Golden age of Judah under Hezekiah and his son Manasseh; - Judah, a vassal state under Assyria; - prosperity under Josiah; destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in 586 BC;

Mazar: The Status of Judah during the 8th and 7th centuries BC (Textbook, pp ); - Development of Judah and Jerusalem; - expansion of Jerusalem towards the Western Hill; - Hezekiah’s building activities on the Western Hill; - refugees settled in Jerusalem after 722 BC; - new towns and farmsteads established in the Judean hills around Jerusalem, in the northern Negev, and in the Judean desert (not before the 7 th century);

Expansion of Jerusalem to the West under Hezekiah.

HEZEKIAH’S (BROAD) WALL - JERUSALEM.

Mazar: The Status of Judah during the 8th and 7th centuries BC (Textbook, pp ); -Fortresses and stations along the Negev roads leading to the Red Sea and Edom; - related to the incense trade? - the fortress at Hazevah; - two cult places: at the entrance to Hazevah and at Horvat Qitmit; - the use of camels to cross desert routes;

Mazar: The Status of Judah during the 8th and 7th centuries BC (Textbook, pp ); - The knowledge of writing spread; -The Siloam Inscription; - literary texts and prayers written on plastered walls (at Kuntillet `Ajrud and Tell Deir `Alla – both outside Judah); - blessings incised on silver amulets; - ostraca from Lachish; - seals and seal impressions (bullae); - several papyrus documents from the Judean desert;

Gihon Spring and Hezekiah’s Tunnel to the Pool of Siloam.

The Siloam Inscription Enhanced.

Mazar: The Status of Judah during the 8th and 7th centuries BC (Textbook, pp ); -Short Term Events: Archaeology of Warfare (Textbook, pp ) – these can be detected by archaeological work;. - attacks by Hazael, king of Damascus, in the 9 th century; - response to Assyrian treats in the form of defensive systems; - sophisticated water systems throughout the country; - huge stable compounds at Megiddo;

Water System at Hazor.

Gihon Spring and Hezekiah’s Tunnel to the Pool of Siloam.

Mazar: Short Term Events: Archaeology of Warfare (Textbook, pp ) – these can be detected by archaeological work; - Assyrian military attacks during the last third of the 8 th century; - Heavy destruction layers at many 8 th century sites; - Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in 701 BC; - The water projects of Hezekiah in Jerusalem; - jars stamped with a royal seal – lmlk “belonging to the king”;

LMLK Stamped Jar handle.

Mazar: Short Term Events: Archaeology of Warfare (Textbook, pp ) – these can be detected by archaeological work ; - Jerusalem spared from the Assyrian conquest ; -Babylonian conquests of Philistia and Judah between 605 and 586 BC; -- afterward: population in Judah detected only in the land of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem.

Mazar: Long-Term Processes: The Case of Israelite Religion (Textbook, pp ) – this can be detected by archaeological work;