P rofessor Finkelstein summarizes the lengthy time span that covers the late-tenth century to the late-eighth century B.C.E. in the Cisjordanian region in four episodes: the emergence of a settlement hierarchy first in the northern highlands; the eventual establishment of the Omride state there; the subsequent development of the southern highlands; and, finally, the sudden growth of Judah following the demise of the north. This is the period that has been viewed traditionally as the last remaining period of political viability for both the northern and southern hill country populations until their respective, and successive, devastations at the hands of the Assyrians (in the north) and then the Babylonians (in the south).
In the northern hill country, the majority of the 250 or so Iron I sites thus far identified continued to be populated throughout the Iron II period. The one exception is the area immediately north of Jerusalem. Finkelstein identified this area as the one that the Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonq also campaigned against in the mid- to late-tenth century B.C.E. The sites in his campaign list from Karnak coincide with the archaeological data pointing to the abandonment of sites in this area. For Finkelstein, this means that this area, which also coincides with the biblical traditions that describe the region surrounding Gibeon, must have posed a threat to Egypt. When these data are viewed together, Finkelstein argues that this can best be understood as the historical background for the biblical traditions’ portrayal of the emerging polity of Saul—a chiefdom of sorts—centered at Gibeon. For Finkelstein, archaeology, an extrabiblical written source (Sheshonq’s list), and the biblical traditions (for example, 2 Sam 2:9) all converge in support of this proposal. He then employs it as a means of explaining or providing background to several other biblical texts relating to Saul and his times. In the end, he concludes that the Egyptian campaign resulted in the sudden demise of this political entity, namely, the Saulide chiefdom, but that it was soon replaced by another emergent power based farther north in Samaria, that of the Omrides.
For Finkelstein, the northern hill country reached full statehood in the days of the Omride dynasty of the early-ninth century. This finds confirmation in the archaeological data (Samaria, Jezreel, Megiddo, Hazor), extra-biblical written sources (the inscriptions of Shalmaneser III, Mesha, and Hazael) and the biblical traditions. It was not an entirely unique development however, as many aspects of this developing polity had their parallels or aspirations anticipated in the fourteenth century B.C.E. Amarna-period flourishing of Shechem and its ruler, Labayu. Finkelstein also notes that pressures from the east—Assyria—and from the local region—Aram—were important factors in the burgeoning of the north and the emergence of the Omride state, but also that these factors also led to its eventual demise.
As the pressures from Aram increased in the latter part of the ninth century, the Omride dynasty lost power over the wider area, as did the Philistines farther south. As Omride and Philistine control of regions farther south eased, those regions were able to grow and develop. Finkelstein proposes that this background best explains the emergence of Judah as a state in the late-ninth century and continuing into the early-eighth century. By the late-eighth century, Jerusalem had grown to be the largest city in Judah and with the eventual destruction of the northern state by the Assyrians, Judah experienced a surge in growth, first as a result of being incorporated into the global Assyrian economy, and then as the outgrowth of the sudden appearance of at least two waves of refugees from Israel. Archaeological surveys suggest that the majority of those refugees apparently came from the southern portions of the Northern Kingdom, near where the memories and traditions of the older Saulide chiefdom that had concerned Pharaoh Sheshonq originated and, perhaps, still persisted. This would explain for Finkelstein two subsequent developments—the need for Judahite kings like Hezekiah to consolidate and centralize the Southern Kingdom against the backdrop of the sudden and sizeable appearance of a northern population in the south, and the preservation of northern traditions (for example, in the Deuteronomistic History), but also ultimately, the subversion of those traditions via what Finkelstein labels an apologia for the Davidides by its pro-southern writers. For Finkelstein, this apologia served to bolster what he referred to earlier as the pan-Israelite ideology of the Southern Kingdom and the attempt to reconcile and unify north and south within Judah, with primacy, of course, given to the latter (rather than within, and to, the former northern territories).
Professor Mazar reviews the archaeological evidence that has been recovered over the past few decades and its increasing contribution to our understanding of the later stages of the Iron II period (930–586 B.C.E. ), or what scholars often refer to as the period of the Divided Monarchy in the biblical narration based on the narration in the Bible of a split between the northern half of the country, Israel, and the south, Judah. He then turns his focus to three areas where major advances have been made in recent years; the emergence of Judah as a polity over against Israel, the impact of warfare on everyday life, and some rather new developments within Israelite religion. Mazar argues that Judah, like Israel, emerged as a state in the ninth century and not later, in the eighth, although Judah was undoubtedly poorer and smaller than its contemporary counterpart. By the eighth to seventh centuries, literacy was sufficiently developed to have resulted in the writing of various biblical and other literary texts. The technology of warfare led to the development of massive fortifications and sophisticated water supply systems, the latter being unique to the immediate area. Warfare also fortuitously preserved many artifacts, lifeways, and writings in its destruction layers, many of which we would otherwise be without. Mazar concludes his survey of Iron II society by noting the contribution of archaeology to modern understandings of Israel’s religion, specifically its strong Canaanite or indigenous orientation (more so in the north than in the south), the prominence of the goddess Asherah, and the apparently late rise of monotheism. He also surveys some fragmented archaeological details of temple plans and various pieces of evidence for local cult practice such as figurines and standing stones.