One traditional source for the history of the Kingdom of Israel has been the Hebrew Bible, especially the Books of
Kings and
Chronicles. These books were written by authors in
Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. Being written in a rival kingdom, they were inspired by ideological and theological viewpoints that influence the narrative. Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aram and the territories of the tribes of
Reuben,
Gad and
Manasseh in Gilead, including the desert outposts of
Jetur,
Naphish and
Nodab. People from these tribes, including the Reubenite leader, were taken captive and resettled in the region of the
Khabur River system, in
Halah, Habor, Hara and
Gozan (). Tiglath-Pilesar also captured the territory of
Naphtali and the city of
Janoah in
Ephraim, and an Assyrian governor was placed over the region of Naphtali. According to and , the population of Aram and the annexed part of Israel was deported to Assyria. of the people of the land of
Omri" (), as depicted on the
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III from 841 to 840 BCE. This is "the only portrayal we have in
ancient Near Eastern art of an Israelite or Judaean monarch." 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 more of the population was deported. Not all of Israel's populace was deported by the Assyrians. During the three-year siege of
Samaria in the territory of Ephraim by the Assyrians,
Shalmaneser V died and was succeeded by
Sargon II, who himself records the capture of that city thus: "Samaria I looked at, I captured; 27,280 men who dwelt in it I carried away" into Assyria. Thus, around 720 BCE, after two centuries, the northern kingdom came to an end. Some of the Israelite captives were resettled in the Khabur region, and the rest in the land of the
Medes, thus establishing Hebrew communities in
Ecbatana and
Rages. 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. The Hebrew Bible relates that the population of the Kingdom of Israel was exiled, becoming known as the
Ten Lost Tribes. To the south, the
Tribe of Judah, the
Tribe of Simeon (that was "absorbed" into Judah), the
Tribe of Benjamin and the people of the
Tribe of Levi, who lived among them of the original
Israelite nation, remained in the southern Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Judah continued to exist as an independent state until 586 BCE, when it was conquered by the
Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Samaritan tradition The tradition of the
Samaritan people states that much of the population of the Kingdom of Israel remained in place after the
Assyrian captivity, including the Tribes of Naphtali, Manasseh, Benjamin and Levi – being the progenitors of the modern Samaritans. Many members of these northern tribes also fled south to the Kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem seems 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. In their book
The Bible Unearthed, Israeli authors
Israel Finkelstein and
Neil Asher Silberman estimate that only a fifth (about 40,000) of the population of the northern Kingdom of Israel were actually resettled out of the area during the two deportation periods under
Tiglath-Pileser III and
Sargon II. , showing the routes of the deported population of Israel after the kingdom was conquered by the
Neo-Assyrian Empire in 720 BCE.
Religion The religion of the Kingdom of Israel appears to have followed two major trends. The first was the worship of
Yahweh; the religion of ancient Israel is sometimes referred to by modern scholars as
Yahwism. The reference in
Hosea 10 to Israel's "divided heart" may refer to these two cultic observances, although alternatively it may refer to hesitation between looking to Assyria and Egypt for support. The Jewish Bible also states that
Ahab allowed the cult worship of Baal to become acceptable within the kingdom. His wife
Jezebel was the daughter of the
Phoenician king of
Tyre and a devotee to Baal worship ().
Dynasties According to the Bible, the Northern Kingdom had 19 kings across 9 different dynasties throughout its 208 years of existence. or
Edwin R. Thiele, or the newer chronologies of
Gershon Galil and
Kenneth Kitchen, all of which are shown below. All dates are
BC/
BCE. ==Mentions of Israel/Samaria in Assyrian literature and inscriptions==