Jews

== Origins ==
{{further|Canaan|Israelites| Yahwism|Origins of Judaism|History of ancient Israel and Judah}}
[[File:Procession of the Aamu, Tomb of Khnumhotep II (composite).jpg|thumb|upright=2|right|Egyptian depiction of the visit of Western Asiatics in colorful garments, labeled as ''[[Aamu]]''. The painting is from the tomb of a 12th dynasty official [[Khnumhotep II]] at [[Beni Hasan]], and dated to c. 1900 BCE. Their nearest Biblical contemporaries were the earliest of Hebrews, such as [[Abraham]] and [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mieroop |first1=Marc Van De |title=A History of Ancient Egypt |date=2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-6070-4 |page=131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JADDYAZ9GIIC&pg=PA131 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bard |first1=Kathryn A. |title=An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt |date=2015 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-89611-2 |page=188 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFscBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA188 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="archaeology.org">{{cite journal |last1=Curry |first1=Andrew |title=The Rulers of Foreign Lands |journal= [[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology Magazine]] |date=2018 |url=https://www.archaeology.org/issues/309-1809/features/6855-egypt-hyksos-foreign-dynasty}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kamrin |first1=Janice |title=The Aamu of Shu in the Tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hassan |journal=Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections |date=2009 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=22–36 |url=https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jaei/article/view/28 |s2cid=199601200 }}</ref>]]
[[File:Jehu on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III.jpg|thumb|upright|Depiction of King [[Jehu]], tenth [[king]] of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|northern Kingdom of Israel]], on the [[Black Obelisk]] of [[Shalmaneser III]], 841–840 BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuan |first1=Jeffrey Kah-Jin |title=Neo-Assyrian Historical Inscriptions and Syria-Palestine: Israelite/Judean-Tyrian-Damascene Political and Commercial Relations in the Ninth-Eighth Centuries BCE |date=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-8143-0 |pages=64–66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zMOqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 |language=en}}</ref> This is "the only portrayal we have in ancient Near Eastern art of an Israelite or Judaean monarch".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Ada |last2=Kangas |first2=Steven E. |title=Assyrian Reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II: A Cultural Biography |date=2010 |publisher=UPNE |isbn=978-1-58465-817-7 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRKU0YXBWtgC&pg=PA127 |language=en}}</ref>]]
A factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities and variety, written in at least ten [[Ancient Near East|Near Eastern]] languages. As archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. The prehistory and ethnogenesis of the Jews are closely intertwined with archaeology, biology, and historical textual records, as well as religious literature and mythology. Jews originally trace their ancestry to a confederation of Iron Age [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]-speaking tribes known as the [[Israelites]] that inhabited a part of [[Canaan]] during the [[history of ancient Israel and Judah|tribal and monarchic periods]].<ref name="MD20122"/> Modern Jews are named after and also descended from the southern Israelite [[Kingdom of Judah]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Killebrew |first=Ann E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtAmmwapfVAC |title=Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanite |date=October 2005 |publisher=Society of Biblical Lit |isbn=978-1-58983-097-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Schama2014">{{cite book |last=Schama |first=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHIpAgAAQBAJ |title=The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words 1000 BC–1492 AD |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-06-233944-7 |author-link=Simon Schama}}</ref><ref>* "In the broader sense of the term, a Jew is any person belonging to the worldwide group that constitutes, through descent or conversion, a continuation of the ancient Jewish people, who were themselves the descendants of the Hebrews of the Old Testament."
* "The Jewish people as a whole, initially called Hebrews (ʿIvrim), were known as Israelites (Yisreʾelim) from the time of their entrance into the Holy Land to the end of the Babylonian Exile (538&nbsp;BC)."
[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303358/Jew Jew] at [https://www.britannica.com/ Encyclopædia Britannica]</ref><ref name="MD20122"/><ref name="Brenner2010">{{cite book |last=Brenner |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofje00bren |title=A Short History of the Jews |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-691-14351-4 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Adams1840">{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Hannah |url=https://archive.org/details/historyjewsfrom00adamgoog |title=The History of the Jews: From the Destruction of Jerusalem to the Present Time |publisher=London Society House |year=1840}}</ref> [[Gary A. Rendsburg]] links the early Canaanite [[Nomadic pastoralism|nomadic pastoralists]] confederation to the [[Shasu]] known to the Egyptians around the 15th century BCE.<ref>{{Citation |last=Rendsburg |first=Gary A. |title=1 Israel Without the Bible |date=31 December 2022 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814733080.003.0005 |work=The Hebrew Bible |pages=1–23 |access-date=7 December 2023 |publisher=New York University Press |doi=10.18574/nyu/9780814733080.003.0005 |isbn=978-0-8147-3308-0}}</ref>

