Israelites

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Template:Tribes of Israel The Israelites, also known as the Children of Israel,Template:Efn were an ancient Semitic-speaking people who emerged in Canaan during the Iron Age.<ref name="Sparks">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They were a Hebrew people that spoke an archaic Hebrew language commonly called Biblical Hebrew through association with the Hebrew Bible.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Faust23">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":24">Template:Cite book</ref> In biblical myth, the population was divided into the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The group went on to form the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanite populations and other peoples of the ancient Near East.<ref name="auto1">Mark Smith in "The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel" states "Despite the long regnant model that the Canaanites and Israelites were people of fundamentally different culture, archaeological data now casts doubt on this view. The material culture of the region exhibits numerous common points between Israelites and Canaanites in the Iron I period (c. 1200–1000 BCE). The record would suggest that the Israelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture ... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature. Given the information available, one cannot maintain a radical cultural separation between Canaanites and Israelites for the Iron I period." (pp. 6–7). Smith, Mark (2002). The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel. Eerdmans.</ref><ref>Frevel, Christian. History of Ancient Israel. Atlanta, Georgia. SBL Press. 2023. p. 33. ISBN 9781628375138. "Israel developed in the land and not outside of it (in Egypt, in the desert, etc.)."</ref><ref name="Faust23" /> The Israelite religion revolved around Yahweh, who was an ancient Semitic god with less significance in the broader Canaanite religion.<ref>Steiner, Richard C. (1997). "Ancient Hebrew". In Hetzron, Robert (ed.). The Semitic Languages. Routledge. pp. 145–173. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name=":9" /> Around 720 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, triggering the Assyrian captivity; and around 586 BCE, the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, triggering the Babylonian captivity.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite book</ref> While most of Israel's population was irreversibly dispossessed as a result of Assyrian resettlement policy, Judah's population was rehabilitated by the Achaemenid Empire following the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were the descendants of Jacob (later known as Israel), who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Due to a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his twelve sons migrated to Egypt, where each son became the progenitor and namesake of an Israelite tribe. These tribes came to constitute a distinct nation, which was enslaved by "the Pharaoh" before being led out of Egypt by the Hebrew prophet Moses, whose successor Joshua oversaw the Israelite conquest of Canaan. After taking control of Canaan, they established a kritarchy and eventually founded the United Monarchy, which split into independent Israel in the north and independent Judah in the south. Scholars generally consider the Hebrew Bible's narrative to be part of the Israelites' national myth,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> but believe that there is a "historical core" to some of the events in it.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn<ref name=":04" /> The historicity of the United Monarchy is widely disputed.<ref name="Zachary">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="lipschits">Template:Cite book</ref> In the context of Hebrew scripture, Canaan is also variously described as the Promised Land, the Land of Israel, Zion, or the Holy Land.

Historically, Jews and Samaritans have been two closely related ethno-religious groups descended from the Israelites; Jews trace their ancestry to the tribes that inhabited the Kingdom of Judah, namely Judah, Benjamin, and partially Levi, while Samaritans trace their ancestry to the tribes that inhabited the Kingdom of Israel and remained after the Assyrian captivity, namely Ephraim, Manasseh, and partially Levi. Furthermore, Judaism and Samaritanism are fundamentally rooted in Israelite religious and cultural traditions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> There are several other groups claiming affiliation with the Israelites, but most of them have unproven lineage and are not recognized as either Jewish or Samaritan.

