- Judea is a term used for the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel.
[Image:Levant 830.svg|thumb|272px|Map of the southern
Levant, c.
830s BC. ]] The
Kingdom of Judah (c.
930 BC–
586 BC) was one of the successor states to the "
United Monarchy" often known as the Kingdom of Israel. It is often referred to as the
Southern Kingdom to distinguish it from the "Northern Kingdom" of
Israel. According to the
Hebrew Bible, the Kingdom of Judah first emerged after the death of
Saul the King, when the
tribe of Judah elevated
King David to rule over them. The area of
Har Yehudah (=the mountain (district) of the gorge(s)) seems to have originally been occupied by
Kenites, Calebites, Othnielites, and in Jerusalem
Jebusites. The tribe of Judah was Biblically initially the only one of the
Twelve Tribes of Israel to follow the house of David to found the Southern Kingdom. Soon after, the
tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah. According to the
Book of Joshua (18:28),
Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom.