According to the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] narrative, Jewish ancestry is traced back to the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|Biblical patriarchs]] such as [[Abraham]], his son [[Isaac]], Isaac's son [[Jacob]], and the Biblical matriarchs [[Sarah]], [[Rebecca]], [[Leah]], and [[Rachel]], who lived in [[Canaan]]. The [[Twelve Tribes]] are described as descending from the twelve sons of Jacob. Jacob and his family migrated to [[Ancient Egypt]] after being invited to live with Jacob's son [[Joseph (son of Jacob)|Joseph]] by the [[Pharaohs in the Bible|Pharaoh]] himself. The patriarchs' descendants were later enslaved until the [[The Exodus|Exodus]] led by [[Moses]], after which the Israelites conquered Canaan under Moses' successor [[Joshua]], went through the period of the [[Biblical judges]] after the death of Joshua, then through the mediation of [[Samuel]] became subject to a king, [[Saul]], who was succeeded by [[David]] and then [[Solomon]], after whom the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|United Monarchy]] ended and was split into a separate [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and a [[Kingdom of Judah]]. The Kingdom of Judah is described as comprising the tribes of [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]], [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]], partially [[Tribe of Levi|Levi]], and later adding remnants of other tribes who migrated there from the northern Kingdom of Israel.<ref name="Broshi 2001 174">{{cite book |last=Broshi |first=Maguen |title=Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etTUEorS1zMC&pg=PA174|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2001 |page=174 |isbn=1-84127-201-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Judah |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judah-Hebrew-tribe |access-date=1 April 2018 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-israelite-refugees-found-high-office-in-judah-seals-found-in-jerusalem-show-1.5448092|title=Israelite refugees found high office in Kingdom of Judah, seals found in Jerusalem show|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

Modern [[archaeology]] and the current historical view has largely discarded the historicity of this narrative.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dever |first=William |title=What Did the Biblical Writers Know, and When Did They Know It? |year=2001 |publisher=Eerdmans |isbn=3-927120-37-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-VxwC5rQtwC |pages=98–99 |quote=After a century of exhaustive investigation, all respectable archaeologists have given up hope of recovering any context that would make Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob credible "historical figures" [...] archaeological investigation of Moses and the Exodus has similarly been discarded as a fruitless pursuit.}}</ref> It has been reframed as constituting the [[Israelites]]' inspiring [[national myth]] narrative. The Israelites and their culture, according to the modern archaeological and historical account, did not overtake the region by force, but instead branched out of the [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite peoples]] and culture through the development of a distinct [[monolatrism|monolatristic]]—and later [[monotheism|monotheistic]]—religion of [[Yahwism]] centered on [[Yahweh]], one of the gods of the Canaanite pantheon. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of cultic practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite [[ethnic group]], setting them apart from other Canaanites.<ref>Tubb, 1998. pp. 13–14{{full citation needed|date=October 2020}}</ref><ref>Mark Smith in "The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel" states "Despite the long regnant model that the Canaanites and Israelites were people of fundamentally different culture, archaeological data now casts doubt on this view. The material culture of the region exhibits numerous common points between Israelites and Canaanites in the Iron I period (c. 1200–1000&nbsp;BCE). The record would suggest that the Israelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature. Given the information available, one cannot maintain a radical cultural separation between Canaanites and Israelites for the Iron I period." (pp. 6–7). Smith, Mark (2002) "The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel" (Eerdman's)</ref><ref>Rendsberg, Gary (2008). "Israel without the Bible". In Frederick E. Greenspahn. The Hebrew Bible: New Insights and Scholarship. NYU Press, pp. 3–5</ref>

