Palestine, the buffer state between Egypt and Mesopotamia, the two rival powers of the ancient world, was an important base of operations for all conquerors, and its possession was eagerly sought. In 722 B.C., King Sargon of Assyria conquered the northern part, the kingdom of Israel. The southern part, the kingdom of Judah, was at that time protected by Assyria’s rising and already powerful rival,...
Gotthard Deutsch - The history of the Jews
The history of the Jews
Gotthard Deutsch
118
Description
Palestine, the buffer state between Egypt and Mesopotamia, the two rival powers of the ancient world, was an important base of operations for all conquerors, and its possession was eagerly sought. In 722 B.C., King Sargon of Assyria conquered the northern part, the kingdom of Israel. The southern part, the kingdom of Judah, was at that time protected by Assyria’s rising and already powerful rival, the Babylonian empire. When Babylonia had become the master of Mesopotamia, Judæa’s doom was sealed, and in 586 Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and made all of Palestine a province of his large empire.