Ancient Israel · 1000-701 BC

Israel and Judah: two small kingdoms between empires

The Bible tells of David and Solomon; archaeology adds the stones. Students follow the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah as Assyria closes in, and ask how a small people kept its identity when its state was crushed.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, 950 BC to 722 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

The Bible tells of David and Solomon; archaeology adds the stones. Students follow the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah as Assyria closes in, and ask how a small people kept its identity when its state was crushed.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Jerusalem and Samaria and explain which kingdom each ruled.
  • Describe what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and to Judah in 701 BC.
  • Give one example where archaeology and the Bible agree and one where historians still debate.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

950 BC

A united kingdom?

Open the map in 950 BC. The map shows a "Kingdom of David and Solomon" stretching from the Red Sea to the Euphrates, following the Bible. Many historians think the real kingdom was far smaller. Find Jerusalem with the Cities layer and compare the kingdom with the size of Egypt.

Open this view on the map
b

860 BC

Two kingdoms

Around 930 BC the kingdom split: Israel in the north with its capital Samaria, Judah in the south around Jerusalem. The map does not draw this border, so place it yourself: Samaria lies about 55 km north of Jerusalem. Which kingdom held the better farmland?

Open this view on the map
c

722 BC

Assyria arrives

Jump to 722 BC and turn on Historical Events (Sieges). In 722 BC the Assyrians took Samaria and deported thousands of Israelites. In 701 BC Sennacherib destroyed Lachish but failed to take Jerusalem. Find both places.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Tel Dan stone (about 840 BC) mentions the "House of David". Why was finding one line of text such big news for historians?
  2. Why did the small kingdoms of Israel and Judah lie right in the path of every army marching between Egypt and Mesopotamia?
  3. Assyria deported the people of Samaria and settled others in their place. What was the empire trying to achieve, and what did it cost the deported?
  4. King Hezekiah of Judah dug a 533-meter tunnel to bring water inside Jerusalem's walls before the Assyrians came. What does that tell you about how people prepared for a siege?
  5. Judah survived 701 BC by paying heavy tribute. Israel was wiped off the map in 722 BC. Which choice would you call wiser, and why is that a hard question?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round as Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who in 538 BC let the exiles of Judah return home from Babylon. Discuss: why would a conqueror send captives back to rebuild their temple?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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