Etymology

Template:Further Template:History of Israel The first reference to Israel in non-biblical sources is found in the Merneptah Stele in Template:Circa. The inscription is very brief and says: "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not". The inscription refers to a people, not an individual or nation state,<ref name="Greenspahn2008">Template:Cite book</ref> who inhabit central Palestine<ref name="Toorn">Van der Toorn, K. (196). Family Religion in Babylonia, Ugarit and Israel: Continuity and Changes in the Forms of Religious Life. Brill. pp. 181, 282.</ref> or the highlands of Samaria.Template:Sfn Some Egyptologists suggest that Israel appeared in earlier topographical reliefs, dating to the Eighteenth Dynasty or Nineteenth Dynasty (i.e. reign of Ramesses II) ,<ref name=":3">Van der Veern, Peter, et al. "Israel in Canaan (Long) Before Pharaoh Merenptah? A Fresh Look at Berlin Statue Pedestal Relief 21687". Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections. pp. 15–25.</ref> but this reading remains controversial.<ref name=":5">Romer, Thomas (2015). The Invention of God, Harvard. p. 75.</ref><ref name=":6">Dijkstra, Meindert (2017). "Canaan in the Transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age from an Egyptian Perspective". In Grabbe, Lester, ed. The Land of Canaan in the Late Bronze Age. Bloomsbury. p. 62, n. 17</ref>

In the Hebrew Bible, Israel first appears in Template:Bibleverse, where an angel renames Jacob to Israel after Jacob fought with him.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref><ref name="Scherman, Rabbi Nosson 2006, pages 176-77">Scherman, Rabbi Nosson, ed. (2006). The Chumash. The Artscroll Series. Mesorah. pp. 176–77.</ref><ref name="Kaplan, Aryeh 1985, page 125">Kaplan, Aryeh (1985). "Jewish Meditation". New York: Schocken. p. 125.</ref> According to the folk etymology given in the text, Israel is derived from yisra, "to prevail over" or "to struggle with", and El, a Canaanite-Mesopotamian creator god that is tenuously identified with Yahweh.<ref name=":1" />Template:Sfn However, modern scholarship interprets El as the subject, "El rules/struggles",<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> from sarar (Template:Lang) 'to rule'<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (cognate with sar (Template:Lang) 'ruler',<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Akkadian šarru 'ruler, king'<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>), which is likely cognate with the similar root sara (Template:Lang) "fought, strove, contended".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Dr. Tzemah Yoreh clarifies that Israel is a combination of 'to strive with' (ש.ר.ה) and 'God' (אל) and that Jacob's name alternates between Jacob and Israel in the biblical narrative, even after his renaming, due to the authors having different opinions about Jacob's moral character.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Biblical timeline

Genesis of the Israelite people

Biblically, the Israelites referred to the direct descendants of Israel,<ref name=":18">Template:Bibleverse</ref><ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref> a view that was reinforced by Second Temple Judaism.<ref name=":4" /> They referred to themselves as the sons of Israel.<ref name=":20">Template:Cite journal</ref>, gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) could fully assimilate into the Israelite community.<ref name=":18" /><ref name=":4" />

Some scholars interpret sons of Israel as citizens of the Israelite community, especially after Israel's biological family transitioned from a clan to a society (Template:Bibleverse).<ref name=":20" /> In fact, there is evidence of gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) assimilating into the Israelite community.<ref name=":18" /><ref name=":4" />

Whilst the Israelites called themselves the sons of Jacob, some scholars interpret this as citizens of the Israelite community, especially after Israel's biological family transitioned from a clan to a society (Template:Bibleverse). Contemporary ethnicities in the ancient Near East similarly named themselves this way.<ref name=":20" /> Likewise, tribal membership in Israel was likely based on one's self-declared allegiance or residency within an assigned tribal territory (Template:Bibleverse).<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":19" />

Alternatively, the Israelites were a religious group that adhered to Yahwism<ref name=":33" /><ref name=":21" /><ref name=":14">Template:Cite journal</ref> and that their ethnic identity was based on 'covenantal circumcision' rather than ancestry (Template:Bibleverse).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The Israelites trace their ancestors to Jacob, who in turn descended from Abraham.<ref name=":18" /><ref name=":4" /> Abraham was formerly a native of Ur Kaśdim (Template:Bibleverse), whose location is hotly contested. Some scholars argue that it is located in lower Mesopotamia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Arnold">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="PinchesCommittee1902">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> whilst others locate it further north in upper Mesopotamia,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> around northern Syria<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="issar">Issar, A. S. Strike the Rock and There Shall Come Water: Climate Changes, Water Resources and History of the Lands of the Bible, p. 67. Springer. 2014.</ref> or southeastern Turkey.<ref name="auto3">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Theologians suggest that Canaan always belonged to the Israelites but was initially usurped by the descendants of Canaan, resulting in their conquest by Israel as divine punishment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Israelite presence in Canaan was also established before Joshua's conquests according to a few biblical traditions.<ref name="Frankel">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Wazana">Template:Cite web</ref>

