Editing History of Israel (section)

===Babylonian period (587–538 BCE)===
{{Main|Judah's revolts against Babylon|Babylonian captivity|Yehud (Babylonian province)}}

====First revolt, 597 defeat====
During the late 7th century BCE, Judah became a [[vassal state]] of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]. In 601 BCE, [[Jehoiakim]] of Judah allied with Babylon's principal rival, Egypt, despite the strong remonstrances of the prophet [[Jeremiah]].<ref name="Bickerman-2007">{{Cite book |last=Bickerman |first=E. J. |url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789047420729/Bej.9789004152946.i-1242_044.xml |title=Nebuchadnezzar And Jerusalem |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-474-2072-9 |language=en |archive-date=29 September 2022 |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929010536/https://brill.com/view/book/9789047420729/Bej.9789004152946.i-1242_044.xml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Malamat, A. (1975, January). The twilight of Judah: in the Egyptian-Babylonian maelstrom. In ''Congress Volume Edinburgh 1974'' (pp. 123–145). Brill.</ref> As a punishment, the Babylonians [[Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC)|besieged Jerusalem]] in 597 BCE, and the city surrendered.<ref name="Bickerman-2007" /><ref>Geoffrey Wigoder, ''The Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible'' Pub. by Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. (2006)</ref> The defeat was [[Babylonian Chronicles|recorded by the Babylonians]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Cuneiform tablet with part of the Babylonian Chronicle (605-594 BC) |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/cuneiform_nebuchadnezzar_ii.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030154541/https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/cuneiform_nebuchadnezzar_ii.aspx |archive-date=30 October 2014 |access-date=30 October 2014 |website=[[British Museum]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chronicle Concerning the Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar II |url=https://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc5/jerusalem.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505195611/https://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc5/jerusalem.html |archive-date=5 May 2019 |access-date=20 January 2019 |website=www.livius.org}}</ref> Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and deported king Jechoiachin ([[Jeconiah]]), along with other prominent citizens, to Babylon; [[Zedekiah]], his uncle, was installed as king.<ref name="Bickerman-2007" /><ref>''The Oxford History of the Biblical World'', ed. by Michael D Coogan. Published by Oxford University Press, 1999. p. 350</ref>

A few years later, Zedekiah launched another revolt against Babylon, and an army was sent to conquer Jerusalem.<ref name="Bickerman-2007" />

====Second revolt, 587/86 defeat====
[[File:מסע גולי בבל.jpg|thumb|The route of the exiles to [[Babylon]]]]

In 587 or 586 BCE, King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] of Babylon [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|conquered Jerusalem]], destroyed the First Temple and razed the city.<ref name="Bickerman-2007" /><ref name="Lipschits-1999">{{Cite journal |last=Lipschits |first=Oded |date=1999 |title=The History of the Benjamin Region under Babylonian Rule |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/tav.1999.1999.2.155 |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=155–190 |doi=10.1179/tav.1999.1999.2.155 |issn=0334-4355 |quote=The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (586 B.C.E.) is the most traumatic event described in biblical historiography, and in its shadow the history of the people of Israel was reshaped. The harsh impression of the destruction left its mark on the prophetic literature also, and particular force is retained in the laments over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in its midst. [...] most of Judah's inhabitants remained there after the destruction of Jerusalem. They concentrated chiefly in the Benjamin region and the northern Judean hill country. This area was hardly affected by the destruction, and became the centre of the Babylonian province with its capital at Mizpah. [...] The archaeological data reinforce the biblical account, and they indicate that Jerusalem and its close environs suffered a severe blow. Most of the small settlements near the city were destroyed, the city wall was demolished, and the buildings within were put to the torch. Excavation and survey data show that the western border of the kingdom also sustained a grave onslaught, seemingly at the time when the Babylonians went to besiege Jerusalem. |archive-date=29 January 2023 |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129114640/https://dx.doi.org/10.1179%2Ftav.1999.1999.2.155 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Finkelstein-2002">{{Cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44509358 |title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts |last2=Silberman |first2=Neil Asher |publisher=Free Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-684-86912-8 |location=New York |pages=307 |oclc=44509358 |quote=Intensive excavations throughout Jerusalem have shown that the city was indeed systematically destroyed by the Babylonians. The conflagration seems to have been general. When activity on the ridge of the City of David resumed in the Persian period, the-new suburbs on the western hill that had flourished since at least the time of Hezekiah were not reoccupied. |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326034659/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44509358 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Kingdom of Judah was abolished, and many of its citizens were [[Babylonian captivity|exiled to Babylon]]. The former territory of Judah became a Babylonian province called [[Yehud (Babylonian province)|Yehud]] with its center in [[Mizpah in Benjamin|Mizpah]], north of the destroyed Jerusalem.<ref name="Lipschits-1999" />

====Babylonian diaspora after 587/86 BCE====
[[Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets|Tablets that describe King Jehoiachin's rations]] were found in the ruins of Babylon. He was eventually released by the Babylonians. According to both the Bible and the Talmud, the [[Davidic line|Davidic dynasty]] continued as head of [[History of the Jews in Iraq|Babylonian Jewry]], called the [[Exilarch|"Rosh Galut"]] (exilarch or head of exile). Arab and Jewish sources show that the ''Rosh Galut'' continued to exist for another 1,500 years in what is now Iraq, ending in the eleventh century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Exilarchs |url=http://www.peerage.org/genealogy/exilarch.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916005541/http://www.peerage.org/genealogy/exilarch.htm |archive-date=16 September 2009 |access-date=23 September 2018}}</ref>