Assyria Conquers Israel

In 722 BCE, the Neo-Assyrian Empire captured Samaria, the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel, bringing the kingdom's independent existence to an end. Thousands of its people were deported, and the territory was absorbed into the Assyrian provincial system. The event is remembered above all for the tradition of the "ten lost tribes," and it reshaped the religious and political future of the neighboring Kingdom of Judah.

After the united monarchy associated with David and Solomon split, probably in the late tenth century BCE, Israel in the north and Judah in the south went separate ways. Israel was the larger and wealthier of the two, but it was also prone to dynastic upheaval. In the eighth century BCE, Assyria under Tiglath-Pileser III expanded aggressively westward, demanding tribute from the small states of the Levant. Israel paid at times and resisted at others. Around 732 BCE, after a failed alliance with Damascus against Assyria, Israel lost much of its territory and was reduced to a rump state around Samaria.

The final blow came under the later kings of Israel, especially Hoshea, who according to the biblical account stopped paying tribute and sought help from Egypt. Assyria responded with a siege of Samaria, which the Bible says lasted about three years. Assyrian and biblical sources credit different kings with the conquest. The Bible suggests Shalmaneser V began the siege, while Sargon II later claimed in his inscriptions to have taken the city and deported tens of thousands of people. Historians still debate how much credit each king deserves, and the exact date, usually given as 722 or 721 BCE, is approximate.

Assyria's usual policy was mass deportation, moving elites and skilled people to distant regions such as northern Mesopotamia and Media, and resettling the land with people from other conquered territories. This weakened local loyalties and made rebellion harder. Archaeology confirms destruction and population change in the region, though the numbers in ancient texts are probably rhetorical and should be treated cautiously.

The idea that ten tribes vanished without a trace comes from later tradition. In reality, many Israelites likely stayed in the land, some fled south to Judah, and the deportees probably assimilated over time. Judah's population and Jerusalem grew significantly in this period, and many scholars think the refugees and their traditions influenced the development of biblical literature. The fate of the northern kingdom also became a theological warning in the Hebrew Bible about the consequences of abandoning the covenant. Over the centuries, many groups have claimed descent from the "lost tribes," though none of these claims is supported by solid historical evidence. The people who settled in the region later became linked with the Samaritans, whose origins are still debated.