Khirbet Beit Lei is an ancient Judean site near Lachish that has yielded burial chambers, among which is a 7^th/6^th century inscription providing the earliest Hebrew reference to Jerusalem. The inscription is a Deuteronomistic blessing.

<!–

–>

Samaria was the capital of Israel and Sargon (721-705) had to finish the siege of it. Sargon finished the siege of Samaria, Israelites resettled in Gozan, in Media and possibly near his new capital of Dur Sharruken. Moves toward Turkey to Tarsus and Malatya on the Anatolian plateau. Moves to the east into Elamite and Iranian territories.Phoenician InfluenceTwo elements of architecture indicate a Phoenecian influence. There are the proto-Aeolic (aka Palmette) capitals, with their palm frawn motifs found in Phoenician ivories. Another Phoenician influence on Israel, evidenced at the capital, is the header-stretcher construction of the walls is a type of construction where the ashlers (cut stone, as opposed to ceramic bricks) are interwoven to provide earthquake protection. Ivories also show a strong Phoenician influence, particularly via the motifs of the throne carvings. This Iron Age Phoenician influence is a continuation of the Bronze Age Megiddo Ivories, which also show a Phoenician influence.

OstracaOver 100 ostraca from ~770 BC were found at Samaria. Among the earliest among the ostraca date to the 15^th year of the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel. They represent accounts of taxes paid (usually in wine and oil). They were written in a Hebrew dialect, but with Phoenecianisms such as the mention of old wine. Individuals mentioned are within tribal territory of Manasseh. Names include theophoric elements of both Yahweh and Ba’al.

Phoenician WareSamaria ware is a Phoenician pottery style.

Tel Dan yielded the ~825 BC House of David inscription. Three basalt fragments were discovered that recounted Aramean king Hazael’s victory over the House of David and Israel.

Gezer is a site from ancient Israel that has yielded 10 monumental megaliths (possibly a Canaanite bamoth), 9 inscribed boundary stones (which allowed it to be the first definitively identified Biblical city) and a Solomonic 6-Chambered Gate (similar to those at Hazor and Megiddo). Also found at Gezer is the Gezer Calendar (~900 BC), the earliest known example of Hebrew writing.