An outline, era by era

Kingdoms of Israel and Judah; formation of the Hebrew Bible

Iron Age · ~1200 – ~500 BCE

Israel and Judah were two neighbouring kingdoms in the hills of the southern Levant, in what is now Israel and the West Bank. Israel, the larger northern kingdom with its capital eventually at Samaria, appears in the record in the ninth century BCE. Judah, a smaller southern kingdom centred on Jerusalem, emerges somewhat later in the written and archaeological evidence. Israel fell to the Assyrians around 722 BCE, and Judah was conquered by Babylon in 586 BCE.

The Hebrew Bible grew out of this world. Its books were composed, edited and gathered over several centuries, drawing on older traditions, royal records and prophetic writing, with much shaping during and after the Babylonian exile. The collection was probably settled in stages, with the Torah first, then the Prophets, then the Writings, and the exact boundaries were fixed only in the Roman period. It later became the foundation of Judaism and a source text for Christianity and Islam. How far its stories match what archaeology shows is a lively and often disputed question.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. David and Goliath

    Heroic tale

    The legend

    A young shepherd named David hears the Philistine giant Goliath mocking the armies of Israel. Armed with only a sling and five smooth stones, he fells the giant with one shot and cuts off his head. David goes on to become king of all Israel.

    The rest is history

    The story appears in the First Book of Samuel, written down centuries after the time it describes, probably in the eighth to sixth centuries BCE. The Philistines were real, and their cities on the coastal plain, such as Gath, have been excavated. A different verse in 2 Samuel credits another man, Elhanan, with killing Goliath, which suggests the tale was attached to David later. Some Greek manuscripts of Samuel also give a shorter version of the story. David himself is mentioned outside the Bible in the Tel Dan inscription, an Aramaic stele of the ninth century BCE that refers to a 'House of David'.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryThe Bible, 1 Samuel 17. Hebrew text, composed and edited c. 8th to 6th centuries BCE.
    2. PrimaryTel Dan Stele. Aramaic royal inscription, found 1993 and 1994 at Tel Dan, 9th century BCE. Israel Museum, Jerusalem.Contains the phrase 'House of David'.
    3. BookFinkelstein, Israel, and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. New York: Free Press, 2001.

  2. The golden age of Solomon

    Origin story

    The legend

    Solomon, son of David, rules a united kingdom at the height of its wealth. He builds the great Temple in Jerusalem, trades in gold and cedar, and receives the Queen of Sheba, who is amazed at his wisdom. After his death the kingdom splits in two.

    The rest is history

    The account is in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, written long after the supposed events, around the seventh century BCE or later. No inscription of the tenth century BCE mentions Solomon or the Temple, and the Temple Mount has never been excavated. Scholars disagree about how large and powerful a state existed in Jerusalem at that time. Some point to large gate complexes at Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer as signs of a strong kingdom, but their dating is debated. The split into Israel and Judah is better supported, since the northern kingdom shows clear signs of wealth and state power by the ninth century BCE.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryThe Bible, 1 Kings 3 to 11. Hebrew text, composed and edited c. 7th to 6th centuries BCE.
    2. BookNa'aman, Nadav. Ancient Israel and Its Neighbors: Interaction and Counteraction. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005.
    3. BookFinkelstein, Israel, and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. New York: Free Press, 2001.

  3. Moses and the Exodus

    Origin story

    The legend

    The Israelites, enslaved in Egypt, are led to freedom by Moses after ten plagues strike the land. The sea parts for them, and at Mount Sinai they receive the law from God. After forty years in the wilderness they enter the promised land.

    The rest is history

    The story is told in the books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, which took shape over many centuries and were probably finished in the Persian period. No Egyptian record mentions a mass escape of slaves, and archaeology finds no trace of a large group crossing the Sinai. Most scholars think early Israel emerged mainly from peoples already living in Canaan's hill country around 1200 BCE. Some think a smaller group with Egyptian links may lie behind the tale. The first certain mention of Israel outside the Bible is the Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian victory monument of about 1208 BCE.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryThe Bible, Exodus 1 to 15. Hebrew text, composed and edited c. 8th to 5th centuries BCE.
    2. PrimaryMerneptah Stele. Egyptian royal inscription, c. 1208 BCE. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.Earliest known mention of Israel.
    3. BookDever, William G. Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003.

  4. The destruction of Sennacherib's army

    Heroic tale

    The legend

    The Assyrian king Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem, and his officer mocks King Hezekiah and his God. Hezekiah prays, and in one night an angel strikes down a huge number of Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib goes home and Jerusalem is saved.

    The rest is history

    The tale is in 2 Kings 18 and 19 and Isaiah 36 and 37. Sennacherib's campaign in Judah in 701 BCE is certain. His own annals say he shut Hezekiah up in Jerusalem 'like a bird in a cage' and took tribute, but they do not claim the city fell. The Lachish reliefs from his palace at Nineveh, now in the British Museum, show the Assyrian capture of Judah's second city. Excavations at Lachish confirmed a great destruction layer. The Greek historian Herodotus tells of a plague of mice that ruined an Assyrian army, which some link to the event. Jerusalem survived, but Judah was left badly damaged.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryThe Bible, 2 Kings 18 to 19. Hebrew text, composed and edited c. 7th to 6th centuries BCE.
    2. PrimaryTaylor Prism. Annals of Sennacherib, Akkadian cuneiform, c. 691 BCE. British Museum.Assyrian account of the siege of Jerusalem in 701 BCE.
    3. BookGrabbe, Lester L., ed. 'Like a Bird in a Cage': The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2003.

  5. The book found in the Temple

    Origin story

    The legend

    In the reign of King Josiah, the high priest Hilkiah finds a lost scroll of the law in the Temple while it is being repaired. Josiah is shaken when it is read to him. He tears his clothes, then sweeps away idols and shrines across the land and renews the covenant.

    The rest is history

    The account is in 2 Kings 22 and 23, and dates the find to about 622 BCE. Many scholars think the scroll was an early form of Deuteronomy, and that it was written or promoted in Josiah's time rather than rediscovered after being lost. Since the nineteenth century, scholars have used this idea as a key point for dating biblical writing. Late in the seventh century BCE, after Assyria weakened, Judah had the chance to expand and centralise worship at Jerusalem. Archaeology gives mixed evidence for the reform. Writing in Judah, including seals and letters, grew markedly in this period.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryThe Bible, 2 Kings 22 to 23. Hebrew text, composed and edited c. 7th to 6th centuries BCE.
    2. BookSchniedewind, William M. How the Bible Became a Book: The Textualization of Ancient Israel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
    3. BookRömer, Thomas. The So-Called Deuteronomistic History: A Sociological, Historical and Literary Introduction. London: T&T Clark, 2007.

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