my favorite place

Ghassulians (carbon dated c. 4300–3300 BCE). People became urbanized and lived in city-states, including Jericho.

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Ancient Near East
Main articles: History of ancient Israel and Judah and Canaan

The area's location at the center of routes linking three continents made it the meeting place for religious and cultural influences from Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. It was also the natural battleground for the great powers of the region and subject to domination by adjacent empires.

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Early Canaanite Period (Early Bronze Age) 3300–2300 BCE

There is cultural continuity within the local Semitic-speaking culture from the previous Chalcolithic Period, but now also intermingling with outside influences. The settlement patterns of this Period are still a matter of "guesswork". Some archaeologists suggest a group from the Arabian Peninsula[1] (who trade with Mesopotamia) settled among the indigenous peoples who had been there since the original Semitic emigration from Africa. Some archaeologists suggest a group from Syria. Other archaeologists suggest the cultural developments are indigenous, and the outside influences result from trade.[2] Of course, with trade routes come at least some immigration.

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Middle Canaanite Period (Middle Bronze Age) 2300-1550 BCE

Successive waves of migration brought other groups onto the scene. Around 1200 BCE the Hittite empire was conquered by allied tribes from the north. The Phoenicians of Lebanon, were temporarily displaced, but returned when the invading tribes showed no inclination to settle. The Egyptians called the horde that swept across Asia Minor and the Mediterranean Sea the Sea Peoples. The Philistines (whose traces disappear before the 5th century BCE) are presently considered to have been among them, giving the name Philistia to the region in which they settled, located in present-day Gaza. During this time, the bible reports the settling of the Israelites (presumably in 1273 BCE). They dwelt in tribes amongst the local inhabitants until the installment of King Saul in 879 BCE.

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Monarchy Period (Iron Age II) 1000–586 BCE
 
Map of the southern Levant, c.830s BCE. 
  Kingdom of Judah
  Kingdom of Israel
  Philistine city-states
  Phoenician states
  Kingdom of Ammon
  Kingdom of Edom
  Kingdom of Aram-Damascus
  Aramean tribes
  Arubu tribes
  Nabatu tribes
  Assyrian Empire
  Kingdom of Moab
 
Map of Alexander's empire (1913 map)
 
Roman Province of Iudaea. Notice the coastal province of Philistia, which the Greeks called Palaistina and the Romans Palaestina.

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Divided Monarchies of Judah and Israel, Moab, Amon, and Philistia (Iron Age IIB), 925–722 BCE

The Bible argues that with the death of King Solomon around 925 BCE, the Israelites fell into civil war, and the kingdom split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah[citation needed]. The northern kingdom was far more wealthy and politically influential, but its monarchy was unstable with frequent intrigue and dynastic changes[citation needed]. In the relative backwaters of the southern Kingdom of Judah, the Davidic Dynasty alone ruled Judah and its vicinities for centuries until the Persian Period, proving remarkably stable[citation needed]. Several factors contributed to the stability of the southern monarchy[citation needed]. Its kings made a frequent practice of ruling alongside a son in a period of coregency[citation needed]. Gradually, the kings centralized all religious authority to Jerusalem the capital city[citation needed]: to the Temple located next to the king's palace[citation needed]. Unlike El that was perceived as a universal deity in the north[citation needed], YHWH was perceived in the south as a patron deity of the nation of Israel[citation needed], thus worship of other gods equated to treason[citation needed]. Throughout the Davidic Dynasty of the Kingdom of Judah[citation needed], religious loyalty and loyalty to the king consolidated[citation needed].



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Monarchy of Judah and Edom/Neo-Assyrian Period (Iron Age IIC) 722–586 BCE

In 722 BCE, the northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, many of its inhabitants (mainly the elite amongst them) were deported (giving rise to the legend of "the Lost Tribes")[citation needed] and replaced by settlers from elsewhere in the Assyrian Empire[citation needed]. Many, however, probably fled to their southern Israelite sister kingdom of Judah, but others most likely stayed behind[citation needed].

Philistine cities, because of their strategic location close to Egypt, were ruled directly by a governor appointed by the Assyrians. In Edom, a series of kings was founded under Assyrian patronage, to keep the Judean kingdom distracted to the south[citation needed]. A number of anti-Edomite passages in the Bible are dated to this period[citation needed].

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Neo-Babylonian Period (Iron Age III) 586–539 BCE

The Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar conquered the (southern) Kingdom of Judah in 597–586 BCE[citation needed], and exiled the middle and upper classes of the Jews (that is, the citizens of the Kingdom of Judah, consisting mostly of the members of the tribe of Judah but also some members of the other tribes) to Babylonia[citation needed], where they flourished. Most regard the collapse of the Israelite kingdoms as the beginning of the Jewish diaspora[citation needed] .

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Persian Period 539-333 BCE

Cyrus II of Persia conquered the Babylonian Empire by 539 BCE and incorporated Judah and Israel[citation needed] into the Persian Empire. Cyrus organized the empire into provincial administrations called satrapies. The administrators of these provinces, called satraps, had considerable independence from the emperor. The Persians allowed Jews to return to the regions that the Bablyonians had exiled them from, rebuild the Temple and mint Yehud coins.

The exiled Jews who returned encountered the Jews that had remained, surrounded by a much larger non-Jewish majority. One group of note (that exists up until this day) were the Samaritans, who adhered to most features of the Jewish rite and claimed to be descendants of the Assyrian Jews; they were not recognized as Jews by the returning exiles for various reasons (at least some of which seem to be political). The return of the exiles from Babylon reinforced the Jewish population, which gradually became more dominant and expanded significantly.

The region was visited c 450 BCE by Herodotus whose writings give the first known usage of the name of the region as Syria Palestine.