The history of the Israelite people can be divided into these categories, according to the Hebrew Bible:<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref>

Before the United Monarchy

The Israelites were named after their ancestor, Jacob/Israel, who was the grandson of Abraham. They were organized into 12 tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph (or Tribe of Ephraim and Tribe of Manasseh) and Benjamin. Originally, they went to Egypt after a famine in Canaan but were enslaved by the Egyptians.<ref>Bereshith, Genesis</ref> They escaped and organized themselves as a kritarchy,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> where they followed laws given by Moses. Afterwards, the Israelites conquered Canaan and fought with several neighbours until they established a monarchic state.

This period is covered by Genesis 12 to 1 Samuel 8.

During the United Monarchy

As a monarchic state, the Israelite tribes were united by the leadership of Saul, David and Solomon. The reigns of Saul and David were marked by military victories and Israel's transition to a mini-empire with vassal states.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> Solomon's reign was relatively more peaceful and oversaw the construction of the First Temple,Template:Sfn with the help of Phoenician allies.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> This Temple was where the Ark of the Covenant was stored; its former location was the City of David.<ref>Barnes, W. E. (1899), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on 2 Chronicles 5, accessed 17 April 2020</ref>

This period is covered by 1 Samuel 8 to 1 Kings 11 or alternatively, 1 Chronicles 10 to 2 Chronicles 9.

Division of Israel and Judah

The monarchic state was divided into two states, Israel and Judah, due to civil and religious disputes. Eventually, Israel and Judah met their demise after the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions respectively. According to the Biblical prophets, these invasions were divine judgements for religious apostasy and corrupt leadership.

This period is covered by 1 Kings 12 to 2 Kings 25 or alternatively, 2 Chronicles 10 to 2 Chronicles 36. The Book of Jonah narrates the prophet Jonah going to the Neo-Assyrian Empire to deliver a divine message.

Exilic period

After the Babylonians invaded Judah, they deported most of its citizens to Babylon, where they lived as "exiles". Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and established the First Persian Empire in 539 BCE.Template:Sfn One year later, according to traditional dating, Cyrus permitted the Judahites to return to their homeland.Template:Sfn This homeland was re-named as the Province of Yehud, which eventually became a satrapy of Eber-Nari.Template:Sfn

This period is covered by the entirety of the Book of Daniel.

Persian period

In 537–520 BCE, Zerubbabel became Yehud's governor and started work on the Second Temple, which was stopped.Template:Sfn In 520–516 BCE, Haggai and Zechariah goaded the Judahites to resume work on the Temple. Upon completion, Joshua became its high priest.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In 458–433 BCE, Ezra and Nehemiah led another group of Judahites to Yehud, with Artaxerxes's permission. Nehemiah rebuilt the temple after some unspecified disaster and removed foreign influence from the Judahite community.<ref name="myers">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn That said, some Judahites elected to stay in Persia, where they almost faced annihilation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref>

This period is covered by the entirety of the Book of Ezra, Book of Nehemiah, the Book of Esther,<ref name=":2" /> the Book of Haggai, the Book of Zechariah, and the Book of Malachi.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

Historical timeline

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Emergence of the Israelite culture

Efforts to confirm the biblical ethnogenesis of Israel through archaeology have largely been abandoned as unproductive.<ref name=":0" /> Many scholars see the traditional narratives as national myths with little historical value, but some posit that a small group of exiled Egyptians contributed to the Exodus narrative.Template:Efn William G. Dever cautiously identifies this group with the Tribe of Joseph, while Richard Elliott Friedman identifies it with the Tribe of Levi.Template:Sfn<ref name="Friedman2">Template:Cite book</ref> Josephus quoting Manetho identifies them with the Hyksos.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Other scholars believe that the Exodus narrative was a "collective memory" of several events from the Bronze Age.Template:Sfn<ref name=":04">Template:Cite book</ref>

