"Kingdom of Judea" redirects here. For the Judean polity of the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, seeHasmonean dynasty. For the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel, seeJudea.
TheHebrew Bible depicts the Kingdom of Judah as one of the two successor states of theUnited Kingdom of Israel, a term denoting the united monarchy under biblical kingsSaul,David, andSolomon and covering the territory of Judah andIsrael. However, during the 1980s,some biblical scholars began to argue that the archaeological evidence for an extensive kingdom before the late 8th century BCE is too weak, and that the methodology used to obtain the evidence is flawed.[8][9] In the 10th and early 9th centuries BCE, the territory of Judah might have been limitedly populated, comprising some fortified sites and many unfortified rural settlements.[10] TheTel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993, shows that the kingdom existed in some form by the middle of the 9th century BCE,[11][12][13] but it does not indicate the extent of its power. Recent excavations atKhirbet Qeiyafa, however, support the existence of a centrally organized and urbanized kingdom by the 10th century BCE, according to the excavators.[8][14]
In the 7th century BCE, the kingdom's population increased greatly, prospering underNeo-Assyrianvassalage despiteHezekiah's revolt against the Assyrian kingSennacherib.[15]Josiah took advantage of the political vacuum that resulted from Assyria's decline and the emergence ofSaite Egyptian rule over the area to enact his religious reforms. TheDeuteronomistic history, which recounts the history ofthe people of Israel fromJoshua toJosiah and expresses a worldview based on the legal principles found in theBook of Deuteronomy, is assumed to have been written during this same time period and emphasizes the significance of upholding them.[16]
The Kingdom of Judah was located in theJudean Mountains, stretching fromJerusalem toHebron and into theNegev Desert. The central ridge, ranging from forested and shrubland-covered mountains gently sloping towards the hills of theShephelah in the west, to the dry and arid landscapes of theJudaean Desert descending into theJordan Valley to the east, formed the kingdom's core.[18]
The northern border of Judah extended east–west from the northwestern shore of theDead Sea, passing nearJericho to the area ofGezer. To the west, the border ran from Gezer across the Shephelah toBeersheba in the northern Negev. In the east, Judah's boundaries followed the Arabah to the western shore of the Dead Sea. In prosperous periods, Judah's influence expanded, stretching southward to Beersheba and beyond, includingKadesh Barnea and likelyKuntillet Ajrud. Its influence possibly extended to theGulf of Eilat in the south,[18] as well as theCoastal Plain in the west inMesad Hashavyahu fortress.
The formation of the Kingdom of Judah is a subject of heavy debate among scholars, with a dispute emerging betweenbiblical minimalists andbiblical maximalists on this particular topic.[19] Due to geopolitical factors like security issues, isolation, and political changes, the core area of the Kingdom of Judah on the south-central highlands has seen limited archaeological exploration compared to regions west of theJordan River. Few excavations and surveys have been conducted there, creating a notable knowledge gap compared to the extensively-studiedShephelah to the west, which has undergone systematic surveys and numerous scientific excavations.[20]
While it is generally agreed that the narratives ofDavid andSolomon in the 10th century BCE tell little about the origins of Judah, currently, there is no consensus as to whether Judah developed as a split from a unified kingdom Israel (as the Bible claims) or independently.[21][22] Some scholars suggested that Jerusalem, the kingdom's capital, did not emerge as a significant administrative center until the end of the 8th century BCE. Before then, the archaeological evidence suggests its population was too small to sustain a viable kingdom.[23] Other scholars argue that recent discoveries andradiocarbon tests in theCity of David seem to indicate that Jerusalem was already a significant city by the 10th century BCE.[24][25]
A view held by Finkelstein, Koch & Lipschits (2011) that the City of David is to be placed on the Temple Mount has largely been rejected by scholars of historical geography.[26]
Much of the debate revolves around whether the archaeological discoveries conventionally dated to the 10th century should instead be dated to the 9th century, as proposed byIsrael Finkelstein.[27] Recent archaeological discoveries byEilat Mazar in Jerusalem andYosef Garfinkel inKhirbet Qeiyafa have been interpreted as supporting the existence of the United Monarchy, but the datings and identifications are not universally accepted.[28][29]
Tel Dan Stele, with the word(s) "House of David" highlighted (9th century BCE)
