Kingdoms of the Levant


The Israelite Tribes According to tradition, the Israelites were Semitic émigrés from southern Mesopotamia who left the city of Ur during the reign of Hammurabi, when the Amorite Babylonian Empire was at its height. They were also known as habiru (which became Hebrew) when they were invading Canaan through Edom and Moab, and penetrating as far north as Amurru in Syria. This term seems first to have been used for a range of outsiders, from unemployed farm labourers and vagrants to mounted mercenary archers. The context differed depending upon where the references were found. Although this term originally seems to have been used for any marginal people who lived outside state controls, there is nothing to preclude one such group becoming the later Hebrews.
c.1752 - 1750 BC	Terah	Began the exodus from Ur.
c.1750 BC	Terah leads his people to settle in Haran, a city far up and to the east of the Euphrates, near the Hittites.
c.1750 - 1700 BC	Abraham / Avram	Led the tribe to Canaan, close to Palestine.
c.1740 BC	Moab, first son of Lot and grandnephew of Abraham, gains the stretch of land between the River Arnon and the Brook of Zered on the coast of the Dead Sea. This area forms the kingdom of Moab.
c.1670 BC	Isaac	Son of Abraham.
c.1700 BC	Isaac gives Esau his birthright as eldest son: the land centered around Mount Seir from the Brook of Zered to the Sinai Peninsula, which becomes the kingdom of Edom.
c.1650 BC	Jacob	Son of Isaac.
c.1650 BC	The Israelites are presumed to descend into Egypt to escape famine just as Lower Egypt is invaded and governed by the Hyksos, probably making their entrance and acceptance there easier. They settle in the region of modern Cairo.

c.1314 - ? BC	Joseph	Leader of the Israelites in Egypt.
c.1230 BC	Moses leads the Israelites out of four hundred years of habitation within Egypt.
c.1230 - 1170 BC	Moses	Died after the conquest of Moab.
c.1170 - 1140s BC	Joshua.	Son of Nun. Leader during the Israelite Settlement Period.


The Israelite Settlement Period
1200 - 1020 BC	This is the period of Israelite settlement after the exodus from Egypt. At this time, there is general instability in the region: the Hittite Empire is destroyed in Anatolia, the Canaanites have been reduced to owning the shores of Lebanon (to eventually become the sea traders known as the Phoenicians), the Philistines are first settling on the lower coast, and various Neo-Hittite city states are arising in northern Syria, many of which come into contact with the Israelites. It has been strongly suggested that the Israelites themselves are Canaanites, and that the exodus never occurred. This theory seems to be backed up by archaeological finds. But, if it is true, the Old Testament affords us an almost unique look at the settlement of a people in the ancient Middle East. The Israelites had various dealings with the city states in the Dead Sea region of Canaan, include Hazor, Tyre, and others, and their conquests are listed as follows:

c.1200 BC	Arad the Canaanite	Ruled the south.
c.1200 BC	Sihon	King of Ammon. Lost the western territories of his kingdom.
c.1199 BC	Og	King of Basha, a city state above Moab.
c.1198 BC	Balak	King of Moab.
c.1198 BC	Balaam	A Midian king, an area of city states south of Edom.
c.1198 BC	Evi	A Midian king.
c.1198 BC	Rekem	A Midian king.
c.1198 BC	Zur	A Midian king.
c.1198 BC	Hur	A Midian king.
c.1198 BC	Reba	A Midian king.
c.1180 BC		King of Jericho.
c.1180 BC		King of Ai, near Beth-el.
c.1170s BC	Adonizedec	King of Shalem (Jerusalem (hebiru-Shalem)).	All of these are rulers of Canaanite city states situated in and around Judah and lower Syria.
	Adonizedec (Adoni Zedek) leads the fragmented Amorites against Joshua.
c.1170s BC	Hoham	King of Hebron (then called Kirjath-arba).
c.1170s BC	Piram	King of Jarmuth
c.1170s BC	Japhia	King of Lachish
c.1170s BC	Debir	King of Eglon
c.1170s BC	Horam	King of Gezer
c.1170s BC		King of Hormah
c.1170s BC		King of Arad
c.1170s BC		King of Libnah
c.1170s BC		King of Adullam
c.1170s BC		King of Makkedah
c.1170s BC		King of Beth-el
c.1170s BC		King of Tappuah
c.1170s BC		King of Hepher
c.1160s BC		King of Aphek
c.1160s BC		King of Lasharon
c.1160s BC	Jobab	King of Madon
c.1160s BC		King of Shimron-meron
c.1160s BC	Shimron	King of Achshaph
c.1160s BC		King of Taanach
c.1160s BC		King of Megiddo (the Bible's Armageddon).
c.1160s BC		King of Kadesh
c.1160s BC		King of Carmel
c.1160s BC		King of Dor
c.1160s BC		King of Gilgal
c.1160s BC		King of Tirzah. This city was later the original capital of Samaria.


