A history of Israel rule over the years

            (Some information taken from "The Holy Land" - LDS Travel Study)

Canaanite Period (3150 to 1200 BC) - The name "Jerusalem" first appears about 4000 years ago on clay figurines and tablets uncovered in Egypt.  After Abraham entered this area between 2000 and 1550 BC, he lived here until a famine forced him out and to the granary of Egypt.  When Moses arrived from Egypt, the Canaanite people were morally decadent and ripe for destruction.  Archaeologists have discovered remains of destroyed Canaanite cities in Israel.  The books of Joshua and Judges lists some of the areas taken by the Israelites.

"And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.  And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire."  Joshua 11:10-11   (See pictures of Hazor 6022-6045)

Israelite Period (1200 to 586 BC) - After the Israelites gained control, a monarchy was established.  King David took control of Jerusalem, and made it the capital and placed the Ark of the Covenant there. (Within the Ark of the Covenant were two tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments, the golden pot of manna, and Aaron's budded rod.)   David wanted to build a Temple,  "But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.  Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his day.  He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever."  1 Chronicles 22:8-10

After David's death, King Solomon, David's son, expanded Jerusalem and built the Temple.  "Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on mount Moriah (also referred to as the Temple Mount), where the Lord appeared unto David his father..." 2 Chronicles 3:1    Many details of the Temple are referred to in 2 Chronicles.  "Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about."  2 Chronicles 4:2  This refers to the baptismal font in the Temple.  When the Temple was completed, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies.  "And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle (inner sanctuary) of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:"    2 Chronicles 5:7

Following the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into a southern kingdom (Judah -consisting primarily of the tribe of Judah), whose capital was Jerusalem,  and a northern kingdom (Israel- which included the 10 Tribes), whose capital was eventually Samaria.  The Lord sent prophets to both kingdoms to cry repentance.  Assyria defeated the kingdom of Israel during the 8th Century BC and took away much of the population.  "Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.......and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor...and in the cities of the Medes.  For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God...."2 Kings 17:5-6   Those taken away became known as the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel."  In 701 BC Assyria ravished the kingdom of Judah - Jerusalem only was spared - and placed it under tribute.  After this time, Assyria weakened and Babylon grew until the time of 600 BC when Babylon had gained total control of Mesopotamia.  It was about this time that Lehi was told by God to take his family and depart from Jerusalem because Jerusalem would be destroyed.

"And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations!  Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem-that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon."   I Nephi 1:13

As Lehi prophesied, in 586 BC Jerusalem  was conquered by the Babylonians.  The surviving Jews were deported to Babylon and Solomon's Temple was leveled.  For 50 years, the land remained desolate.

Persian Period (539 to 332 BC)  After Persia defeated Babylon, the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland by order of Cyrus, the king of Persia.  Cyrus decreed that a Temple be built.  "In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;  Ezra 6:3 The Second Temple,  less lavish than Solomon's Temple, was completed about 518 BC.  This is the beginning of the Second Temple Period.  During the Persian Period, Ezra and Nehemiah led the Jews.  Under the direction of Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt.   "Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.  "  Nehemiah 2:17  When people laughed at him and scorned him, he said "...The God of heaven, he will prosper us;..."  Nehemiah 2:20

Hellenistic (Greek) Period and Hasmonean Period  (332 to 63 BC)   In 332 Alexander the Great captured Jerusalem.  After his death, the empire was carved into pieces.  Ptolemy received Egypt and Palestine, and Seleucus received Syria and Babylon.  Palestine became the battleground for these dynasties.  During this period the population of Jerusalem expanded westward.  Jewish settlements were established in the Galilee area and cities in Judea grew in population and number.  In about 168 BC Antiochus Epiphanes, a Syrian king, captured Jerusalem and entered the temple and stripped it of its golden altar, etc.  and desecrated the altar of sacrifice by offering swine upon the altar and erected a heathen altar.  After this, the Temple was left desolate for 3 years.  In 165 BC Judas Maccabaeus cleansed the Temple and the Temple was rededicated.  The day became a feast day among the Jews, the feast of the dedication, known today as Hanukkah   The feast of the dedication is referred to in the New Testament.  "And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch"                   John 10:22-23