History of ancient Israel and Judah

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Early history Prehistoric Levant Kebaran Mushabian Natufian Harifian Yarmukian Lodian Nizzanim Ghassulian Canaan Retjenu Habiru Shasu Late Bronze Age collapse
Ancient Israel and Judah Iron Age I Israelites, Philistines 12th–10th centuries BCE United Monarchy 10th century BCE Kingdom of Israel 10th century BCE–720 BCE Kingdom of Judah 10th century BCE–587 BCE Babylonian rule 587–538 BCE
Second Temple period Persian Yehud 538–333 BCE Hellenistic period 333–164 BCE Hasmonean dynasty 164–37 BCE Herodian dynasty Kingdom Tetrarchy 37 BCE–6 CE Roman Judaea (Jewish-Roman Wars) 6 CE–136 CE
Late Antiquity and Middle Ages Syria Palaestina 136–395 Byzantine Palaestina Prima Secunda 395–638 Early Islamic period (Filastin, Urdunn) 638–1099 Kingdom of Jerusalem 1099–1291 Ayyubid dynasty 1174–1260 Mamluk Sultanate 1260–1517
Modern history Modern history (1517–1948) Ottoman rule Eyalet Mutasarrifate Old Yishuv Zionism OETA British Mandate Yishuv State of Israel (1948–present) Timeline Years Independence Arab–Israeli conflict Austerity Silicon Wadi Iran–Israel conflict
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The history of ancient Israel and Judah covers the history of the Israelite tribes from their appearance in new villages in the hill country of Canaan, through the existence of the kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south, and up to the demise of those kingdoms at the hands of the Mesopotamian empires. It plays out in Southern Levant during the Iron Age. The earliest known reference to "Israel" as a people or tribal confederation is in the Merneptah Stele, an inscription from ancient Egypt that dates to about 1208 BCE. According to modern archaeology, ancient Israelite culture developed as an outgrowth from the preexisting Canaanite civilization. Two related Israelite polities known as the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah had emerged in the region by Iron Age II.

According to the Hebrew Bible, a "United Monarchy" consisting of Israel and Judah existed as early as the 11th century BCE, under the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon; the country later split into two kingdoms: Israel, containing the cities of Shechem and Samaria in the north, and Judah (containing Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple) in the south. The historicity of the United Monarchy is debated—as there are no archaeological remains of it that are accepted as consensus—but historians and archaeologists agree that Israel and Judah existed as separate kingdoms by c. 900 BCE^{[1]: 169–195 [2]} and c. 850 BCE,^[3] respectively.^[4]

The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed around 720 BCE, when it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire.^[5] While the Kingdom of Judah remained intact during this time, it became a client state of first the Neo-Assyrian Empire and then the Neo-Babylonian Empire. However, Jewish revolts against the Babylonians led to the destruction of Judah in 586 BCE, under the rule of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. According to the biblical account, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar II besieged Jerusalem between 589–586 BCE, which led to the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the exile of the Jews to Babylon; this event was also recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles.^[6][7] The exilic period saw the development of the Israelite religion towards a monotheistic Judaism.

The exile ended with the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid Empire c. 538 BCE. Subsequently, the Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation known as the Edict of Cyrus, which authorized and encouraged exiled Jews to return to Judah.^[8][9] Cyrus' proclamation began the exiles' return to Zion, inaugurating the formative period in which a more distinctive Jewish identity developed in the Persian province of Yehud. During this time, the destroyed Solomon's Temple was replaced by the Second Temple, marking the beginning of the Second Temple period.