What Is Meant by the Worship … The sanctuary at Tel Dan was a center of ancient Israelite religion for the northern kingdom of Israel. King Omri, the sixth king of the northern kingdom of Israel, bought a hill in the Valley of Shechem in the region of Samaria and built the city of Samaria, which became his capital city (1 Kings 16:23–24). From this point on, there would be two kingdoms of Hebrews: in the north - Israel, and in the south - Judah. The expression “from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city” simply means from thinly populated areas to heavily populated areas. One of the greatest mysteries of all history revolves around the Northern Ten tribed Kingdom of “the House of Israel” and exactly what ever happened to them. The area that had once been the Northern Kingdom of Israel was eventually resettled with refugees from other Assyrian conquests. According to the biblical book of Kings, Jeroboam I, the first ruler of the newly seceded northern kingdom of Israel, established two sanctuaries to rival the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem: Dan, along his northern border, and Bethel, along his southern border not far from Jerusalem. He commissioned the construction of two golden calves and installed one at each shrine. Judea was saved because 1) they were not seduced by and entrenched in idol worship, 2) the dynasty of David and 3) the prophets who were able to influence them, and 4) the Temple in Jerusalem. Jeroboam took the northern half and kept the name Israel. The Southern Kingdom is portrayed as spiritually void and without strong central leadership. (12-17) 2 Kings 17:16. The author of the book of Kings summarizes the reason for the fall of the Northern Kingdom. Israel never had a good king in its 200 years as a nation. Those elements saved Judea from the fate that befell the Northern Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Israel shortly after the death of King Solomon split into two separate Kingdoms under his … These refugees intermarried with the few remaining Hebrew survivors. Jonathan Greer examines the ritual evidence from Tel Dan, which includes remains of animal sacrifice and artifacts such as this 1.5-foot-tall basalt “horn” from an Israelite altar. Eventually, the name of the capital was applied to the entire northern kingdom. Idolatry, false god worship, and short tragic kingships come to characterize the nature of division in the north. The ten tribes, united to form the Kingdom of Israel, persisted in complete apostasy from God, and idol worship became the national religion. When Solomon died, between 926 and 922 BCE, the ten northern tribes refused to submit to his son, Rehoboam, and revolted. The resulting half-breeds became known as Samaritans. The Northern Kingdom The northern kingdom continued to be called Israel. 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