Later City States of Canaan
c.1000 BC	Nahash	King of Ammon, attacked Jabesh-Gilead, defeated by Saul.


Time of the Judges The period of the Judges begins. These were nominal rulers who were possibly priests, who held authority over the twelve tribes. They were not actually called kings, but nevertheless, they did reign. The regnal lengths are as described in the Bible and appear to overlap with the above dates by about 75 years or so. At the time, Canaan was nominally under the governance of Egypt, but it was preoccupied with repulsing incursions by the Sea Peoples.
c.1216 - 1213 BC	Abimelech	Killed by his own people.
c.1213 - 1208 BC	Tola
c.1208 - 1186 BC	Jair
c.1186 - 1168 BC	The region is conquered and occupied by the Philistines.
c.1182 - 1175 BC	Jephthah
c.1175 - 1168 BC	Ibzan
c.1168 - 1158 BC	Elon
c.1158 - 1150 BC	Abdon
c.1150 BC	Israel is subdued by Moab.
c.1150 - 1110 BC	The Israelites are again conquered by the Philistines who maintain vassal kings in Israel.
c.1150? - 1130 BC	Manoah
c.1130 - 1110 BC	Samson	Died freeing Israel.
c.1110 - 1070 BC	Eli	Neck broken in an accident.
c.1100 BC	Israel is subdued by Jabin, 'king of Canaan', who rules from the northern city of Hazor.
c.1097 - 1095 BC	A civil war is fought in Israel.
c.1080 BC	Israel is subdued by the Midianites to the south.
c.1070 - 1040 BC	Samuel
c.1040 - 1035 BC	Joel & Abiah	Sons of Samuel.


Kingdom of Israel In circa 1035 the comparatively weak Israelites founded a kingdom under Saul. Once regained from the Philistines they made their capital the small walled city of Jerusalem.
c.1035 - 1005 BC	Saul	Kingdom founder. Deposed.
	Saul defeats Nahash, king of Ammon, after the citizens of Jabesh-Gilead call for assistance against the Ammonite army.
c.1005 - 965 BC	David
975 BC	David leads the Israelites to subdue the Philistines, regaining Jerusalem which he makes his capital.
c.966 BC	Work starts on the construction of the First Temple in Jerusalem.
965 BC	Adonijah	False king.
965 - 928 BC	Soloman	Son of David.
c.965? BC	Solomon meets the Queen of Sheba (Saba) and according to legend becomes the father of Menelik, founder of the Ethiopian Empire.
c.955 BC	The First Temple of Jerusalem is completed, apparently by craftsmen from Sidon, and houses the Ark of the Covenant. Soloman also enters into a matrimonial alliance with Sidon.
c.925 BC	Egyptian Pharaoh Shesonk mounts a full-scale invasion on the kingdom, but concentrates his efforts mainly on the north. Jerusalem is relatively untouched following a short siege by the invaders. The Ark of the Covenant, contrary to some opinion, is not taken to Egypt.
928 BC	Rehoboam	Son of Soloman.
928 - 925 BC	The ten tribes of the north refuse to accept Rehoboam and civil war ensues. Rehoboam is left with just the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south as the kingdom divides into Israel & Judah.


