Editing Ancient history (section)

====Israel====
{{Main|History of Ancient Israel and Judah}}
[[File:Kingdoms of Israel and Judah map 830.svg|upright=0.9|thumb|The Iron Age Kingdom of Israel (blue) and Kingdom of Judah (yellow)]]

[[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] were related Iron Age kingdoms of the ancient Levant and had existed during the Iron Ages and the Neo-Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic periods. The name Israel first appears in the [[Merneptah stele|stele]] of the Egyptian pharaoh [[Merneptah]] around 1209&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Stager|1998|p=91}} This "Israel" was a cultural and probably political entity of the central highlands, well enough established to be perceived by the Egyptians as a possible challenge to their [[hegemony]], but an ethnic group rather than an organised state.{{sfn|Dever|2003|p=206}}

Israel had emerged by the middle of the 9th century BC, when the Assyrian King [[Shalmaneser III]] named "[[Ahab]] the Israelite" among his enemies at the [[battle of Qarqar]] (853). Judah emerged somewhat later than Israel, probably during the 9th century BC, but the subject is one of considerable controversy.{{sfn|Grabbe|2008|pp=225–226}} Israel came into conflict with the Assyrians, who conquered Israel in 722 BC. The [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] did the same to Judah in 586. After both conquests, the conquering forces deported many of the inhabitants to other regions of their respective empires.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=47}}

Following the fall of Babylon to the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great allowed the rebuilding of the temple at [[Jerusalem]],{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=156}} and some of the exiles from Judah [[Return to Zion|returned to Judea]],{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=48}} where they remained under Persian rule until the [[Maccabean revolt]] led to independence during Hellenistic period until [[Roman Republic|Roman conquest]].{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=248–249}}