Editing Canaan (section)

==== Kingdom of Israel and Judah ====
After the Israelite conquest of Canaan, Canaan existed as a [[kritarchy]] and later, a monarchy.<ref>{{cite encyclopaedia |last1=Zettler |first1=Howard G. |encyclopaedia=-Ologies and -isms: a thematic dictionary |article=kritarchy |publisher=[[Gale Research Company]] |year=1978 |isbn=9780810310148 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ologiesismsthema0000unse |language=en |page=84}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Hellweg |first1=Paul |encyclopedia=The Wordsworth Book of Intriguing Words |article=kritarchy |series=Wordsworth reference |publisher=Wordsworth |year=1993 |isbn=9781853263125 |language=en |page=71}}</ref> Under the Israelite monarchy, the Israelite tribes were united as [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|one kingdom]]. However, it split into the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the [[Kingdom of Judah]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1 Kings 12 NIV |via= Bible Gateway |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2012&version=NIV |access-date=2024-02-08 |archive-date=2024-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208091814/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2012&version=NIV |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 738 BC, the [[Neo-Assyrian empire]] conquered the Kingdom of Israel. In 586&nbsp;BC, the Kingdom of Judah was annexed into the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]. The city of [[Jerusalem]] fell after [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|a siege]] which lasted either eighteen or thirty months.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Malamat |first1=Abraham |title=The Last Kings of Judah and the Fall of Jerusalem: An Historical—Chronological Study |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |year=1968 |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=137–156 |jstor=27925138 |quote=The discrepancy between the length of the siege according to the regnal years of Zedekiah (years 9-11), on the one hand, and its length according to Jehoiachin's exile (years 9–12), on the other, can be cancelled out only by supposing the former to have been reckoned on a Tishri basis, and the latter on a Nisan basis. The difference of one year between the two is accounted for by the fact that the termination of the siege fell in the summer, between Nisan and Tishri, already in the 12th year according to the reckoning in Ezekiel, but still in Zedekiah's 11th year which was to end only in Tishri.}}</ref> By 586 BC, much of Judah was devastated, and the former kingdom suffered a steep decline of both economy and population.<ref name="Grabbe2004">{{cite book |last=Grabbe |first=Lester L. |author-link=Lester L. Grabbe |title=A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period |publisher=T&T Clark International |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VK2fEzruIn0C |volume=1 |isbn=978-0-567-08998-4 |page=28 |access-date=9 October 2018 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701141234/https://books.google.com/books?id=VK2fEzruIn0C |url-status=live }}</ref>