The Tel Dan stele shows a historical "House of David" ruled a kingdom south of the lands ofSamaria in the 9th century BCE,[30] and attestations of several Judean kings from the 8th century BCE have been discovered,[31] but they do little to indicate how developed the state actually was. TheNimrud Tablet K.3751, dated c. 733 BCE, is the earliest known record of the name "Judah" (written inAssyrian cuneiform as Ya'uda or KUR.ia-ú-da-a-a),[32] while an earlier reference to a Judahite envoy seems to appear in a wine list fromNimrud dated to the 780s BCE.[33]
The status of Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE is a major subject of debate.[10] The oldest part of Jerusalem and its original urban core are theCity of David, which does show evidence of significant Israelite residential activity around the 10th century.[34] Some unique administrative structures such as theStepped Stone Structure and theLarge Stone Structure, which originally formed one structure, contain material culture dated to Iron I.[10] On account of an alleged lack of settlement activity in the 10th century BCE, Israel Finkelstein argues that Jerusalem was then a small country village in the Judean hills, not a national capital, and Ussishkin argues that the city was entirely uninhabited.Amihai Mazar contends that if the Iron I / Iron II A dating of administrative structures in the City of David are correct, which he believes to be the case, "Jerusalem was a rather small town with a mighty citadel, which could have been a center of a substantial regional polity."[10]William G. Dever argues that Jerusalem was a small and fortified city, probably inhabited only by the royal court, priests and clerks.[35]Avraham Faust and Zev Farber argue that Jerusalem was significantly large when compared with most highland sites in ancient Israel, and contained fortifications and public buildings.[36]
Acollection of military orders found in the ruins of amilitary fortress in theNegev dating to the period of the Kingdom of Judah indicates widespread literacy, based on the inscriptions, the ability to read and write extended throughout the chain of command from commanders to petty officers. According to Professor Eliezer Piasetsky, who participated in analyzing the texts, "Literacy existed at all levels of the administrative, military and priestly systems of Judah. Reading and writing were not limited to a tiny elite." That indicates the presence of a substantial educational infrastructure in Judah at the time.[37]
Archaeological research near theGihon Spring in the City of David has revealed many anepigraphicalbullae (that is, bullae bearing only iconography, no inscriptions) dated to the 11th/10th–9th centuries BCE which feature "papyrus lines" on their backs. It has been argued that these seals provide evidence thatpapyrus texts were written and used in Jerusalem already from the 10th (perhaps 11th) century BCE onwards.[38]
Storage jars handles marked with LMLK seals,Hecht Museum
LMLK seals are archaic Hebrewstamp seals on the handles of large storage jars dating from the reign of KingHezekiah (circa 700 BCE) discovered mostly in and aroundJerusalem. Several complete jars were foundin situ buried under adestruction layer caused bySennacherib atTel Lachish.[39] None of the original seals has been found, but some 2,000 impressions made by at least 21 seal types have been published.[40]
LMLK stands for the Hebrew letterslamedhmem lamedhkaph (Hebrew:לְמֶלֶךְ,romanized: ləmeleḵ), which can be translated as:
According to a 2022 study, traces ofvanilla found in wine jars in Jerusalem might indicate that the local elite enjoyed wine flavored with vanilla during the 7–6th centuries BCE. Until very recently, vanilla was not at all known to be available to the Old World. Archeologists suggested that this discovery might be related to an international trade route that crossed theNegev during that period, probably under Assyrian and later,Third Intermediate Period Egyptian rule.[41]
The sites ofTel Motza andTel Eton were also urban centers of the Kingdom of Judah in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE.[44][45]
Tel Be'er Sheva, believed to be the site of the ancient biblical town ofBe'er-sheba, was the main Judahite center in theNegev in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE.[46]
TheJudaean Mountains andShephelah have seen the discovery of several Judahite fortresses and towers. The fortifications had a large central courtyard surrounded bycasemate walls with chambers on the outside wall, and they were square or rectangular in shape.[46]Khirbet Abu et-Twein, which is situated on the Judaean Mountains between modern dayBat Ayin andJab'a, is one of the most noteworthy fortresses from the period. Great views of the Shepehla, including the Judahite towns of Azekah, Socho, Goded, Lachish, and Maresha, could be seen from this fort.[47]
In the northern Negev,Tel Arad served as a key administrative and military stronghold. It protected the route from the Judaean Mountains to theArabah and on toMoab andEdom. It underwent numerous renovations and extensions. There are several other Judahite forts in the Negev, includingHurvat Uza, Tel Ira, Aroer,Tel Masos, andTel Malhata [fr]. The main Judahite fortification in theJudaean Desert was found atVered Yeriho; it protected the road fromJericho to theDead Sea.[46] A few freestanding, elevated, isolated guard towers of the period were found around Jerusalem; towers of this type were discovered in theFrench Hill and south toGiloh.[46]