In addition, it is unlikely that the Israelites overtook the southern Levant by force, according to archaeological evidence. Instead, they branched out of indigenous Canaanite peoples that long inhabited the region, which included Syria, ancient Israel, and the Transjordan region.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn<ref>K. L. Noll (2001). Canaan and Israel in Antiquity: An Introduction. Template:Webarchive A&C Black. p. 164: "It would seem that, in the eyes of Merneptah's artisans, Israel was a Canaanite group indistinguishable from all other Canaanite groups." "It is likely that Merneptah's Israel was a group of Canaanites located in the Jezreel Valley."</ref> Their culture was monolatristic, with a primary focus on Yahweh (or El) worship,Template:Sfn but after the Babylonian exile, it became monotheistic, with partial influence from Zoroastrianism. The latter decisively separated the Israelites from other Canaanites.Template:Sfn<ref name="auto1" />Template:Failed verification The Israelites used the Canaanite script and communicated in a Canaanite language known as Biblical Hebrew. The language's modern descendant is today the only surviving dialect of the Canaanite languages.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Genetic studies show that contemporary ethnicities in the Levant were, like Israel, distinguished by their unique cultures, due to their descent from a common ancestral stock.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Several theories exist for the origins of historical Israelites. Some believe they descend from raiding groups, itinerant nomads such as Habiru and Shasu or impoverished Canaanites, who were forced to leave wealthy urban areas and live in the highlands.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Toorn" /> Gary Rendsburg argues that some archaic biblical traditions and other circumstantial evidence point to the Israelites emerging from the Shasu and other seminomadic peoples from the desert regions south of the Levant, later settling in the highlands of Canaan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The prevailing academic opinion is that the Israelites were a mixture of peoples predominately indigenous to Canaan, with additional input from an Egyptian matrix of peoples, which most likely inspired the Exodus narrative.<ref>Mittleman, Alan (2010). "Judaism: Covenant, Pluralism and Piety". In Turner, Bryan S., ed. The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 340–363, 346.</ref><ref name="Gottwald">Gottwald, Norman (1999). Tribes of Yahweh: A Sociology of the Religion of Liberated Israel, 1250–1050 BCE. A&C Black. p. 433. cf. 455–56.</ref><ref>Gabriel, Richard A. (2003). The Military History of Ancient Israel. Greenwood. p. 63: "The ethnically mixed character of the Israelites is reflected even more clearly in the foreign names of the group's leadership. Moses himself, of course, has an Egyptian name. But so do Hophni, Phinehas, Hur, and Merari, the son of Levi."</ref> Israel's demographics were similar to the demographics of Ammon, Edom, Moab and Phoenicia.<ref name="Gottwald" />Template:Sfn Template:Page needed

Besides their focus on Yahweh worship, Israelite cultural markers were defined by body, food, and time, including male circumcision, avoidance of pork consumption and marking time based on the Exodus, the reigns of Israelite kings, and Sabbath observance. The first two markers were observed by neighbouring west Semites besides the Philistines, who were of Mycenaean Greek origin. As a result, intermarriage with other Semites was common.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite book</ref> But what distinguished Israelite circumcision from non-Israelite circumcision was its emphasis on 'correct' timing.<ref name=":16">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":17">Template:Cite book</ref> Israelite circumcision also served as a mnemonic sign for the circumcised, where their 'unnatural' erect circumcised penis would remind them to behave differently in sexual matters.<ref name=":16" /> Yom-Tov Lipmann-Muhlhausen suggests that Israelite identity was based on faith and adherence to sex-appropriate commandments. For men, it was circumcision. For women, it was ritual sacrifice after childbirth (Template:Bibleverse).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Genealogy was another ethnic marker. While it was likely that Israelite identity was not exclusively based on blood descent,<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":19">Template:Cite book</ref> the Israelites used genealogy to engage in narcissism of small differences but also, self-criticism since their ancestors included morally questionable characters such as Jacob. Both these traits represented the "complexities of the Jewish soul".<ref name=":9" />

