Editing Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) (section)

==History==
[[File:Achav_palace_2.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the royal palace of the [[Omrides|Omiride dynasty]] in the [[Samaria (ancient city)|city of Samaria]], which was the capital of Israel from 880 BCE to 720 BCE.]]

According to [[Israel Finkelstein]], [[Shoshenq I]]'s campaign in the second half of the 10th century BCE collapsed the early polity of [[Gibeon (ancient city)|Gibeon]] in central highlands, and made possible the beginning of the Northern Kingdom, with its capital at [[Shechem]],<ref>Finkelstein, Israel, (2022). [https://www.academia.edu/69280467 "The Impact of the Sheshonq I Campaign on the Territorial History of the Levant: An Update"], "[...] Sheshoq I campaign [...] brought the collapse of [...] an early Israelite polity in the central highlands and neighboring areas [and replaced it by] the Northern Kingdom in the Samaria highlands and the Jezreel Valley" (Abstract).</ref><ref>Finkelstein, Israel, (2022): "...In the central part of the country, [Shoshenq I's campaign] caused the decline of an early Israelite entity [Gibeon polity], probably the one memorized in the Bible as the House of Saul, and the rise of the Northern Kingdom, which was centered around Shechem and expanded, under pharaonic auspices, to the Jezreel--Beth-shean Valley..." (Summary).</ref> around 931 BCE. Israel consolidated as a kingdom in the first half of 9th century BCE,<ref>Finkelstein, Israel, (2020). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wH3-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 "Saul and Highlands of Benjamin Update: The Role of Jerusalem"], in Joachim J. Krause, Omer Sergi, and Kristin Weingart (eds.), ''Saul, Benjamin, and the Emergence of Monarchy in Israel: Biblical and Archaeological Perspectives'', SBL Press, Atlanta, GA, p. 48, footnote 57: "...They became territorial kingdoms later, Israel in the first half of the ninth century BCE and Judah in its second half..."</ref> with its capital at [[Tirzah (ancient city)|Tirzah]] first,{{sfn|Sergi|2023|p=77|ps=, "...almost one hundred years from the destruction of Shechem ...a new urban center emerged in the region, first and only for a short time at Tell el-Far'ah (North), identified as the biblical Tirzah (Albright 1925)..."}} and next at the city of [[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]] since 880 BCE. The existence of this [[Israelite]] state in the north is documented in [[9th century BCE]] inscriptions.{{sfn|Dever|2017|p=338}} The earliest mention is from the [[Kurkh Monoliths|Kurkh stela]] of c. 853 BCE, when [[Shalmaneser III]] mentions "Ahab the Israelite", plus the denominative for "land", and his ten thousand troops.{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72}} This kingdom would have included parts of the lowlands (the [[Shephelah]]), the Jezreel plain, lower Galilee and parts of the Transjordan.{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72}}

Ahab's forces were part of an anti-Assyrian coalition, implying that an urban elite ruled the kingdom, possessed a royal and state cult with large urban temples, and had scribes, mercenaries, and an administrative apparatus.{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72}} In all this, it was similar to other recently founded kingdoms of the time, such as [[Ammon]] and [[Moab]].{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72}} Samaria is one of the most universally accepted archaeological sites from the biblical period.<ref>See Yohanan Aharoni, et al. (1993) ''The Macmillan Bible Atlas'', p. 94, Macmillan Publishing: New York; and Amihai Mazar (1992) ''The Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: 10,000 – 586 B.C.E'', p. 404, New York: Doubleday, see pp. 406-410 for discussion of the archaeological significance of Shomron ([[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]]) under Omride Dynasty.</ref> In around 840 BCE, the [[Mesha Stele]] records the victory of [[Moab]] (in today's [[Jordan]]), under King [[Mesha]], over Israel, King [[Omri]] and his son [[Ahab]].<ref>{{Bibleverse|2|Kings|3|HE}}</ref>

Archaeological finds, ancient Near Eastern texts, and the biblical record testify that in the time of the [[Omrides]], Israel ruled in the mountainous [[Galilee]], at [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]] in the upper [[Jordan Valley]], in large parts of [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]] between the [[Wadi Mujib]] and the [[Yarmuk (river)|Yarmuk]], and in the coastal [[Sharon plain]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/949151323|year=2013|title=The forgotten kingdom: the archaeology and history of Northern Israel|isbn=978-1-58983-910-6|pages=74|oclc=949151323}}</ref>

In Assyrian inscriptions, the Kingdom of Israel is referred to as the "House of ʻ[[Omri]]".{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72}} The [[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]] mentions [[Jehu]], son of ʻOmri.{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72}} The [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian emperor]] [[Adad-nirari III]] made an expedition into the Levant around 803 BCE mentioned in the Nimrud slab, which lists the places he went to, sometimes using the apellative for "land", ''mat'': the [[Hattians|Hatti]] and [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru lands]], Tyre, Sidon, the ''mat'' of ''Hu-um-ri'' (<sup>''mat''</sup>''Hu-um-ri'', "land of ʻOmri"), [[Edom]], [[Philistia]], and [[Aram (region)|Aram]] (not Judah).{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72}} The [[Tell al-Rimah stela]] of the same king introduces a third way of talking about the kingdom, as Samaria, in the phrase "[[Jehoash of Israel|Joash of Samaria]]".{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=72-73}} The use of Omri's name to refer to the kingdom still survived, and was used by [[Sargon II]] in the phrase "the whole house of Omri" in describing his conquest of the city of Samaria in 722 BCE.{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=73}} It is significant that the Assyrians never mention the [[Kingdom of Judah]] until the end of the 8th century, when it was an Assyrian [[vassal state]]: possibly they never had contact with it, or possibly they regarded it as a vassal of Israel/Samaria or Aram, or possibly the southern kingdom did not exist during this period.{{sfn|Davies|2015|p=3}}