It is clear from the position of Judaean strongholds that one of their primary purposes was to facilitate communications viafire signals across the Kingdom, a method well-documented in the Book of Jeremiah and the Lachish letters.[46]
According to the biblical account, theUnited Kingdom of Israel was founded bySaul during the late-11th century BCE, and reached its peak during the rule ofDavid andSolomon. After the death of Solomon circa 930 BCE, the Israelites gathered inShechem for the coronation of Solomon's son and successor,Rehoboam. Before the coronation took place, the northern tribes, led byJeroboam, asked the new king to reduce the heavy taxes and labor requirements that his father Solomon had imposed. Rehoboam rejected their petition: "I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions" (1 Kings 12:11). As a result,ten of the tribes rebelled against Rehoboam and proclaimed Jeroboam their king, forming the northernKingdom of Israel. At first, only thetribe of Judah remained loyal to theHouse of David, but thetribe of Benjamin soon joined Judah. Both kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north, co-existed uneasily after the split until the destruction of theKingdom of Israel byAssyria in 722/721.
For the first 60 years, the kings of Judah tried to re-establish their authority over Israel, and there wasperpetual war between them. Israel and Judah warred throughoutRehoboam's 17-year reign. Rehoboam built elaborate defenses and strongholds, along with fortified cities. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign,Shishak, who is identified as thepharaohShoshenq I of the22nd Dynasty of Egypt, brought a vast army and took many cities. In thesack of Jerusalem (10th century BCE), Rehoboam gave them all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute and Judah became a vassal state of Egypt.
Rehoboam's son and successor,Abijah of Judah, continued his father's efforts to bring Israel under his control. He fought theBattle of Mount Zemaraim againstJeroboam of Israel and was victorious with a heavy loss of life on the Israel side. According to theBooks of Chronicles, Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain,[48] and Jeroboam posed little threat to Judah for the rest of his reign. The border of thetribe of Benjamin was restored to the original tribal border.[49]
Abijah's son and successor,Asa of Judah, maintained peace for the first 35 years of his reign,[50] and he revamped and reinforced the fortresses initially built by his grandfather, Rehoboam.II Chronicles states that at theBattle of Zephath, the Egyptian-backed chieftainZerah the Ethiopian and his million men and 300 chariots were defeated by Asa's 580,000 men in the Valley of Zephath nearMaresha.[51] The Bible does not state whether Zerah was a pharaoh or a general of the army. The Ethiopians were pursued toGerar, in the coastal plain, where they stopped out of sheer exhaustion. The resulting peace kept Judah free from Egyptian incursions until the time ofJosiah, some centuries later.
Palestine from 720 BC to the exile of Judah.
In his 36th year, Asa was confronted byBaasha of Israel,[50] who built a fortress at Ramah on the border, less than ten miles from Jerusalem. The capital came under pressure, and the military situation was precarious. Asa took gold and silver from the Temple and sent them toBen-Hadad I, the king ofAram-Damascus, in exchange for the Damascene king cancelling his peace treaty with Baasha. Ben-Hadad attacked Ijon, Dan and many important cities of thetribe of Naphtali, and Baasha was forced to withdraw from Ramah.[52] Asa tore down the unfinished fortress and used its raw materials to fortifyGeba andMizpah in Benjamin on his side of the border.[53]
Asa's successor,Jehoshaphat, changed the policy towards Israel and instead pursued alliances and cooperation with it. The alliance withAhab was based on marriage. The alliance led to disaster for the kingdom with the Battle ofRamoth-Gilead according to1 Kings 22. He then allied withAhaziah of Israel to carry on maritime commerce withOphir. However, the fleet equipped atEzion-Geber was immediately wrecked. A new fleet was fitted out without the cooperation of the king of Israel. Although it was successful, the trade was not prosecuted.[54][55] He joinedJehoram of Israel in a war against theMoabites, who were under tribute to Israel. This war was successful, and the Moabites were subdued. However, on seeingMesha's act of offering his son in ahuman sacrifice on the walls ofKir of Moab (nowal-Karak) filled Jehoshaphat with horror, he withdrew and returned to his land.[56]
Jehoshaphat's successor,Jehoram of Judah, formed an alliance with Israel by marryingAthaliah, the daughter of Ahab. Despite the alliance with the stronger northern kingdom, Jehoram's rule of Judah was shaky.Edom revolted, and he was forced to acknowledge its independence. A raid byPhilistines andArabs or perhapsSouth Arabians looted the king's house and carried off all of his family except for his youngest son,Ahaziah of Judah.
