theIsraelites

The Israelites are the ancient Semitic people described in biblical sources as the descendants of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and as the inhabitants of the historic kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the Levant. They formed a distinct religious and social identity around the covenant with Yahweh and the Mosaic Law, developing within Canaan and surrounding regions during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

According to biblical tradition, they were enslaved in Egypt, liberated under Moses, and later organized into a loose confederation that evolved into a centralized monarchy under Saul, David, and Solomon (roughly the 11th to 10th centuries BCE). After Solomon’s reign, the kingdom split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire in the early 8th century BCE, while Judah endured until the Babylonian conquest of 586 BCE, which led to the destruction of the First Temple and the exile of many elites.

Following Persian rule in the late 6th century BCE, some exiles returned and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, shaping post-exilic Jewish religious life. The term “Israelites” is primarily used in biblical and scholarly contexts to describe this ancient national group; over time, political and religious identity in the region increasingly aligned with what later became Judaism centered on Judah.

Legacy: The Israelites occupy a central place in Judaism and have significantly influenced Christian and Islamic traditions, as well as modern biblical scholarship. Debates continue about certain historicity aspects of the biblical narratives and the nature of state formation in ancient Israel and Judah.