Names were significant in Israelite culture and indicated one's destiny and inherent character. Thus, a name change indicated a 'divine transformation' in one's 'destines, characters and natures'. These beliefs aligned with the Near Eastern cultural milieu, where names were 'intimately bound up with the very essence of being and inextricably intertwined with personality'.<ref name=":17" />

In terms of appearance, rabbis described the Biblical Jews as being "midway between black and white" and having the "color of the boxwood tree".Template:Sfn Assuming Yurco's debated claim that the Israelites are depicted in reliefs from Merneptah's temple at Karnak is correct,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> the early Israelites may have wore the same attire and hairstyles as non-Israelite Canaanites.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Dissenting from this, Anson Rainey argued that the Israelites in the reliefs looked more similar to the Shasu.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Based on biblical literature, it is implied that the Israelites distinguished themselves from peoples like the Babylonians and Egyptians by not having long beards and chin tufts. However, these fashion practices were upper class customs.<ref name=":15">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Early highland settlements in Canaan

Template:Further In the 12th century BCE, many Israelite settlements appeared in the central hill country of Canaan, which was formerly an open terrain. These settlements lacked evidence of pork consumption, compared to Philistine settlements, had four-room houses and lived by an egalitarian ethos, which was exemplified by the absence of elaborate tombs, governor's mansions, certain houses being bigger than others etc. They followed a mixed economy, which prioritized self-sufficiency, cultivation of crops, animal husbandry and small-scale craft production. New technologies such as terraced farming, silos for grain storage and cisterns for rainwater collection were simultaneously introduced.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite book</ref>

These settlements were built by inhabitants of the "general Southland" (i.e. modern Sinai and the southern parts of Israel and Jordan), who abandoned their pastoral-nomadic ways. Canaanites who lived outside the central hill country were tenuously identified as Danites, Asherites, Zebulunites, Issacharites, Naphtalites and Gadites. These inhabitants do not have a significant history of migration besides the Danites, who allegedly originate from the Sea Peoples, particularly the Dan(an)u.<ref name=":10" /><ref>Mark W. Bartusch, Understanding Dan: an exegetical study of a biblical city, tribe and ancestor, Volume 379 of Journal for the study of the Old Testament: Supplement series, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003</ref> Nonetheless, they intermingled with the former nomads, due to socioeconomic and military factors. Their interest in Yahwism and its concern for the underprivileged was another factor. Possible allusions to this historical reality in the Hebrew Bible include the aforementioned tribes, except for Issachar and Zebulun, descending from Bilhah and Zilpah, who were viewed as "secondary additions" to Israel.<ref name=":10" />

El worship was central to early Israelite culture but currently, the number of El worshippers in Israel is unknown. It is more likely that different Israelite locales held different views about El and had 'small-scale' sacred spaces.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn

Himbaza et al. (2012) states that Israelite households were typically ill-equipped to handle conflicts between family members, which may explain the harsh sexual taboos enforced against acts like incest, homosexuality, polygamy etc. in Template:Bibleverse. While the death penalty was legislated for these 'secret crimes', they functioned as a warning, where offenders would confess out of fear and make appropriate reparations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

United Monarchy?