AfterHezekiah became the sole ruler in c. 715 BCE, he formed alliances withAshkelon andEgypt and made a stand againstAssyria by refusing to pay tribute.[57][58] In response,Sennacherib of Assyria attacked the fortified cities of Judah.[59] Hezekiah paid three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold to Assyria, which required him to empty the temple and royal treasury of silver and strip the gold from the doorposts ofSolomon's Temple.[60][57] However,Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem[61][62] in 701 BCE though the city was never taken.
Broad Wall, built during the reign of king Hezekiah (late-8th century BCE)
During the long reign ofManasseh (c. 687/686 – 643/642 BCE),[63] Judah was a vassal of Assyrian rulers: Sennacherib and his successors,Esarhaddon[64] andAshurbanipal after 669 BCE. Manasseh is listed as being required to provide materials forEsarhaddon's building projects and as one of a number of vassals who assistedAshurbanipal's campaign against Egypt.[64]
WhenJosiah became king of Judah in c. 641/640 BCE,[63] the international situation was in flux. To the east, theNeo-Assyrian Empire was beginning to disintegrate, theNeo-Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace it andEgypt to the west was still recovering from Assyrian rule. In the power vacuum, Judah could govern itself for the time being without foreign intervention. However, in the spring of 609 BCE,PharaohNecho II personally led a sizable army up to theEuphrates to aid theAssyrians.[65] Taking thecoastal route intoSyria at the head of a large army, Necho passed the low tracts ofPhilistia andSharon. However, the passage over the ridge of hills, which shuts in on the south the greatJezreel Valley, was blocked by the Judean army, led by Josiah, who may have considered that the Assyrians and the Egyptians were weakened by the death of PharaohPsamtik I only a year earlier (610 BCE).[65] Presumably in an attempt to help the Babylonians, Josiah attempted to block the advance atMegiddo, where a fiercebattle was fought and Josiah was killed.[66] Necho then joined forces with the AssyrianAshur-uballit II, and they crossed the Euphrates and lay siege toHarran. The combined forces failed to hold the city after capturing it temporarily, and Necho retreated back to northernSyria. The event also marked the disintegration of the Assyrian Empire.
On his return march toEgypt in 608 BCE, Necho found thatJehoahaz had been selected to succeed his father, Josiah.[67] Necho deposed Jehoahaz, who had been king for only three months, and replaced him with his older brother,Jehoiakim. Necho imposed on Judah a levy of a hundredtalents of silver (about 33⁄4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons) and a talent of gold (about 34 kilograms (75 lb)). Necho then tookJehoahaz back to Egypt as his prisoner,[68] never to return.
Jehoiakim ruled originally as a vassal of the Egyptians by paying a heavy tribute. However, when the Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians atCarchemish in 605 BCE, Jehoiakim changed allegiances to pay tribute toNebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. In 601 BCE, in the fourth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar attempted to invade Egypt but was repulsed with heavy losses. The failure led to numerous rebellions among the states of theLevant that owed allegiance to Babylon. Jehoiakim also stopped paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar[69] and took a pro-Egyptian position. Nebuchadnezzar soon dealt with the rebellions. According to theBabylonian Chronicles, after invading "the land of Hatti (Syria/Palestine)"[70][71] in 599 BCE, he laidsiege to Jerusalem. Jehoiakim died in 598 BCE[72] during the siege and was succeeded by his sonJeconiah at an age of either eight or eighteen.[73] The city fell about three months later,[74][75] on 2Adar (March 16) 597 BCE. Nebuchadnezzar pillaged both Jerusalem and theTemple and carted all of his spoils to Babylon.Jeconiah and his court and other prominent citizens and craftsmen, along with a sizable portion of the Jewish population of Judah, numbering about 10,000[76] were deported from the land anddispersed throughout theBabylonian Empire.[77] Among them wasEzekiel. Nebuchadnezzar appointedZedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, the king of the reduced kingdom, who was made a tributary of Babylon.
