The Lost Tribes

Following the death of Solomon in c. 937 B.C. his crown passed to his son, Rehoboam. Due to Rehoboam s rather tyranical rule revolution broke out against the House of David and the Kingdom of Palestine split in two. Of the twelve tribes of Israelites which Moses had led out of Eygpt, ten joined in the revolt while two remained loyal to Rehoboam. These loyalist, comprised of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah formed the southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital at Jerusalem. In the north, a new kingdom was formed, Israel, with its capital at Samaria. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Zebulon, Simeon, Dan, Ascher, Ephraim, Manasseh, Naphtali, and Issacher comprised the Kingdom of Israel. For 200 years Israel and Judah waged war against each another until 734 B.C., when the Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III attacked the Kingdom of Israel and carried of hundreds of thousands of Samarians into capitivity. His sucessors, Shalmaneser V and Sargon II, continued on to complete the conquest of Israel. In 722 B.C. the city of Samaria fell to the Assyrians and the last of the members of the ten tribes were carried away into captivity. (II Kings 17:6).