Throughout the period of the Egyptian Empire, disaffected and dispossessed Canaanites, known to the Egyptians as ‘Habiru’ migrated to the hill country regions. This Habiru population formed the core of what was to become historical Israel. The Egyptian Empire withdrew from the area in around the middle of the 12th century BC. However, if the Israelites had aims of expanding their territory, these were initially held in check by the Philistines who had settled on the southern Canaanite coast during the time of Ramses III (1198-1166 BC).

Towards the end of the 10th century BC, after a long period of readjustment and reintegration following the departure of the Egyptians, an Israelite kingdom was created with its capital at Samaria. In the 9th century BC, as this kingdom weakened under pressure from the advancing Assyrians, a second Israelite kingdom, Judah, emerged with its capital at Jerusalem. In 722 BC Israel was conquered and absorbed into the Assyrian empire. Judah maintained an uneasy independence but was eventually incorporated into the Neo-Babylonian empire when Jerusalem was captured in 598 BC. The city was sacked in 587 BC and large sections of the population were deported.