The Flight of the Prisoners (1896) byJames Tissot; the exile of theJews from Jerusalem toBabylon
Despite the strong remonstrances ofJeremiah and others, Zedekiahrevolted against Nebuchadnezzar by ceasing to pay tribute to him and entered an alliance with PharaohHophra. In 589 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II returned to Judah and againbesieged Jerusalem. Many Jews fled to surroundingMoab,Ammon,Edom and other countries to seek refuge.[78] The city fell after a siege, which lasted either eighteen or thirty months,[79] and Nebuchadnezzar again pillaged both Jerusalem and the Temple[80] and then destroyed both.[81] After killing all of Zedekiah's sons, Nebuchadnezzar took Zedekiah to Babylon[82] and so put an end to the independent Kingdom of Judah. According to theBook of Jeremiah, in addition to those killed during the siege, some 4,600 people were deported after the fall of Judah.[83] By 586 BCE, much of Judah had been devastated, and the former kingdom had suffered a steep decline of both its economy and its population.[84]
Jerusalem apparently remained uninhabited for much of the 6th century BCE,[84] and the centre of gravity shifted to Benjamin, the relatively unscathed northern section of the kingdom, where the town ofMizpah became the capital of the new Babylonian province ofYehud for the remnant of the Jewish population in a part of the former kingdom.[85] That was standard Babylonian practice. When the Philistine city ofAshkelon was conquered in 604 BCE, the political, religious and economic elite (but not the bulk of the population) was banished and the administrative centre shifted to a new location.[86]
Gedaliah was appointed governor of the Yehud province, supported by aBabylonian guard. The administrative centre of the province wasMizpah in Benjamin,[87] not Jerusalem. On hearing of the appointment, many of the Judeans who had taken refuge in surrounding countries were persuaded to return to Judah.[88] However, Gedaliah was soon assassinated by a member of the royal house, and the Chaldean soldiers killed. The population that was left in the land and those who had returned fled to Egypt for fear a Babylonian reprisal, under the leadership of Yohanan benKareah. They ignored the urging of the prophetJeremiah against the move.[89] In Egypt, the refugees settled inMigdol,Tahpanhes,Noph andPathros,[90] and possiblyElephantine, and Jeremiah went with them as a moral guardian.
The numbers that were deported to Babylon and that made their way to Egypt and the remnant that remained in the land and in surrounding countries are subject to academic debate. TheBook of Jeremiah reports that 4,600 were exiled toBabylonia.[83] The twoBooks of Kings suggest that it was 10,000 and later 8,000.
In 539 BCE, theAchaemenid Empire conquered Babylonia and allowed the exiles to return toYehud Medinata and to rebuild the Temple, which was completed in the sixth year of Darius (515 BCE)[91] underZerubbabel, the grandson of the second to last king of Judah,Jeconiah. Yehud Medinata was a peaceful part of the Achaemenid Empire until its fall in c. 333 BCE toAlexander the Great. Judean independence was reestablished after theMaccabean revolt, and the establishment of theHasmonean Kingdom in the 2nd century BCE.
Jews are named after Judah, and primarily descend from people who lived in the former Kingdom.[6][7][92]
The major theme of the Hebrew Bible's narrative is the loyalty of Judah, especially its kings, toYahweh, which it states is the God ofIsrael. Accordingly, all of the kings of Israel (except to some extentJehu) and many of the kings of Judah were "bad" in terms of the biblical narrative by failing to enforcemonotheism. Of the "good" kings,Hezekiah (727–698 BCE) is noted for his efforts at stamping outidolatry (in his case, the worship ofBaal andAsherah, among other traditional Near Eastern divinities),[93] but his successors,Manasseh of Judah (698–642 BCE) and Amon (642–640 BCE), revived idolatry, which drew down on the kingdom the anger of Yahweh. KingJosiah (640–609 BCE) returned to the worship of Yahweh alone, but his efforts were too late, and Israel's unfaithfulness caused God to permit the kingdom's destruction by theNeo-Babylonian Empire in theSiege of Jerusalem (587/586 BCE).
