Deus Artefacta: Timeline of the Divided Kingdom

Divided Kingdom

Northern Kingdom – Israel

The status of the Northern Kingdom of Israel as a well-established state in the ninth to eighth cent. BC (ca. 922–721 BC) is accepted by most scholars due to the mention of king Ahab in the Kurkh stele monolithic inscription of Shalmaneser III (853 BC; fig. 111), that mentions Ahab’s large number of chariots in the battle against the Assyrians at the battle of Qarqar. Inscriptional evidence is also found in the Mesha Stele, that refers to King Ahab’s conquest of northern Moab, in the Tel Dan inscription (fig. 90), that likely mentions Jehoram, the last king of the Omride dynasty; and on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (figs. 112, 113), on which King Jehu’s surrender to the Assyrian king is mentioned.[A]

Mazar also reports on the archaeological evidence for the existence of Israel in the ninth and eighth cent. BC:

Excavations at a number of other major cities in the Northern Kingdom like Dan, Hazor, Megiddo, Yoqneʿam, Taanack, Beth-shean, Reḥōv, Dothan, Tell el-Farʿah (Tirzah), Shechem, Dor, and Gezer as well as surface surveys in the Galilee and Samaria hills and excavations in village sites, farms and citadels, reveal a flourishing kingdom with a complex and dense hierarchical settlement system, immense population growth, expanding international trade relations, a flourishing artistic tradition and the increasing use of writing during the ninth and eighth centuries.[B]

Thus, scholars largely accept the existence of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Southern Kingdom – Judah

There is growing archaeological evidence to support the biblical period of the southern kingdom that spans from Iron Age 1 to Iron Age 2.[i] Mazar describes the issues confusing this debate:

Unlike its northern sister, Judah did not suffer from any severe military attacks until Sennacherib’s invasion in 701 B.C.E., and Jerusalem was not noticeably affected even by that invasion. The lack of destruction layers and the durability of massive stone buildings in the Judean hills and the Shephelah indicate that the same stone buildings were in use for a long period of time. There is also considerable longevity in the pottery production in Judah: the changes were gradual, covering a long period of time. This longevity of the material culture in Judah has blinded the eyes of archaeologists who wish to define in detail the development of Judean material culture in the ninth century as opposed to that of the previous or later centuries. It appears that cities and towns were founded in the late-tenth or ninth century when Sennacherib destroyed many of them. This can be demonstrated in Jerusalem, Beth-shemesh, Lachish, Tell Beit Mirsim, and other sites where only few occupation strata are attributed to these centuries.[ii]

[i] Mazar, “Divided Monarchy,” 164–66.

[ii] Ibid., 164.

[A] Brad E. Kelle, “What’s in a Name? Neo-Assyrian Designations for the Northern Kingdom and Their Implications for Israelite History and Biblical Interpretation,” JBL 121, no. 4 (Winter 2002): 636–66; Albert Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC I (858-745 BC), vol. 1, The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia: Assyrian Periods 2 (Toronto, Can.: University of Toronto Press, 1991).

[B] Mazar, “The Divided Monarchy,” 163.