[7], In the Middle Bronze Age II, there was a small settlement on the site that used the remnants of the older town walls for protection. The withholding of blessings failed to check Israel in their mad rush to destruction. Samaria (Hebrew: שומרון , Shomron; Ancient Greek: Σαμάρεια, Samareia; Arabic: السامرة , as-Samira) was an ancient King Omri, the sixth king of the northern kingdom of Israel, bought a hill in the Valley of Shechem in the region of Samaria and built the city of Samaria, which became his capital city (1 Kings 16:23–24). People from these tribes including the Reubenite leader, were taken captive and resettled in the region of the Khabur River system. The ruins of the city are located in the Samaria mountains of Palestine, almost 10 km (6.2 mi) to the northwest of Nablus After Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser[21] Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aram[22] and territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh in Gilead including the desert outposts of Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. (1 Kings 16:31). [18] King Omri built his capital in Samaria (1 Kings 16:24), which continued as such until the destruction of the Kingdom by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:5). The first, that of worship of Yahweh, and the second that of worship of Baal as detailed in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 16:31) and in the Baal cycle discovered at Ugarit. The Book of Tobit additionally records that Sargon had taken other captives from the northern kingdom to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, in particular Tobit from the town of Thisbe in Naphtali. Shechem was the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Town planning is clearly evident at the site. By Yosef Eisen « Previous The United Kingdom of Israel and Its Split. [2]:221 Many of the Northern Tribes also fled south to Jerusalem, which appears to have expanded in size five-fold during this period, requiring a new wall to be built, and a new source of water Siloam to be provided by King Hezekiah. Today, among archaeologists, Samaria is one of the most universally accepted archaeological sites from the biblical period[19] At around 850 BCE, the Mesha Stele, written in Old Hebrew alphabet, records a victory of King Mesha of Moab against king Omri of Israel and his son Ahab.[20]. Eventually, the name of the capital was applied to the entire northern kingdom. [26] The Hebrew Bible, written from the perspective of scribes in Jerusalem, referred to these acts as the way of Jeroboam or the errors of Jeroboam. However, Song of Songs provides no definite historical context to allow it to be dated on that basis. [8] The rebellion against Rehoboam arose after he refused to lighten the burden of taxation and services that his father had imposed on his subjects.[9]. [14], Tirzah is mentioned in Song of Songs, where the lover compares his beloved's beauty to that of Tirzah. Its capital was Samaria according to the Book of Isaiah. Historians often refer to the Kingdom of Israel as the "Northern Kingdom" or as the "Kingdom of Samaria" to differentiate it from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Israel, either of two political units in the Old Testament: the united kingdom of Israel under the kings Saul, David, and Solomon that lasted from about 1020 to 922 bc; or the northern kingdom of Israel, including the territories of the 10 northern tribes (i.e., all except Judah and part of Benjamin), that was established in 922 bc as the result of a revolt led by Jeroboam I. The town of Tirzah is first mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Joshua, as having had a king whom the Israelites defeated. The Northern Kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom continued to be called the Kingdom of Israel or Israel, while the southern kingdom was called the Kingdom of Judah. The major cities of the kingdom were Shechem, Tirzah, Samaria (Shomron), Jaffa, Bethel and Dan. Excavations were undertaken at Tell el-Far'ah between 1946 and 1960 for nine seasons by École Biblique under the direction of Roland de Vaux[6], The site was occupied in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic eras, and became progressively more populated. Jeroboam, who was not of the Davidic line, was sent forth from Egypt by the malcontents. According to the biblical narrative the northern Kingdom of Israel was founded circa 930 BCE, following the fragmentation of the United Monarchy, which was based in Jerusalem. After the revolt at Shechem at first only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. In the year 721 B.C. Later Tirzah is described as a capital of the northern kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Baasha, Elah, Zimri and Omri. [10] The Tribe of Ephraim and all Israel raised the old cry, "Every man to his tents, O Israel". After the death of Solomon in about 931 BCE, most of the Israelite tribes (ten Northern tribes) except for Judah and Benjamin refused to accept Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, as their king. Ahaz, king of Judah, appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, for help. The table below lists all the historical references to the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) in Assyrian records. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Kingdom of Judah resulted from the break-up of the United Kingdom of Israel (1020 to about 930 BCE) after the northern tribes refused to accept Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as their king.At first, only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David, but the tribe of Benjamin soon joined Judah. In the Hebrew Bible, the Kingdom of Israel has been referred to as the "House of Joseph". The remainder of the northern kingdom of Israel continued to exist within the reduced territory as an independent kingdom until around 720 BCE, when it was again invaded by Assyria and the rest of the population deported. [11] it is not mentioned again until after the period of the United Monarchy. If the authorship of Song of Songs can be attributed to Solomon, then this is a reference to the city during the United Monarchy. Descriptions of the deportation of people from Reuben, Gad, Manasseh in Gilead, Ephraim and Naphtali indicate that only a portion of these tribes were deported and the places to which they were deported are known locations given in the accounts. 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