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Judea is a term used for the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel.

Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew מַמְלֶכֶת יְהוּדָה, Standard Hebrew Maləkôt Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Maləkôṯ Yəhûḏāh, "Praise of God") (c.930 BCE–586 BCE) was one of the successor states to the "United Monarchy" often known as the Kingdom of Israel.

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Kingdom of Judah was founded after the disruption at Shechem, when the Davidic line which ruled the united Kingdom of Israel was rejected by ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel. The Kingdom of Judah was named for the tribe of Judah which initially was the only one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to follow the house of David to found the Southern Kingdom. Soon after, the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah. Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom (Joshua 18:28). While its sibling, the Kingdom of Israel, or Northern Kingdom, fell to the Assyrian Empire in c. 720 BCE, the Kingdom of Judah survived for almost 350 years, until it was conquered in 586 BCE by the Babylonian Empire under Nebuzar-adan, captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard.(2 Kings 25:8-21). This event coincided with the destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem and with the Babylonian Captivity.

Judah is often referred to as the Southern Kingdom to distinguish it from the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

History

The United Monarchy was formed out of the territories of the twelve Hebrew tribes living in the area in and around modern Israel and Palestine. It existed from around 1030 BCE-920 BCE.

After the death of King Solomon son of King David, the ten northern tribes of the Kingdom of Israel revolted against the Davidic line, refusing to accept Rehoboam son of Solomon and instead chose as king Jeroboam who was not a member of King David's family.

When the disruption took place at Shechem, at first only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom (Joshua 18:28), which was called the kingdom of Judah.

The Kingdom of Israel, or Northern Kingdom, existed as an independent state from about 930 BCE until around 720 BCE when it was conquered by the Assyrian Empire. The Jews were exiled completely, becoming known as the The Ten Lost Tribes.

Timeline

• 729-687 BCE. Reign of king Hezekiah of Judah. He is noted in the Bible for initiating reforms that outlawed, or enforced Jewish laws against, idolatry (in this case, the worship of Ba'alim and/or Asherah, among other traditional Near Eastern divinities). 2 Kings 18–20
• c. 705 BCE Siloam inscription in Old Hebrew alphabet
• 687-638 BCE. Reign of king Manasseh of Judah, sacrificed his son to Molech, 2 Kings 21.
• 638-637 BCE. Reign of king Amon.

These two kings reversed Hezekiah's reforms and officially revived idolatry. According to later rabbinical accounts, Manasseh placed a grotesque, four-faced idol in the Holy of Holies.

• 637-607 BCE. The reign of king Josiah was accompanied by a religious reformation. According to the Bible, while repairs were made on the Temple, a 'Book of the Law' was discovered (possibly the book of Deuteronomy). See also 1 Kings 13, 2 Kings 22–23 , 2 Chr 34–35
• 587 BCE. Babylon, under king Nebuchadnezzar II, seized Jerusalem. The First Temple was destroyed; the date was the 9th of Av, or Tisha B'Av.

For the first sixty years, the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other ten tribes, so that there was a state of perpetual war between them. For the following eighty years, there was no open war between them. For the most part, they were in friendly alliance, co-operating against their common enemies, especially against Damascus. After the destruction of Israel, Judah continued to exist for about a century and a half until its final overthrow in (586 BCE) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard (2 Kings 25:8-21), an event which also saw the destruction of the First Temple.

Babylonian Captivity

In the wake of the conquest by the Babylonian Empire much of the populate of the Kingdom of Judah was dispersed throughout that empire.

Culture

Notable Personalities

Prophets Active in the Kingdom of Judah

• Amos
• Habakkuk
• Isaiah, cousin of king Uzziah
• Jeremiah
• Joel
• Micah
• Obadiah
• Zechariah
• Zephaniah

Extent of the Kingdom

The Kingdom of Judah was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, and was named after Judah, son of Jacob (Israel).

Its capital was Jerusalem.

The kingdom maintained a separate existence for three hundred and eighty-nine years. It occupied an area of about 8,900 km² (3,435 square miles).

The Kings of Judah

For this period, most historians follow the chronology established by William F. Albright, by Edwin R. Thiele, or by Gershon Galil, all of which are shown below. All dates are BCE.

Notes

1. Hezekiah: contemporary with Sennacherib of Assyria, and Merodach-baladan of Babylon.
2. Zedekiah: King during the second rebellion (588–586 BCE). Jerusalem was captured after a lengthy siege, the temple burnt, Zedekiah taken into exile and Judah was reduced to a province. Nebuchadnezzar had left Gedaliah as his governor, who was killed in one last revolt, and the few members of the ruling classes left from the kingdom of Judah took the prophets Jeremiah and Baruch with them as they fled to sanctuary in Egypt.

From the end of the kingdom to the present

After the end of the ancient kingdom the area passed into foreign rule, apart from brief periods, under the following powers:

• 586–539 BC: Babylonian Empire

• 539–332 BC: Persian Empire

• 332–305 BC: Empire of Alexander the Great

• 305–198 BC: Ptolemaics

• 198–141 BC: Seleucids

• 141–37 BC: The Hasmonean state in Israel established by the Maccabees, since 63 BC under Roman supremacy

• 37 BC–AD 70: Herodian Dynasty ruling Judea under Roman supremacy (37 BC-AD 6, AD 41-44), interchanging with direct Roman rule (6-41, 44-66). This ended in the first Jewish Revolt of 66 - 73, which saw the Temple destroyed in 70.

• AD 70–395: province of Roman Empire first called Judea, after 135 called Palaestina. In 395 the Roman Empire is split into a Western and an Eastern part.

• 395–638: Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire

• 638–1099: Arab Caliphates and subject rulers

• 1099–1187: Crusader states, most notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem

• 1187–1260: dominated by the Ayyubides of Egypt

• 1260–1516: dominated by the Mamluks of Egypt

• 1516–1917: Ottoman Turks, having previously conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453

• 1918–1948: British mandate of Palestine under, first, League of Nations, then, successor United Nations; the Emirate of Trans-Jordan was separated from the rest of Palestine in 1922, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan became independent upon the expiration of the League of Nations Mandate in 1946.

• May 1948 to present: independent State of Israel

• 1948-1967 the West Bank was occupied by, and in 1950 annexed to, Jordan. Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt
• 1967 to present: the West Bank and Gaza Strip occupied by Israel in the Six Day War, since :1994 a semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority governs territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

See also

• Government of ancient Israel
• History of ancient Israel and Judah
• Israel
• Judah
• Judea

External links

• The Jewish History Resource Center Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Complete Bible Genealogy A synchronized chart of the kings of Judah and Israel

• Ancient Israel and Judah
• Former monarchies of Asia