Editing History of Israel (section)

====Assyrian invasions====
{{See also|Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III|Sennacherib's Annals|Resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire}}
[[File:Map of Assyria.png|thumb|[[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] at its greatest territorial extent.]]
[[Tiglath-Pileser III]] of Assyria invaded Israel in around 732 BCE.<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:29|HE}} {{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|5:26|HE}}</ref> The Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians following a long siege of the capital [[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]] around 720 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schipper |first=Bernd U. |title=A Concise History of Ancient Israel |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781646020294-007/html |chapter=Chapter 3 Israel and Judah from 926/925 to the Conquest of Samaria in 722/720 BCE |date=2021-05-25 |pages=34–54 |publisher=Penn State University Press |isbn=978-1-64602-029-4 |language=en |doi=10.1515/9781646020294-007}}</ref> The records of [[Sargon II]] of [[Assyria]] indicate that he captured Samaria and deported 27,290 inhabitants to Mesopotamia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Younger |first=K. Lawson |date=1998 |title=The Deportations of the Israelites |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3266980 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=117 |issue=2 |pages=201–227 |doi=10.2307/3266980 |jstor=3266980 |issn=0021-9231}}</ref> It is likely that Shalmaneser captured the city since both the Babylonian Chronicles and the Hebrew Bible viewed the fall of Israel as the signature event of his reign.{{Sfn|Yamada|Yamada|2017|p=|pp=408–409}} The [[Resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrian deportations]] became the basis for the [[Jews|Jewish]] idea of the [[Ten Lost Tribes]]. Foreign groups were settled by the Assyrians in the territories of the fallen kingdom.<ref name="Israel-2013">{{Cite book |last=Israel |first=Finkelstein |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/949151323 |title=The forgotten kingdom : the archaeology and history of Northern Israel |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-58983-910-6 |pages=158 |oclc=949151323 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |access-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409160932/https://worldcat.org/oclc/949151323 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Samaritans]] claim to be descended from [[Israelites]] of ancient Samaria who were not expelled by the Assyrians.
[[File:IMJ_view_20130115_202742.jpg|thumb|Detail of the [[Siloam inscription]]]]
It is believed that refugees from the destruction of Israel moved to Judah, massively expanding Jerusalem and leading to construction of the [[Siloam Tunnel]] during the rule of King [[Hezekiah]] (ruled 715–686 BCE).<ref>{{cite book |last=Broshi |first=Maguen |title=Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etTUEorS1zMC&pg=PA174 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2001 |page=174 |isbn=1841272019 |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-date=9 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109101759/https://books.google.com/books?id=etTUEorS1zMC&pg=PA174 |url-status=live }}</ref> The tunnel could provide water during a siege and its construction is described in the Bible.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|20:20|HE}}</ref> The [[Siloam inscription]], a plaque written in Hebrew left by the construction team, was discovered in the tunnel in 1880s, and is today held by the [[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Siloam Inscription |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13662-siloam-inscription |year=1906 |access-date=21 January 2021 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123090052/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13662-siloam-inscription |url-status=live }}</ref>

During Hezekiah's rule, [[Sennacherib]], the son of Sargon, [[Sennacherib's campaign in the Levant|attempted but failed to capture Judah]]. [[Taylor prism|Assyrian records]] say that Sennacherib levelled 46 walled cities and [[Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem|besieged Jerusalem]], leaving after receiving extensive [[tribute]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/372815|title=Sennacherib recounts his triumphs |website=The Israel Museum|date=17 February 2021|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=28 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128061658/https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/372815 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sennacherib erected the [[Lachish reliefs]] in [[Nineveh]] to commemorate a second victory at [[Lachish]].
[[File:LMLK,_Ezekiah_seals.jpg|thumb|"[[Hezekiah]] ... king of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]" – [[Seal (emblem)|Royal seal]] written in the [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet]], unearthed in Jerusalem]]
The writings of four different "[[prophet]]s" are believed to date from this period: [[Hosea]] and [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] in Israel and [[Micah (prophet)|Micah]] and [[Isaiah]] of Judah. These men were mostly social critics who warned of the Assyrian threat and acted as religious spokesmen. They exercised some form of [[free speech]] and may have played a significant social and political role in Israel and Judah.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holladay |first=John S. |date=1970 |title=Assyrian Statecraft and the Prophets of Israel |journal=The Harvard Theological Review |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=29–51 |doi=10.1017/S0017816000004016 |jstor=1508994 |s2cid=162713432 |issn=0017-8160}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Edelman |first1=Diana Vikander |last2=Zvi |first2=Ehud Ben |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWTfBQAAQBAJ&dq=The+Concept+of+Prophetic+Books+and+Its+Historical+Setting&pg=PA73 |title=The Production of Prophecy: Constructing Prophecy and Prophets in Yehud |date=2014-12-18 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-49031-9 |pages=73 |language=en}}</ref> They urged rulers and the general populace to adhere to [[Ethical monotheism|god-conscious ethical ideals]], seeing the Assyrian invasions as a divine punishment of the collective resulting from ethical failures.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=Robert P. |title="The place is too small for us": the Israelite prophets in recent scholarship |date=1995 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=1-57506-000-0 |pages=15–26 |oclc=1203457109}}</ref>

Under King [[Josiah]] (ruler from 641 to 619 BCE), the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] was either rediscovered or written. The [[Book of Joshua]] and the accounts of the kingship of David and Solomon in the [[Books of Kings|Book of Kings]] are believed to have the same author. The books are known as [[Deuteronomist]] and considered to be a key step in the emergence of [[monotheism]] in Judah. They emerged at a time that Assyria was weakened by the emergence of Babylon and may be a committing to text of pre-writing verbal traditions.<ref>The Social Roots of Biblical Yahwism by Stephen Cook, SBL 2004, p. 58</ref>