Kingdom of Israel / Samaria Following the civil war which divided Israel, the capital of the rebellious north was initially Tirza (Tirzah), which the Israelites had conquered in the 1160s during the Settlement Period, but from 881 BC it became Samaria.
928 - 907 BC	Jeroboam	Son of Nebat.
906 - 905 BC	Nadab	Son. Killed by Philistines.
905 - 883 BC	Baasha
883 - 881 BC	Elah	Son. Murdered by the captain of chariots.
881 BC	Zimri	Ruled for seven days. Suicide.
881 - 870 BC	Omri	Oppressor of the Moabites.
c.880 - 850 BC	Moab is oppressed by the Israelites under Omri and his son, Ahab. This is the first mention of Israelite rulers outside of the Old Testament.
870 - 848 BC	Ahab	Son. m.dau of king of Tyre. Killed by Assyrians.
853 BC	Ahab and eleven other local kings, including Ben-Hadad of Damascus, fight Shalmaneser III of Assyria in a battle which consists of the largest known number of combatants to date, and is the first historical mention of the Arabs from the southern deserts.
848 - 847 BC	Ahaziah	Son.
847 - 842 BC	Joram/Jehoram	Son of Ahab. Killed by Jehu.
842 - 814 BC	Jehu
c.840 BC	Despite Old Testament claims to the contrary, Moab defeats Israel. Damascus also takes all the Hebrew possessions east of the Jordan, ravaging Judah, and rendering Israel impotent.
814 - 800 BC	Jehoahaz	Son.
800 - 784 BC	Jehoash	Son.
784 - 748 BC	Jeroboam II	Son.
748 BC	Zachariah	Son. Ruled for 6 months.
748 BC	Shallum	Ruled for 1 month. Killed.
748 - 738 BC	Menachem	Son of Gadi.
738 - 733 BC	Pekahiah	Son.
733 - 732 BC	Pekah	Son of Remaliah.
732 - 723 BC	Hoshea
722 - 721 BC	Samaria (Israel) falls to Assyria. The ten (of twelve) Hebrew tribes in Israel are relocated by the Assyrians (27,219 inhabitants in all), and may have been massacred by them, although it now seems more likely that they were eventually absorbed into general Assyrian society.


