by Robert W. McDonald

Created on: November 20, 2009

When asked to provide brief history of ancient Israel many writers will take that assigned topic as carte blanche to compose some partisan polemic either in praise of, or roundly denouncing, the modern state of Israel. This essay will summarize the history of the former nation of Israel, beginning at the return of the Hebrews to Canaan after the Exodus from Egypt until the end of the Second Temple Era.

It is important to keep in mind that the "traditional" history of Israel as a nation is recorded in documents that are closely related to its religious heritage and that these documents were first composed several hundred years after the events which they purport to describe. This potential for a lack of historical accuracy is further exacerbated by the inclusion of numerous events that are attributed to the direct supernatural intervention of Israel's patron deity. Since the reality of such events is at best questionable, a literal reading of such records should be avoided.

The establishment of ancient Israel occurred during, and shortly after, the trans-national upheavals of the Bronze Age Collapse (ca 1200 BCE) created a "power vacuum" in the Jordan River valley and its adjacent highlands. The Israelites were able to exploit the existing political and social chaos to defeat the Canaanites city-states of the region with relative ease and then to establish the first "incarnation" of Israel as a confederacy organized by tribes according to the traditional 12 sons of the Patriarch Jacob.

Israel soon learned that some central authority was needed to coordinate matters of common interests to the existing tribal structure, primarily in the area of defense against invasion. The first solution was the appointment of a series of officials known as the Judges of Israel whose function was similar to that of the later office of Prime Minister. This proved to be only a temporary solution to the recurring problems that arose from matters both secular and religious. In turn, the Israelites selected (ca 1030 BCE) their first king: a warrior known as Saul.

Saul may have been an excellent warrior but he proved to be a less-than-successful monarch. After Saul's death in battle the nation's religious leaders chose another warrior, David, who was King of Judah at the time, to re-establish the monarchy over all of Israel. It is at this point that the history of Israel enters the realm of documented, verifiable facts.

David proved to be a wise ruler, but his son Solomon proved himself

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