Was israel founded in 1000 bce?

Answer 1

There is not a universally recognized consensus among the historians upon who Ancient Hebrews- the forefathers of Jews and Israelis- were. Some say they were those same Canaanites, while others maintain the opinion that they invaded The Land of Canaan and conquered it. However, there is a common consensus that the Ancient Hebrews started being mentioned as the people related to the Land of Canaan since approximately 1700 BC.

However the first Kingdom was founded only in the second half of the 10th century BC, or almost a 1,000 years later. The name of this kingdom was Israel, and its capital was Samaria ( Shomron in Hebrew). The Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq I, who figures in the Bible as Shishak, records a series of campaigns directed at the area. Israel had clearly emerged by the middle of the 9th century BCE, when the Assyrian king Shalmanaser III names "Ahab the Israelite" among his enemies at the battle of Qarqar. Another name for the Kingdom of Israel under which it often figures in the ancient chronicles is "The House of Omri". For example, the Mesha stele (c. 830) narrates about how a king of Moab celebrates his success in throwing off the oppression of the "House of Omri" (i.e. Israel).

During the 9th century BC, another Hebrew kingdom emerged. Now it was in the South, in what is now called Judah. Its name was the Kingdom of Judah and its capital was Jerusalem. Numerous archaeological sites and findings permit us to trace the history of the Kingdom of Judah in a pretty detailed manner.

But the Bible tells us that the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah(the common name is "United Monarchy") were the parts of the very powerful Kingdom founded in 1009-1000 BC by the King David , the second King of Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital. Before then, the capital of David´s Judah was Hebron, and before that Gibeah had been the capital of the United Monarchy under Saul.

Under David, Israel grew into a regional power, and both Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah were also refered as "House of David" . French scholar André Lemaire has reconstructed a portion of line 31 of the Mesha stele as mentioning the "House of David ".

Under David's successor, King Solomon, the United Monarchy experienced a period of peace and prosperity, and cultural development. Much public building took place, including the First Temple in Jerusalem. However, on the succession of Solomon's son, Rehoboam, in c. 930 BCE the country split into two kingdoms: Israel (with the capital in Samaria ) in the North and Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital, in the South.

But then, in 930 BC, under the Solomon´s son Rehoboam, the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah split and two kingdoms- Israel in the North and Judah in the South-emerged.

So, starting from approximately 930 BC, the Biblical narration receives a strong support from Archaeology.

Answer 2

According to tradition, Saul became the first king of Israel in 878 BCE. The country of Israel was founded four centuries earlier by Joshua.