Divided Kingdoms Under Assyrian and Babylonian Pressure

After the death of Solomon, around 931/930 BCE, the kingdom split into two separate political entities: Israel in the north, with ten tribes, under Jeroboam I, who established rival sanctuaries to the Jerusalem Temple at Bethel and Dan; and Judah in the south, under Rehoboam, which maintained the continuity of the Davidic dynasty at Jerusalem throughout its history. The kingdom of Israel possessed a larger territory, more fertile land, and a larger population than Judah, and it reached considerable development under the Omride dynasty: Omri founded the new capital of Samaria around 880 BCE, and his son Ahab married the Phoenician princess Jezebel of Sidon, an alliance that also introduced the worship of Baal into Israel and provoked the dramatic confrontation between the prophet Elijah and the priests of Baal.