The Israelites become visible in the historical record as a people between 1200 and 1000 BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spielvogel |first1=Jackson J. |title=Western civilization |date=2012 |publisher=Wadsworth/Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-91324-5 |edition=8th |location=Australia |page=33 |quote=What is generally agreed, however, is that between 1200 and 1000 B.C.E., the Israelites emerged as a distinct group of people, possibly united into tribes or a league of tribes}}</ref> There is well accepted archeological evidence referring to "Israel" in the [[Merneptah Stele]], which dates to about 1200 BCE.<ref name=NollMerneptah>{{Cite book|last=Noll|first=K. L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMeRK7B1EsMC&pg=PA139|title=Canaan and Israel in Antiquity: A Textbook on History and Religion: Second Edition|date=7 December 2012|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-567-44117-1|language=en}}</ref><ref name=ThompsonMerneptah>{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=Thomas L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwrrUuHFb6UC&pg=PA275|title=Early History of the Israelite People: From the Written & Archaeological Sources|date=1 January 2000|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-11943-7|language=en|quote=They are rather a very specific group among the population of Palestine which bears a name that occurs here for the first time that at a much later stage in Palestine's history bears a substantially different signification.|pages=137ff}}</ref> It is not certain if a period like that of the [[Biblical judges]] occurred<ref name="Yoder2015">{{Cite book |last=Yoder |first=John C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7kFCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5%257CYEAR=2015%257CPUBLISHER=FORTRESS |title=Power and Politics in the Book of Judges: Men and Women of Valor |date=2015 |publisher=Augsburg Fortress Publishers |isbn=978-1-4514-9642-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Brettler2002">{{cite book |author=Marc Zvi Brettler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9j9Jbcl6g38C&pg=PA107 |title=The Book of Judges |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-415-16216-6 |page=107}}</ref><ref name="Thompson2000">{{cite book |author=Thomas L. Thompson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwrrUuHFb6UC&pg=PA96 |title=Early History of the Israelite People: From the Written & Archaeological Sources |publisher=Brill |year=2000 |isbn=90-04-11943-4 |page=96}}</ref><ref name="HjelmThompson2016">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmOaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |title=History, Archaeology and The Bible Forty Years After "Historicity": Changing Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-317-42815-2 |editor-last=Hjelm |editor-first=Ingrid |page=4 |editor-last2=Thompson |editor-first2=Thomas L}}</ref><ref name="Davies1995">{{cite book |author=Philip R. Davies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5D5GNju1-ggC&pg=PA26 |title=In Search of "Ancient Israel": A Study in Biblical Origins |publisher=A&C Black |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-85075-737-5 |page=26}}</ref> nor if there was ever a [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|United Monarchy]].<ref name="lipschits">{{cite book |last1=Lipschits |first1=Oded |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yErYBAAAQBAJ |title=The Jewish Study Bible |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 |editor1-last=Berlin |editor1-first=Adele |edition=2nd |language=en |chapter=The History of Israel in the Biblical Period |editor2-last=Brettler |editor2-first=Marc Zvi}}</ref><ref name="Finkelstein">{{cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |title=The Bible unearthed : archaeology's new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its stories |last2=Silberman |first2=Neil Asher |date=2001 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-684-86912-8 |edition=1st Touchstone |location=New York}}</ref><ref name="Kuhrtp438">{{cite book |last=Kuhrt |first=Amiele |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientneareastc00akuh/page/438 |title=The Ancient Near East |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-415-16762-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientneareastc00akuh/page/438 438]}}</ref><ref name="Wright">{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Jacob L. |date=July 2014 |title=David, King of Judah (Not Israel) |url=http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/2014/07/wri388001.shtml |publisher=The Bible and Interpretation}}</ref> There is debate about the earliest existence of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and their extent and power, but historians agree that a [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] existed by c. 900 BCE<ref name="Finkelstein" />{{rp|169–95}}<ref name="Kuhrtp438" /><ref name="Wright" /> and that a [[Kingdom of Judah]] existed by c. 700 BCE.<ref name="Pitcher">{{Cite book |last1=Holloway |first1=Steven W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tu02muKUVJ0C&pg=PA229 |title=The Pitcher is Broken: Memorial Essays for Gösta W. Ahlström |last2=Handy |first2=Lowell K. |date=1 May 1995 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-63671-3 |language=en |quote=For Israel, the description of the battle of Qarqar in the Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III (mid-ninth century) and for Judah, a Tiglath-pileser III text mentioning (Jeho-) Ahaz of Judah (IIR67 = K. 3751), dated 734–733, are the earliest published to date.}}</ref> In 587 BCE, [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], King of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|besieged Jerusalem]], destroyed the [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]] and deported the most prominent citizens of Judah.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Luke |date=3 February 2017 |title=Ancient tablets reveal life of Jews in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon |newspaper=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-archaeology-babylon-idUSKBN0L71EK20150203}}</ref>

[[Genetic studies on Jews]] show that most Jews worldwide bear a common genetic heritage which originates in the [[Middle East]], and that they share certain genetic traits with other Gentile peoples of the [[Fertile Crescent]].<ref name="WhoAreTheJews">{{cite web |author=Jared Diamond |year=1993 |title=Who are the Jews? |url=http://ftp.beitberl.ac.il/~bbsite/misc/ezer_anglit/klali/05_123.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721133548/http://ftp.beitberl.ac.il/~bbsite/misc/ezer_anglit/klali/05_123.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011 |access-date=8 November 2010}} Natural History 102:11 (November 1993): 12–19.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hammer |first1=MF |last2=Redd |first2=AJ |last3=Wood |first3=ET |display-authors=etal |date=June 2000 |title=Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations share a common pool of Y-chromosome biallelic haplotypes |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=97 |issue=12 |pages=6769–74 |bibcode=2000PNAS...97.6769H |doi=10.1073/pnas.100115997 |pmc=18733 |pmid=10801975 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |date=9 May 2000 |title=Y Chromosome Bears Witness to Story of the Jewish Diaspora |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/09/science/y-chromosome-bears-witness-to-story-of-the-jewish-diaspora.html |access-date=10 October 2012}}</ref> The genetic composition of different Jewish groups shows that Jews share a common gene pool dating back four millennia, as a marker of their common ancestral origin.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Balter |first=Michael |date=3 June 2010 |title=Tracing the Roots of Jewishness |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/tracing-roots-jewishness-rev2 |access-date=4 October 2018 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]}}</ref> Despite their long-term separation, Jewish communities maintained their unique commonalities, propensities, and sensibilities in culture, tradition, and language.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFtYAgAAQBAJ&q=the+importance+of+ancestral+origin+box+5-1&pg=PT116 |title=Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment:: Moving Beyond the Nature ...By Committee on Assessing Interactions Among Social, Behavioral, and Genetic Factors in Health, Board on Health Sciences Policy, Institute of Medicine, Lyla M. Hernandez |date=2006 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-10196-7 |page=100 |language=en}}</ref>
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