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The historicity of the United Monarchy is heavily debated among archaeologists and biblical scholars: biblical maximalists and centrists (Kenneth Kitchen, William G. Dever, Amihai Mazar, Baruch Halpern and others) argue that the biblical account is more or less accurate, while biblical minimalists (Israel Finkelstein, Ze'ev Herzog, Thomas L. Thompson and others) argue that Israel and Judah never split from a singular state. The debate has not been resolved, but recent archaeological discoveries by Eilat Mazar and Yosef Garfinkel show some support for the existence of the United Monarchy.<ref name="Zachary" />

From 850 BCE onwards, a series of inscriptions mention the "House of David". They came from Israel's neighbours.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kingdoms of Israel and Judah

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Compared to the United Monarchy, the historicity of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah is widely accepted by historians and archaeologists.<ref name="Finkelstein">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Wright2">Template:Cite web</ref> Their destruction by the Assyrians and Babylonians respectively is also confirmed by archaeological evidence and extrabiblical sources.<ref name="Broshi 2001 174">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="BabylonianChronicles">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Atiqot98">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Finkelstein" />Template:Rp

Christian Frevel argues that Yahwism was rooted in the culture of the Kingdom of Israel, who introduced it to the Kingdom of Judah via Ahab's expansions and sociopolitical cooperation, which was prompted by Hazael's conquests.<ref name=":11">Template:Cite journal</ref> Frevel has also argued that Judah was a 'vassal-like' state to Israel, under the Omrides.<ref name=":11" /> This theory has been rejected by other scholars, who argue that the archaeological evidence seems to indicate that Judah was an independent socio-political entity for most of the 9th century BCE.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Avraham Faust argues that there was continued adherence to the 'ethos of egalitarianism and simplicity' in the Iron Age II (10th-6th century BCE). For example, there is minimal evidence of temples and complex tomb burials, despite Israel and Judah being more densely populated than the Late Bronze Age. Four-room houses remained the norm. In addition, royal inscriptions were scarce, along with imported and decorated pottery.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> According to William G. Dever, Israelite identity in the 9th-8th centuries BCE can be identified through a combination of archaeological and cultural traits that distinguish them from their neighbours. These traits include being born and living within the territorial borders of Israel or Judah, speaking Hebrew, living in specific house types, using locally produced pottery, and following particular burial practices. Israelites were also part of a rural, kin-based society, and adhered to Yahwism, though not necessarily in a monotheistic way. Their material culture was simple but distinct, and their societal organization was centered around family and inheritance. These traits, while shared with some neighbouring peoples, were uniquely Israelite in their specific combination.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Wars with Assyria and Babylonia

The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE.Template:Sfn The records of Sargon II of Assyria indicate that he deported part of the population to Assyria. Some Israelites migrated to the southern kingdom of Judah,<ref name=":23">Template:Cite journal</ref> while those that remained in Samaria, concentrated mainly around Mount Gerizim, developed a new ethnic identity as Samaritans.Template:Sfn<ref name=":13">Template:Cite book</ref> Foreign groups were also settled by the Assyrians in the territories of the conquered kingdom.<ref name=":13" /> Research indicates that only a portion of the surviving Israelite population intermarried with Mesopotamians settlers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In their native Samaritan Hebrew, the Samaritans identify as "Israel", "B'nai Israel" or "Shamerim/Shomerim" (i.e. "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers").Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite this, belief in the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel emerged because of the heavy assimilation faced by Samarian deportees.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Towards the end of the same century, the Neo-Babylonian Empire emerged victorious over the Assyrians, leading to Judah's subjugation as a vassal state. In the early 6th century BC, a series of revolts in Judah prompted the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II to lay siege to and destroy Jerusalem along with the First Temple, marking the kingdom's demise. Subsequently, a segment of the Judahite populace was exiled to Babylon in several waves.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Judeans were progenitors of the Jewish people,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> who practised Second Temple Judaism during the Second Temple period.<ref name="Cory2015">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Benko1984">Template:Cite book</ref>

