The ancient Kingdom of Israel that archaeology confirms never included Jerusalem.

The real Israel appeared in the 9th century BCE, about a century after David and Solomon supposedly ruled their empire. It lasted roughly two hundred years until the Assyrians destroyed its capital, Samaria, in 722 BCE and deported its people.

That was the actual, historical Israel - not the legendary "United Monarchy," but a northern kingdom powerful enough to show up in Assyrian and Moabite inscriptions. And no, its capital wasn't Jerusalem.

After the Assyrians took over, the region gave rise to the Samaritans, people who still worshiped the same God but didn't recognize Jerusalem or the Temple of Solomon. Later Jewish writers called them heretics and enemies.

The so-called "United Kingdom of David and Solomon" was a small tribal chiefdom that probably lasted one generation, maybe 30 or 40 years.

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