>>513051151
>Early Iron Age
>The descendants of the Canaanite people referred to by the Egyptians as 'Ysrỉꜣr', perhaps associated with the Habiru nomadic social class, have now started settling in southern Canaan and forming their own polities
>One of the things that defines these 'Israelites' as unique is their religious traditions. Initially they followed the Canaanite pantheon, but gradually focused more on Yahweh, in a form of monolatristic polytheism that cemented Yahweh as the nation-god of the Israelites
>This religion is called Yahwism, the belief in the existence of the many gods and goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon but with the consistent worship of only Yahweh
>Along with a number of cultic practices, this gave rise to a separate Israelite ethnic group identity
>The final transition of Yahwism to monotheism and rejection of the existence of the other Canaanite gods set the Israelites apart from their fellow Canaanite brethren
>Eventually, the southern Levant came to be dominated by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, in competition with besides the Philistine city-states on the Mediterranean coast
>There are also the kingdoms of Moab, Ammon, and Aram-Damascus east of the Jordan River, and Edom to the south
>The northern Levant was divided into various petty kingdoms, the so-called Syro-Hittite states and the Phoenician city-states, the latter also descended from Canaanites
>According to the Bible, this is supposedly the time of the establishment of a 'United Monarchy' of Israel, initially under Saul, then later ruled by David and Solomon, the latter of which supposedly builds a temple to Yahweh on the Temple Mount. There is some evidence of an Israelite ritual site there, but it is unknown if the temple actually existed
>In Judaism, this is when the Foundation Stone was lain