Archaeology and Material Culture of Judah and the Judeans (ca. 1000–586 bce)

The kingdom of Judah was a small political state that arose in the southern Levantine hill country during the Iron Age and was eventually conquered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 586 bce. While the precise boundaries of the territory of Judah are difficult to define and likely fluctuated considerably, the traditional heartland of Judah in the Iron II extended from the southern mountain range that emerged from the Jezreel Valley in the north, to the Northern Negev, located in the south. At the beginning of the Iron II period (ca. 1000 bce), there began a steady increase in the small, unwalled settlements typical of that area in the Iron I period. The population of Judah remained relatively small throughout the 10th and early 9th centuries, but grew substantially during the late 9th century and especially the 8th century, as evinced by the proliferation of fortified settlements. At some point during this development, the political organization of these settlements coalesced into a monarchic state, but the precise nature and date of this transition is debated. Some scholars argue for the essential veracity of the biblical narratives concerning the foundation of the state under David and Solomon in the early 10th century bce, while others argue there is little definitive and undisputed archaeological evidence pointing to a strong centralized government until the 9th century. Indeed, this complicated relationship between the biblical text and the material culture has defined the practice and prerogatives of Judahite archaeology from its inception. Modern, stratigraphic excavation in Judah began under the guidance of biblical scholars in the early 20th century and continued in this fashion through the mid-century “Biblical Archaeology” movement. In recent decades, however, the archaeology of Judah (often included within the category of Syro-Palestinian archaeology) has gained some degree of independence from the field of Biblical Studies. Following wider trends in world archaeology, scholars studying ancient Judah have begun incorporating data from ethnographic studies and archaeometric methods into the primarily tell-based excavation process that characterized Judahite archaeology in the past. Still, the influence of the biblical traditions is undeniably present in the archaeology of the Levant, and as a result, studies of Judah are often combined with those of the kingdom of Israel to the north. Readers will note that combined form “Israel/Judah” is used when little or no distinction is made between the cultures of the two kingdoms.