It is now widely agreed among academic scholars that theBooks of Kings are not an accurate portrayal of religious attitudes in Judah or Israel of the time.[94][95] Nevertheless, epigraphic evidence attests to Yahweh's prominence within Judahite religion.[96]
Evidence of cannabis residues has been found on two altars inTel Arad dating to the 8th century BC. Researchers believe that cannabis may have been used forritualistic psychoactive purposes in Judah.[97]
Judah's traditional economy was a traditional mediterranean subsistence.[98] The kingdom's economy transformed under Assyrian influence, shifting from subsistence farming to a system where each region focused on specific agricultural products.[98]
The highlands west and north of Jerusalem, and likely to the south as well, were known forviticulture.[98] The Late Iron Age saw a surge in rural activity across the Soreq and Rephaim Valleys, with 65 sites identified and excavated.[99] These sites formed a four-tiered hierarchy, including large administrative centers like Tel Moza, smaller villages, isolated buildings and farms, and agro-production spots like wine presses. The Nahal Shmuel area, in particular, became a key center for wine production, with 57 documented wine presses, while further north inGibeon, the largest concentration of wine storage cellars, 63 in total, was found, used for aging wine.[99]
^Lemaire, André (2018). "Israel and Judah".The Oxford Illustrated History of the Holy Land. Robert G. Hoyland, H. G. M. Williamson (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 61–85.ISBN978-0-19-872439-1.OCLC1017604304.
^Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2008).Western Civilization: Volume A: To 1500. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 36.ISBN978-0-495-50288-3.The people of Judah survived, eventually becoming known as the Jews and giving their name to Judaism, the religion of Yahweh, the Israelite God.
^abLegacy: a Genetic History of the Jewish People. Harry Ostrer. Oxford University Press. 2012.ISBN978-1-280-87519-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^abAdams, Hannah (1840).The history of the Jews: from the destruction of Jerusalem to the present time. Sold at the London Society House and by Duncan and Malcom, and Wertheim.OCLC894671497.
^abGarfinkel, Yossi; Ganor, Sa'ar; Hasel, Michael (19 April 2012)."Journal 124: Khirbat Qeiyafa preliminary report".Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel. Israel Antiquities Authority. Archived fromthe original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved12 June 2018.
^abcdMazar, Amihai."Archaeology and the Biblical Narrative: The Case of the United Monarchy".One God – One Cult – One Nation. Archaeological and Biblical Perspectives, Edited by Reinhard G. Kratz and Hermann Spieckermann in Collaboration with Björn Corzilius and Tanja Pilger, (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 405). Berlin/ New York:29–58. Retrieved12 October 2018.
^Grabbe, Lester L. (2007-04-28).Ahab Agonistes: The Rise and Fall of the Omri Dynasty. Bloomsbury.ISBN978-0-567-25171-8.The Tel Dan inscription generated a good deal of debate and a flurry of articles when it first appeared, but it is now widely regarded (a) as genuine and (b) as referring to the Davidic dynasty and the Aramaic kingdom of Damascus.
^Cline, Eric H. (2009-09-28).Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-199-71162-8.Today, after much further discussion in academic journals, it is accepted by most archaeologists that the inscription is not only genuine but that the reference is indeed to the House of David, thus representing the first allusion found anywhere outside the Bible to the biblical David.
^Mazar, Amihai (2010)."Archaeology and the Biblical Narrative: The Case of the United Monarchy".Archaeological and Biblical Perspectives.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, which subsequently was 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.
^Geva, Hillel [in Hebrew]; De Groot, Alon (2017). "The City of David Is Not on the Temple Mount After All". Israel Exploration Journal. 67 (1). Israel Exploration Society: 32–49. JSTOR 44474016. p. 34.
^Thomas, Zachary (2016-04-22). "Debating the United Monarchy: Let's See How Far We've Come".Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture.46 (2):59–69.doi:10.1177/0146107916639208.ISSN0146-1079.S2CID147053561.
^Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals. N. Avigad and B. Sass. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1997, nos. 4 and 3 respectively; Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 BCE Lawrence J. Mykytiuk. SBL Academia Biblica 12. Atlanta, 2004, 153–59, 219.
