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DUBY TAL / ALBATROSS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

FALL OF THE NORTH. During the second half of the eighth century BCE, the Assyrian Empire conducted a devastating military campaign under successive kings that extended into Israel and Judah. In 721, this resulted in the destruction of the Northern Kingdom and its capital, Samaria, pictured here. Substantial numbers of refugees fled southward ahead of the Assyrian ad-vance, bringing their distinctive northern identity with them. Likely among the refugees were many of the kingdom’s scribes, who carried with them records, stories, and traditions from the north that were soon transferred to Jerusalem’s royal court and, from there, eventually made their way into the Hebrew Bible.