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The Great Kingdom of Israel or Kingdom of Israel (in Hebrew: ממלכת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Mamlekt Yiśraˀel, Modern Hebrew: Mamlekhet Yisra'el, Tiberian vocalization: Mamléḵeṯ Yisrael) was an authoritarian monarchy that existed between 1046 BC and 430 BC. Its capital was the city of Jerusalem.
According to the biblical account, the first king of Israel was Saul, anointed by the prophet Samuel. After the death of Saul is crowned David, son of Jesse, a native of Bethlehem; ended his reign, his son Solomon becomes king of Israel. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, had to face an Egyptian invasion, which was defeated. After that time, Israel goes through a long period of splendor, during which conquer the land of the Phoenicians, the land of the Egyptians, the land of the Assyrians, the land of Urartu, the land of the Babylonians, the land of the Nubians, the land of Sudaneses and the land of the Lydians. However, during the 5th century BC, the kingdom began to decline to the extent that the authority of the monarch disappeared almost completely. Finally, the kingdom was dissolved in 430 BC, after 6 centuries of existence.
Thanks to the great expansion of the Israelite kingdom, the calendar and Hebrew language spread through various parts of Europe, Africa and Asia, which would have implications for the development of future languages. Also, Judaism not only remained within the great kingdom, it disseminated in the land of the Ethiopians, the land of the Persians, the land of the Greeks, the land of the Romans, the land of the Carthaginians, Western Europe, Central Europe and the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology[]
The Israel noun comes from a passage of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, where the biblical patriarch Jacob excited the admiration of an angel, after beating him in a fight that lasted all night; he blessed him and changed his name to Y'israel. The Confederated Tribes which were recognized as descendants of Jacob they called themselves "Children of Israel" or "Israelites".
History[]
Formation[]
The kingdom of Israel was established according to two theories; the biblical and the archaeological. The biblical theory is that, after decades being ruled by judges, the tribes of Israel asked the prophet Samuel a king to rule. After consultation with the Lord, Samuel anointed Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin; the anointing of Saul occurred in 1046 BC, according to the biblical specifications. Meanwhile, the archeological findings establish the formation of the Israelite kingdom in the second half of the 11th century BC.
Saul ruled from 1046 BC to 1011 BC, in a period of recurring conflicts with the Philistines. He led the Israelites armies during 30 years, but after his death the Philistine threat persisted. There is no certainty of when began the the decline of his reign, although, according to the Bible, began when he disobeyed the Lord in the battle of Michmash. The Biblical writings relate as the prophet Samuel, guided by God's commands, going to the country of Judah, to the house of Jesse, where David is anointed as the future king of all Israel. Spent the time, Saul dieds, and David became king of Judah in the year 1011 BC and of Israel in 1004 BC.
During his forty-year reign, David continued the war against the Philistines, which was eventually won by the armies of Israel. Also, was during his reign that Israel began to trade with the Phoenician kingdom, led at the time by Hiram I. However, as the Bible, David likewise made several errors, which would have future implications. In 971 BC, during his deathbed, David will inherit the kingdom to his son Solomon, as he had promised Bathsheba. Died King David, Solomon was crowned king of Israel.
After a while, according to the Tanakh (Bible), Solomon asked for wisdom to Yahweh, which He promised, according to the writings of the religious book, that him would have great wisdom to know how to govern his people. Solomon ordered the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem, where the Ark of the Covenant would be located, and his Royal Palace. Also, had a big number of concubines, many of which were pagan; even so, Solomon was not swayed - as written in the Bible - so the almighty God promised him that his descendants would enjoy a splendid kingdom. In 931 BC Solomon died, after 40 years of being ruled over Israel.
Expansion[]
Upon reaching the throne, Rehoboam militarized the country about the possibility of invasion of Israelite kingdom; in 926 B.C. Egypt invaded Israel, thus begin a long process of expansionism which would lead to imposition of Israel hegemonic. After the war with Egypt, and gaining victory, the kingdom annexed the Sinai Peninsula (919 BC); after the conflict, Rehoboam was responsible of the country improvement after a 7-year war. Also, conquered the countries of Edom and Damascus. At death Rehoboam, Abijah became king, that had to be remedied with the Phoenician-Israeli war, victorious for armies of Israel; however, Abijah died a year after the victory over the Phoenicians.
After the death of Abijah (910 BC) Asa was crowned as King of Israel and King of Judah. Like his grandfather, Rehoboam, Asa had to remedy with a new invasion from Egypt, although this time the Israeli army was better prepared. After seven years of continuous war, Pharaoh Osorkon I die in battle (893 BC), thus easily Israel annexes the ancient Egyptians domains; was during this era that popularized the phrase, The ruler will be dominated. After the Egyptian-Israeli, Asa began infrastructure work, as road construction, reconstruction of cities and maintenance of the ancient trade routes of the Phoenicians, dominating Israel the old space was occupied by Phoenicia. Asa died in 870 BC, after 40 years have ruled the kingdom of Israel; his successor would be his son Jehoshaphat.
