Divided Kingdom

This map of the Divided Kingdom traces the political fault-line that emerged after Solomon’s death, when “Israel rebelled against the house of David” (1 Kings 12:19). The northern kingdom of Israel spreads across the verdant valleys of Jezreel and the hill-country of Ephraim, anchored by Shechem and later Samaria, and dotted with rival sanctuaries at Bethel and Dan where Jeroboam set up golden calves (1 Kings 12:28-30). Southward, the kingdom of Judah hugs the central spine from Jerusalem-where Rehoboam fortified the Temple’s courts-down through Bethlehem toward Hebron and the rugged Negev, even controlling the ascent to En-gedi on the Dead Sea’s western shore. Colored borders on the map highlight shifting frontiers: Aram-Damascus presses from the north, Philistia broaches Judah’s western lowlands, and Moab and Edom flank the Dead Sea to the east and south. Trade arteries like the International Coastal Highway and the King’s Highway are traced in bold, underscoring why prophets such as Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos thundered against alliances with Egypt or Assyria. By plotting terrain gradients-fertile plains above, arid wilderness below-the cartography makes vivid how geography framed faithfulness: Israel’s openness fostered idolatrous exchange, while Judah’s defensible hills prolonged David’s lamp in Jerusalem (2 Kings 8:19). In one glance, the map lets readers grasp how two sibling realms, born of covenant fracture, navigated competing altars, foreign pressures, and prophetic calls until both ultimately fell to exile.