Where was ancient Israel located?

Answer 1

Ancient Israel had no fixed boundaries and both grew and shrank according to the vagaries of military success.

According to The Bible, the United Kingdom of Israel appears to have encompassed much of Palestine, except for Philistia which covered the coastal plains and foothills from the Egyptian border north to where Tel Aviv is today, plus parts of Syria and Jordan. However, most scholars believe that this glorious kingdom of Israel never really existed.

The southern kingdom of Judah generally covered the inland territory surrounding Jerusalem and corresponds roughly with the southern area of today's West Bank.

The northern kingdom of Israel generally covered the area of the northern part of today's West Bank, north through the Jezreel Valley and possibly parts of Galilee. However, under the Omrite kings, it expanded to the coast, as well as north into parts of Syria and across the Jordan. At other times, it covered a much smaller area, as the tide of war inevitably turned against it. Shortly before its destruction in 722 BCE by the Assyrians, Israel only occupied the city of Samaria and its immediate environs.

Answer 2

Most of Ancient Israel was located in what is today the West Bank and Israel. There were also borders that extended into what is currently Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, but these extensions were only in small parts of those countries.

Answer 3

The land of the Hebrew people consisted of two kingdoms - the southern kingdom was called Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. The Bible says that the two kingdoms were united under David and Solomon during the tenth century BCE, but some archaeologists and many historians believe that there never was a United Kingdom.
Judah occupied the more arid mountainous hinterland of modern-day Israel surrounding Jerusalem and extending from about the northern end of the Dead Sea to beyond its southern tip. Israel occupied the mountainous hinterland north of Judah, as well as the fertile Jezreel Valley. These areas roughly correspond to the modern West Bank territory. To the west lay the lands of the Philistines and Canaanites.

According to biblical tradition, the Israelites occupied Israel about 1440 BCE, but most scholars say that the land remained almost unoccupied until around 1250 BCE, when there was an influx of people believed to be the Hebrews.

There was a brief period of expansion, when Israel captured many of the coastal cities and even occupied parts of modern-day Syria. The Bible attributes these conquests to David, although some archaeologists believe that this may have occurred later, under King Omri. However, by the early decades of the eighth century BCE, the kingdom of Israel had been reduced to the city of Samaria and its immediate surrounds.

Israel finally became the Assyrian province of Samaria in 722 BCE. Judah fell to the Babylonians in 586 BCE, but the captive Jews were allowed to return and re-establish their nation after 537 BCE. In the mid-second century BCE, under the Maccabees, Judea expanded its borders all the way to Galilee in the north, as well as Idumea in the south.

Answer 4

It was part of what is now modern Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Answer 5

They all lived in Israel. Their towns were scattered throughout the country, as is abundantly evident from the book of Joshua.

Answer 6

It was in Israel (ישראל), though the borders were different in ancient times.

Answer 7

jerusalem