Persian period

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With the fall of Babylon to the rising Achaemenid Persian Empire, king Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation known as the Edict of Cyrus, encouraging the exiles to return to their homeland after the Persians raised it as an autonomous Jewish-governed province named Yehud. Under the Persians (Template:Circa), the returned Jewish population restored the city and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem. The Cyrus Cylinder is controversially cited as evidence for Cyrus allowing the Judeans to return.<ref name="MaryJ1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Becking">Template:Cite book</ref> The returnees showed a "heightened sense" of their ethnic identity and shunned exogamy, which was treated as a "permissive reality" in Babylon.<ref name="Southward">Katherine ER. Southward, Ethnicity and the Mixed Marriage Crisis in Ezra, 9–10: An Anthropological Approach, Oxford University Press 2012 pp.103–203, esp. p.193.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Circumcision was no longer a significant ethnic marker, with increased emphasis on genealogical descent or faith in Yahweh.<ref name=":33">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":21">Template:Cite journal</ref> Jason A. Staples argues that the majority of contemporary Jews, regardless of theology, wished for the reunion of northern Israelites and southern Jews.<ref name=":26">Template:Cite book</ref>

Hellenistic period

In 332 BCE, the Achaemenid Empire fell to Alexander the Great, and the region was later incorporated into the Ptolemaic Kingdom (Template:Circa) and the Seleucid Empire (Template:Circa). The Maccabean Revolt against Seleucid rule ushered in a period of nominal independence for the Jewish people under the Hasmonean dynasty (140–37 BCE). Initially operating semi-autonomously within the Seleucid sphere, the Hasmoneans gradually asserted full independence through military conquest and diplomacy, establishing themselves as the final sovereign Jewish rulers before a prolonged hiatus in Jewish sovereignty in the region.<ref name=":032">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="auto12">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":22">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="auto2">Template:Cite book</ref> Some scholars argue that Jews also engaged in active missionary efforts in the Greco-Roman world, which led to conversions.<ref name="Feldman">Louis H. Feldman, "The Omnipresence of the God-Fearers" Template:Webarchive, Biblical Archaeology Review 12, 5 (1986), Center for Online Judaic Studies.</ref><ref name="Cohen">Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (1989), pp. 55–59, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>A. T. Kraabel, J. Andrew Overman, Robert S. MacLennan, Diaspora Jews and Judaism: essays in honor of, and in dialogue with, A. Thomas Kraabel (1992), Scholars Press, Template:ISBN. "As pious gentiles, the God-fearers stood somewhere between Greco-Roman piety and Jewish piety in the synagogue. In his classic but now somewhat outdated study titled Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era, Harvard scholar George Foot Moore argued that the existence of the God-fearers provides evidence for the synagogue's own missionary work outside of Palestine during the first century C.E. The God-fearers were the result of this Jewish missionary movement."</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Several scholars, such as Scot McKnight and Martin Goodman, reject this view while holding that conversions occasionally occurred.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A similar diaspora existed for Samaritans but their existence is poorly documented.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Roman period

In 63 BCE, the Roman Republic conquered the kingdom. In 37 BCE, the Romans appointed Herod the Great as king of a vassal Judea. In 6 CE, Judea was fully incorporated into the Roman Empire as the province of Judaea. During this period, the main areas of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel were Judea, Galilee and Perea, while the Samaritans had their demographic center in Samaria. Growing dissatisfaction with Roman rule and civil disturbances eventually led to the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, which ended the Second Temple period. This event marked a cataclysmic moment in Jewish history,<ref name=":52">Template:Cite book</ref> prompting a reconfiguration of Jewish identity and practice to ensure continuity. The cessation of Temple worship and disappearance of Temple-based sects<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> facilitated the rise of Rabbinic Judaism, which stemmed from the Pharisaic school of Second Temple Judaism, emphasizing communal synagogue worship and Torah study, eventually becoming the predominant expression of Judaism.<ref name=":42">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":52" /><ref name=":82">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Concurrently, Christianity began to diverge from Judaism, evolving into a predominantly Gentile religion.<ref name="Klutz 2002">Template:Cite book</ref> Decades later, the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE) further diminished the Jewish presence in Judea, leading to a geographical shift of Jewish life to Galilee and Babylonia, with smaller communities scattered across the Mediterranean.