Kingdom of Judah From 925 BC Jerusalem was the capital of the southern division of two of the twelve Israelite tribes. After the fall of Samaria in 721 BC and the conquests by Assyria, Judah became the sole surviving Israelite state, existing only in Jerusalem, the rest of its former lands now being under Assyrian occupation. Its population was swelled by the pouring in of refugees escaping the Assyrian rule of Samaria (later known as Samaritans). Only now did Jerusalem swell to become a great city.
928 - 911 BC	Rehoboam	Retained only the southern part of the former united kingdom.
911 - 908 BC	Abijam	Son. Fought against Israel.
908 - 867 BC	Asa	Son.
871 - 841 BC	Jehoshaphat	Son. Joint rule for five years.
846 - 843 BC	Jehoram	Son.
843 - 842 BC	Ahaziah	Son.
842 - 836 BC	Athaliah	Queen. Mother of Ahaziah.
c.840 BC	Despite Old Testament claims to the contrary, Moab defeats Israel. Damascus also takes all the Hebrew possessions east of the Jordan, ravaging Judah, and rendering Israel impotent.
836 - 798 BC	Joash	Son of Ahaziah of Judah.
798 - 781 BC	Amaziah	Son. Murdered.
781 - 740 BC	Uzziah / Azariah	Son.
740 BC	Uzziah is struck with leprosy in front of the Ark of the Covenant and dies soon afterwards.
740 - 736 BC	Jotham	Son.
736 - 716 BC	Ahaz	Son.
721 BC	Sennacherib of Assyria conquers all of Israel and Judah except the city of Jerusalem itself, to which he lays siege. As documented by Isaiah (who wrote the Book of Isaiah chapters 1-39 himself at this time), Hezekiah addresses the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple of Solomon and Sennacherib's forces are decimated, whether by plague or the power of the Ark itself is unknown. With much of the rest of the Israelite lands remaining occupied, the Jewish faith and their god, Yahweh, survive only in this one small pocket which is now little more than a city state.
716 - 687 BC	Hezekiah	Lands reduced.
716 - 702 BC	Hezekiah has dealings with the usurper king of Babylonia, Mardukapaliddina II (Merodach-Baladan), between these dates.
687 - 642 BC	Manasseh	Son of Hezekiah. Crowned at the age of twelve.
687 - 642 BC	The first Jewish monarch to turn his back on the established faith, Manasseh introduces pagan idols and worship, and persecutes the prophets, leading a sustained campaign against the worship of Yahweh. It seems possible that the Ark of the Covenant is withdrawn from Jerusalem by 650 BC by its Levite protectors. At the same time, Israelites are known to have settled in Egypt, on the island of Elephantine.
642 - 640 BC	Amon	Son. Assassinated by royal household for his paganism.
640 - 609 BC	Josiah	Son. Killed by Nech of Egypt.
640 - 609 BC	Josiah is aged eight when he succeeds to the throne. The Bible books Deuteronomy and I Kings are compiled during his reign, which sees a return to established religious practices - with some modernising - but the king is later killed fighting Egypt.
c.626 BC	Jeremiah composes at least part of his eponymous Biblical book at the start of his prophetic ministry.
609 - 608 BC	Jehoahaz II	Third son of Josiah. Ruled for 3 months.
608 BC	Necho of Babylon deposes Jehoahaz.
608 - 597 BC	Jehoiakim	Son of Josiah. Rebellion against Babylonian rule.
597 BC	Jehoiachin	Son. Ruled 3 months. Taken into captivity in Babylon.
597 BC	Nebuchadnezzar invades and occupies Jerusalem, showing no hesitation in stripping the city of its treasures. The Judeans are made vassals under Babylonia, and 10,000 subjects are shipped to Babylon.
597 - 586 BC	Zedekiah	Son of Josiah. Babylonian puppet king.
587/586 BC	Zedekiah rebels against Babylonian overlordship and Jerusalem is sacked by Babylonia. The occupants are moved to Babylon. Judah becomes a province of Babylon. The First Temple is burnt to the ground after being pillaged.


Babylonian Governor of Judah
586 BC	Gedaliah	Killed by remaining populace.
586 - 538 BC	Jehoiachin and his successors are termed princes of Judah while the tribes are held in Babylon.


Princes of Judah in Exile This was a period of occupation and overlordship for Judah, firstly from Babylonia, then Persia, the Greek Empire, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Seleucid Empire in Syria, before the Maccabaean revolt gave the Judeans a small free state once again.
597 - 560 BC	Jehoiachin
560 - after 539 BC	Sheshbazzar
539 - 538 BC	Persia's Cyrus the Great enters Babylon. Cyrus adopts an enlightened attitude to his subjects and allows the Judeans to return to Jerusalem, after officially handing over all their captured idols and treasures.
537 BC	Construction of the Second Temple begins in Jerusalem, sited over the ruins of the First Temple.
c.517 BC	The Second Temple is completed and the population at last know for certain that the Ark of the Covenant has been lost when it is not available to be re-sited inside the new Temple's Holy of Holies. Already having doubts, they had known that it had not been taken into captivity with them.
444 BC	Nechemiah rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem.
400 BC	Correspondence between the Jewish community at Elephantine in Egypt and Jerusalem ceases.
332 BC	Judah is captured by Alexander the Great's Greek Empire. and then falls under the control of Ptolemaic Egypt.
312 BC	Alexander's former general, Ptolemy of Egypt, conquers Jerusalem and grants the people autonomy.
198 BC	Palestine passes from Egypt to the Seleucid Empire.
167 BC	Jerusalem is defiled by Antiochus IV. The Maccabaean revolt begins and a splinter state of Judea is formed, governed by rulers who do not belong to the Israelite royal houses.


