Fall of Israel (Assyria)

The northern Kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in −722 after years of political instability, idolatry, and rebellion against Assyrian control. Israel’s last king, Hoshea, became an Assyrian vassal but later rebelled and sought help from Egypt. Assyria responded by besieging Samaria, Israel’s capital, and eventually conquered it. Many Israelites were exiled and foreign populations were brought into the land, leading to the disappearance of the northern tribes as a political nation. From a Jewish perspective, this fall is seen as the result of generations of abandoning God, ignoring the prophets, and continuing the sins of Jeroboam.