Genetic studies and descendants

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As of 2024, only one study has directly examined ancient Israelite genetic material. The analysis examined First Temple-era skeletal remains excavated in Abu Ghosh, and showed one male individual belonging to the J2 Y-DNA haplogroup, a set of closely related DNA sequences thought to have originated in the Caucasus or Eastern Anatolia, as well as the T1a and H87 mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, the former of which has also been detected among Canaanites, and the latter in Basques, Tunisian Arabs, and Iraqis, suggesting a Mediterranean, Near Eastern, or perhaps Arabian origin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A 2004 study (by Shen et al.) comparing Samaritans to several Jewish populations (including Ashkenazi Jews, Iraqi Jews, Libyan Jews, Moroccan Jews, and Yemenite Jews) found that "the principal components analysis suggested a common ancestry of Samaritan and Jewish patrilineages. Most of the former may be traced back to a common ancestor in what is today identified as the paternally inherited Israelite high priesthood (Cohanim), with a common ancestor projected to the time of the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel."<ref name="evolutsioon.ut.ee">Template:Cite web (855 KB), Hum Mutat 24:248–260, 2004.</ref>

A 2020 study (by Agranat-Tamr et al.) stated that there was genetic continuity between the Bronze Age and Iron Age southern Levantines, which included the Israelites and Judahites. They could be "modeled as a mixture of local earlier Neolithic populations and populations from the northeastern part of the Near East (e.g. Zagros Mountains, Caucasians/Armenians and possibly, Hurrians)". Reasons for the continuity include resilience from the Bronze Age collapse, which was mostly true for inland cities such as Tel Megiddo and Tel Abel Beth Maacah. Elsewhere, European-related and East African-related components were added to the population, from a north-south and south-north gradient respectively. Late Neolithic and Bronze Age Europeans and Somalis were used as representatives.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Modern Levantine groups with Israelite ancestry

Samaritans and ethnic Jews have historically been regarded as being descended from the Israelites.<ref>R. Yisrael Meir haKohen (Chofetz Chayim), The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, p. xxxv. This version of the list was prepared in 1968.</ref><ref>The Ramban's addition to the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With regard to the Jewish diaspora, it is held that each Jewish community originates from exiled Israelite settlement in various parts of the world, particularly as a result of the Jewish–Roman wars. It is also argued that some Palestinian people are similarly descended from those Israelites who were not exiled from the region and who consequently converted to Christianity under the Byzantine Empire and then to Islam following the Arab conquest of the Levant, save for those who remained identified as Palestinian Jews.<ref name=":72">Gil, Moshe. [1983] 1997. A History of Palestine, 634–1099. Cambridge University Press. pp. 222–3: "David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi claimed that the population at the time of the Arab conquest was mainly Christian, of Jewish origins, which underwent conversion to avoid a tax burden, basing their argument on 'the fact that at the time of the Arab conquest, the population of Palestine was mainly Christian and that during the Crusaders' conquest some four hundred years later, it was mainly Muslim. As neither the Byzantines nor the Muslims carried out any large-scale population resettlement projects, the Christians were the offspring of the Jewish and Samaritan farmers who converted to Christianity in the Byzantine period; while the Muslim fellaheen in Palestine in modern times are descendants of those Christians who were the descendants of Jews, and had turned to Islam before the Crusaders' conquest."</ref><ref name="Hider">A tragic misunderstanding – Times online, 13 January 2009.</ref>

Non-Levantine groups claiming Israelite ancestry

Largely owing to the spread of Christianity and Islam globally, several groups of people outside of the Levant have claimed Israelite ancestry on an ethnic or racial basis, while some Christian groups have claimed spiritual continuity of the Israelite identity on the basis of their religion. These various non-Levantine groups include Mandaeans,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Pashtuns,<ref name="Houtsma">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="JVLAfgh">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> British Israelists,<ref name="Brackney">Template:Cite book</ref> Black Hebrew Israelites,<ref name="Lee2019">Template:Cite web</ref> Igbos,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mormons,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and evangelical Christians who subscribe to covenant theology.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The phenomenon became especially prevalent after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, as the country's Law of Return grants citizenship to qualified Jews and to non-Jews who are either married to a Jew or provide sufficient evidence of having Jewish ancestry.

Israelites

Contents

Etymology