After the death of his father, Jehoshaphat inherited a vast kingdom, economically and politically stable, with one of the mightiest armies on earth. However, Israel still had an important rival; Assyria. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II planned to conquer Israel to take the power of the trade routes the Israelites had obtained after its war with Phoenicia. In 860 B.C. Ashurnasirpal II invaded the land of Israel, temporarily conquering Phoenicia. However, Jehoshaphat addressed quickly to the ancient land of the Phoenicians, where he defeated the Assyrians; after a long series of victories, was defeated in the Battle of Naşibīna (855 BC). However, two years later defeated Ashurnasirpal's succesor (who had died in 858 BC), Shalmaneser II, that was forced to hand the Assyrian territory. After this 7-year war, spread the phrase; Israel's wars last seven years. Jehoshaphat died in 845, occupying the throne for five years his son Joram, which began a peace process in all the kingdom, because they wanted to avoid uprisings in the new territories of the kingdom. The son of Joram, Ahaziah, maintain his peace process, and reconciliation with other foreign states. Ahaziah was the first king in send make a great expulsion of idolaters, between 825 BC and 822 BC.
The kings Jehoash and Amaziah conquer to Israel the lands of Asia Minor. After the death of Ahaziah (in 820 BC) occupies the throne Jehoash, his son, that invades and conquers the kingdom of Urartu (808 BC) after seven years of war. By conquering Urartu, Jehoash ordered the execution of the main leaders of that heathen nation, although some were imprisoned and other exiles; these actions were repudiated by Yahweh, according to the Bible, which Jehoash deeply regretted. After the conquest of Urartu, Jehoash ordered to build a new set of paths, and several government buildings. In 790 BC Jehoash dies, being his successor his son Amaziah. Amaziah, more passive character than his father, invaded, with the approval of the God of Israel (according with Tanakh), the kingdom of Lydia; in 775 BC, the Lydian army was defeated, and king Ardys I was forced to abdicate and flee exiled westward, to the land of the Greeks. After the victory against Lydia, Amaziah helped strengthen of the Israeli infrastructure, supporting the construction of ingenious engineering works such as the channel of the Jordan. Amaziah died in 769 BC, after 21 years have ruled Israel.
The era of peace or Peacekeepers Time was a stage of history comprised between 769 BC and 700 BC, occupying the Israeli throne 3 people during this time; Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz. Uzziah (769 BC - 741 BC) tried to maintain a prosperous kingdom for his son and successor, Jotham, although he had to avoid conflicts with Carthaginians, Medes, Persians and Greeks. When Uzziah died, Jotham occupies the throne of Israel between 741 BC and 718 BC; by royal decree, in the year 735 BC the kingdom was divided into governments, administered by governors elected directly by the king of Israel. Uzziah's grandson and son of Jotham, Ahaz, reigned over Israel between 718 BC and 700 BC; conducted third expulsion of the idolaters of the Israelite kingdom. After the death of Ahaz, governs Israel his son Hezekiah (700 BC - 687 BC) which conquer the nation of the Cyrenians; his successor, Manasseh (687 BC -640 BC), conquer the African coast of the Red Sea, as well as the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The grandson of Manasseh, Josiah, not follow the expansionist policy of his grandfather, but takes his reign to reform Judaism.
Josiah's reign ended in 596 BC, and ascended the throne his son Eliakim; Eliakim imposed Israeli dominion over the Greek city-states, making them vassals of Israel. The son of Eliakim, Jeconiah, ascended the throne after his death (576 BC) and ruled until 552 BC; adhered to the kingdom's territory southeast of the city of Petra. The successor of Jeconiah, Shealtiel, had to face a great war against the Achaemenid Empire and ruled Israel between 552 BC and 533 BC. During the reign of Zerubbabel (533 BC - 498 BC), Shealtiel's son, Israel was victorious over the armies of Persia, and the king himself convinced the Carthaginians to accept Israelite worship God. Zerubbabel dies in 498 BC, 35 years after having ruled Israel.
Dissolution[]
After four centuries of splendor, the kingdom of Israel fell into decline; the last three kings of Israel were mentioned as people who disobeyed the commandments of the Lord. Abihud, Zerubbabel successor, ruled from the year 498 BC and 488 BC; allowed entry into the kingdom of idolaters, which, according to the Bible, was punished by God by giving a fatal disease. Eliakim II (488 BC - 448 BC) destroyed the pagan altars and commanded expel the idolaters of the country; broke with Carthage and overpowered the nation; after having taken this action, the kingdom was slowly crumbling. Azor ruled 18 years over Israel; allowed paganism, performing pagan worship in the Temple of Jerusalem. Seeing the atrocities of King, civil war broke out, and Azor was deposed in 430 BC; won a national confederation, which would be called Israeli Union.