The Ancient Levant – First Temple Period c. 970–586 BC

The Ancient Levant – First Temple Period c. 970–586 BC is one of the Historical Periods options in Section IV (25 marks). You write one extended response (one of two alternatives), about 1,000 words. Study the period through the archaeological and written evidence, organised around:

• Historical context: the geography of the Levant — Israel, Judah, Phoenicia, Aram-Damascus, Philistia, Moab, Ammon and Edom — and the great powers around it (Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia).
• The nature of power and authority: kingship in Israel and Judah; the Temple and religion; prophets; administration and the army.
• Significant developments: the reign of Solomon and the division of the kingdom; the house of Omri; Jehu; Assyrian expansion and the fall of Samaria (about 722–720); Hezekiah and Sennacherib (701); Manasseh and Josiah; the fall of Jerusalem (597 and 587/586).
• Evidence and interpretations: the Hebrew Bible (Kings, Chronicles, the prophets), inscriptions (Mesha, Tel Dan, Siloam), Assyrian and Babylonian records, and archaeology.

All dates are BC and many are approximate; biblical dates are reconstructed and debated.

• Israel (the northern kingdom): larger and richer; capitals at Shechem, Tirzah and then Samaria (from Omri).
• Judah (the southern kingdom): smaller; capital Jerusalem with the Temple; ruled by the house of David.
• Phoenicia: trading cities — Tyre, Sidon, Byblos — cedar, purple dye, crafts; colonies such as Kition and Carthage (traditionally 814/813).
• Aram-Damascus: the main rival of Israel in the 9th century.
• Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom: neighbouring kingdoms, sometimes subject to Israel or Judah.

Kingship

• The king as YHWH's anointed; the promise to the house of David (2 Samuel 7); royal shrines.
• Military power: chariots (Ahab's 2,000 at Qarqar), fortified cities (Samaria, Megiddo, Hazor, Lachish — dating of some building debated).
• Administration: districts and forced labour (1 Kings 4–5), the Samaria ostraca (8th century), lmlk (‘belonging to the king’) jar handles in Judah, seals and bullae of officials, the Arad and Lachish ostraca.
• Stability: Judah's single dynasty versus repeated coups in Israel (Baasha, Omri, Jehu).

Religion and prophets

• The Temple in Jerusalem as a royal sanctuary; Bethel and Dan in Israel.
• Worship of YHWH alongside other gods (Baal, Asherah) in practice; inscriptions from Kuntillet Ajrud mention ‘YHWH and his Asherah’ (interpretation debated).
• Prophets (Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah) advised and criticised kings, condemned injustice and interpreted events as divine judgement or deliverance.
• Reforms: Hezekiah (2 Kings 18) and Josiah (2 Kings 22–23): worship centralised in Jerusalem after the finding of a ‘book of the law’, often linked with Deuteronomy.

• Assyria: from tribute (9th century) to annexation and deportation (8th century). Judah survived as a vassal. Effects: the end of the northern kingdom; refugees and growth of Jerusalem; Judah's economy drawn into the empire.
• Egypt: Shoshenq I's campaign (about 925); later a hoped-for ally against Assyria and Babylon; Necho II killed Josiah (609) and deposed Jehoahaz.
• Babylonia: Carchemish (605); Jerusalem captured (597) and destroyed (587/586).

• The Hebrew Bible: the books of Kings (probably compiled in Judah in the late 7th and 6th centuries, judging kings by loyalty to YHWH and the Jerusalem Temple), Chronicles (later, Judean focus), and the prophets. Use them as sources with a religious viewpoint, comparing them with other evidence; write about them respectfully.
• Non-biblical inscriptions: the Mesha Stele (Moab, about 840), the Tel Dan Stele (Aram, 9th century), the Kurkh Monolith and Black Obelisk (Assyria), Sennacherib's annals and the Lachish reliefs, the Siloam inscription, the Babylonian Chronicle, the Lachish letters (about 588).
• Archaeology: Samaria, Megiddo, Hazor, Jerusalem, Lachish (level III destroyed in 701), the Arad shrine.
• Debates (credited if used): the size of the 10th-century kingdom of David and Solomon (the ‘low chronology’ debate, e.g. Israel Finkelstein versus scholars who accept a larger kingdom); whether major buildings at Megiddo and Hazor are Solomonic or Omride; how religion developed towards worship of YHWH alone.

1. Unpack the question: the command verb and the focus (kingship, prophets, Assyria, a dynasty, the fall of a kingdom).
2. Thesis: a clear judgement at the start.
3. Paragraphs by argument, using biblical and non-biblical evidence together.
4. Evaluate sources: who wrote, when and why — the Bible, Assyrian annals and Moabite or Aramean inscriptions all have viewpoints.
5. Conclusion: answer the question.

• Confusing Israel (north) with Judah (south), or the fall of Samaria (Assyria) with the fall of Jerusalem (Babylon).
• Treating either the Bible or the Assyrian annals as neutral.
• Forgetting the neighbours (Phoenicia, Aram, Moab) when the option is about the whole Levant.
• Treating debated datings as settled facts.
• Mixing up 597 (first capture) and 587/586 (destruction).

• Anchor dates: about 930, 853, 841, 722–720, 701, 622, 609, 605, 597, 587/586.
• Use terms accurately: monarchy, dynasty, vassal, tribute, deportation, prophet, covenant, reform, exile.
• Quote short phrases from inscriptions (e.g. ‘like a bird in a cage’) and say whose view they give.

• Society in Israel from Solomon to the fall of Samaria (Ancient Societies): daily life and society in the same period.
• Sennacherib (Personalities): the Assyrian king of 701.
• Persia: Cyrus II to the death of Darius III: the return from exile after 539.