Stages in the Territorial Expansion of the Northern Kingdom

The article presents textual and archaeological evidence for three phases in the territorial expansion of the Northern Kingdom. In the initial, pre-Omride phase Israel expanded only into the Jezreel Valley. Under the Omrides, the territory of the Northern Kingdom covered the northern valleys as far as Hazor and the mountainous Galilee. In the first half of the 8th century BCE, Israel expanded further north, to the area of Dan and possibly beyond.