^Holloway, Steven W.; Handy, Lowell K., eds. (1995).The Pitcher is Broken: Memorial Essays for Gösta W. Ahlström. Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN978-0-567-63671-3. Retrieved12 October 2018.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.
^Faust & Farber 2025, p. 83: "There is now no question that pottery from this period (Iron IIA) was found in practically every excavation area in the City of David, including down the (eastern) slopes toward the Kidron, as well as in the Ophel.52 And since the Ophel was not only fortified but probably also had public buildings, the Temple Mount must have been incorporated within the boundaries of the city – otherwise the Ophel would be defenseless. This means that Jerusalem's area was some 16.5 hectares, suggesting that it was very large when compared with other sites in Judah at the time. In fact, it was quite large in comparison to most highland sites in Israel throughout history.53"
^Ussishkin (2004),The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish, p. 89 ("As the work of the renewed excavations developed it became clear that the destruction of Level III must be assigned to Sennacherib's attack in 701 BCE.").
^Chadwick, Jeffrey R. (2025). "Hebron in Iron Ages I–II: Finds of the American expedition to Hebron (Tell er-Rumeide)". In Maeir, Aren M.; Albaz, Shira; Berlejung, Angelika (eds.).Urbanism in the Iron Age Levant and Beyond. Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times. Vol. VII. Mohr Siebeck. p. 99.ISBN978-3-16-164199-2.
^abcdeRocca, Samuel (2010).The fortifications of ancient Israel and Judah, 1200–586 BC. Adam Hook. Oxford: Osprey. pp. 29–40.ISBN978-1-84603-508-1.OCLC368020822.
^מזר, עמיחי; Mazar, A. (1981). "The Excavations at Khirbet Abu et-Twein and the System of Iron Age Fortresses in Judah (Pls. לט–מה) / החפירות בח'רבת אבו א-תוין ומערך המצודות הישראליות בהרי יהודה".Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies / ארץ-ישראל: מחקרים בידיעת הארץ ועתיקותיה.טו:229–249.ISSN0071-108X.JSTOR23619437.
^Malamat, Abraham (1968). "The Last Kings of Judah and the Fall of Jerusalem: An Historical – Chronological Study".Israel Exploration Journal.18 (3):137–156.JSTOR27925138.The discrepancy between the length of the siege according to the regnal years of Zedekiah (years 9–11), on the one hand, and its length according to Jehoiachin's exile (years 9–12), on the other, can be cancelled out only by supposing the former to have been reckoned on a Tishri basis, and the latter on a Nisan basis. The difference of one year between the two is accounted for by the fact that the termination of the siege fell in the summer, between Nisan and Tishri, already in the 12th year according to the reckoning in Ezekiel, but still in Zedekiah's 11th year which was to end only in Tishri.
^Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2008).Western Civilization: Volume A: To 1500. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 36.ISBN978-0-495-50288-3.The people of Judah survived, eventually becoming known as the Jews and giving their name to Judaism, the religion of Yahweh, the Israelite God.
^Handy, Lowell K. (1995)."The Appearance of Pantheon in Judah". In Edelman, Diana Vikander (ed.).The Triumph of Elohim. Grand Rapids, Michigan: W. B. Eerdmans. p. 27.ISBN978-0-8028-4161-2. Retrieved13 January 2020 – viaInternet Archive.It is fairly well established by now that the narrative of the book of Kings cannot be taken as an accurate reflection of the religious world of the nations of Judah and Israel.1{...}1 The historicity of certain sections of the narrative has been questioned for a long time within scholarly circles, even though the majority of the text is accepted to be historically trustworthy; this is particularly true of aspects of the depiction of the northern kingdom, Israel.
Finkelstein, Israel; Gadot, Yuval; Langgut, Dafna (2021). "The Unique Specialised Economy of Judah under Assyrian Rule and its Impact on the Material Culture of the Kingdom".Palestine Exploration Quarterly.154 (4):261–279.doi:10.1080/00310328.2021.1949531.
Hardin, James W. (2014)."Judah During the Iron Age II Period". In Steiner, Margreet L.; Killebrew, Ann E. (eds.).The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000-332 BCE. Oxford University Press. pp. 743–756.ISBN978-0-19-166254-6.
Roberts, J. J. M. (2016)."The Divided Monarchy". In Niditch, Susan (ed.).The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Ancient Israel. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 197–212.ISBN978-0-470-65677-8.
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