Hasmonaean (Jewish Independent / Maccabean) Dynasty 165 - 37 BC Antiochus IV tries to introduce Hellenic culture into Jerusalem. The resulting Maccabaean revolt splits Judea away from Seleucid control, and the Jews recreate their own independent state based around Jerusalem.
165 - 161 BC	Judas Maccabeus	Freed Judea from Seleucid rule.
161 - 142 BC	Jonathan
142 - 134 BC	Simon
134 - 104 BC	John Hyrcanus I
104 - 103 BC	Aristobulus I
103 - 76 BC	Alexander Jannæus
76 - 67 BC	Alexandra	Wife.
67 - 63 BC	Aristobulus II	Son.
63 - ?40 BC	Hyrcanus II	Brother.
63 BC	Rome invades Palestine, making it a province. Hyrcanus rules by Roman decree.
37 BC	The Herodite Dynasty, originating from Edom, is set up to control the area as a puppet state.


Herodite Dynasty 37 BC - AD 44?
37 - 4 BC	Herod the Great	Brought in from Edom to rule.
37 BC	Herod begins the renovation of the Temple, and the expansion of the Temple Mount.
4 BC - AD 6	Herod Archelaus	Son of Herod. Puppet under Roman Procurator's rule.
?6 - 34	Philip	Son of Herod. Puppet.
26 - 30	Pontius Pilate is appointed as the Roman procurator of Judea in AD 26. In circa AD 33, Jesus is crucified by the Jewish government, overseen by the Romans.
?34 - 39	Herod Antipas	Son of Herod. Puppet.
?39 - 44	Agrippa I	Grandson of Herod. Puppet.
40 - 43	Apostle Peter leads the first Christians in Galilee in AD 40. By the following year, the expansion of Jerusalem continues under Agrippa l. James leads the Jerusalem Christian community in AD 43.
66 - 73	The First Jewish Uprising. Revolt against Rome leads to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (AD 70). The Roman general Titus crushes the revolt, and many Jews are taken as captives to Rome. In AD 68, Josephus begins his History of the Jewish War. By AD 73, the revolt reaches its bloody conclusion at the Masada fortress near the Dead Sea, when it is finally captured by Rome after the defenders commit mass suicide.
132 - 135	The Second Jewish Uprising is led by Simon Bar Kochba against Roman rule. He captures Jerusalem and establishes an independent state. Roman armies under Hadrian raze Jerusalem and Rome builds a new city on the site, named Aelia Capitolina. A Roman template dedicated to Jupiter is built on the site of the Jewish temple. The Jews are driven out of Jerusalem. (By 136, although the Romans forbid Jews to enter Jerusalem, Christian pilgrims are permitted entrance.)
170	The centre of Jewish life moves to Galilee. Rabbi Judah HaNasi presides over a reconstituted Sanhedrin, or high court.
305	Palestine falls under jurisdiction of Eastern Roman Empire.
638	Jerusalem falls to the Islamic Empire.
1071 - 1099	Jerusalem is conquered by Seljuq Turks.
1096 - 1244	The First Crusade. The County of Edessa is created in 1098. Jerusalem is captured in 1099.
1244 - 1916	Judah is ruled by the Abuyyids and then the Ottoman Empire.


Modern Israel & Palestine
1697 - 1842	The Shihabi Amirs of Lebanon become semi-independent.
1916 - 1947	Palestine is passed from the crumbling Ottomans to the British Empire.
1948	The declaration of the State of Israel takes place.
1967	The Yom Kippur War sees Egypt and Jordan fighting Israel. Jordan loses the West Bank, a third of the kingdom.
1988	The displaced Palestinians recognise the state of Israel.
1996 - Present	The semi-autonomous state of Palestine is set up by a joint Israeli/Palestinian/United States of America deal.

Middle East Kingdoms

Central Levant States