מתי נעשה הגליל 'ישראלי'?

The purpose of this article is to examine the process by which the Galilee was included in the Israelite kingdom. Despite the basic assumption of the Deuteronomistic historian that the tribes of the Galilee were an integral part of 'all Israel' from the beginning of the settlement process, both various biblical references and the archaeological record show that the presence of those tribes in the north during the early Iron Age was tenuous at best. The Galilee is not mentioned in the Patriarchal narratives. The biblical record of Saul's reign shows that the Galilee was not a part of his kingdom; the 'Ashurites' of 2 Sam 2:9 are Asherite inhabitants of southern Ephraim. Indeed, Saul's fall at Mount Gilboa may have been the outcome of an attempt to create a 'corridor' through the Canaanite-held Jezreel Valley and establish his control over the northern regions. The area was first integrated into the Israelite kingdom by David, who settled tribes such as Issachar, Asher and parts of Benjamin in the north and established the administrative system, which would be further developed by his son Solomon. This process is attested to by the tribal lists in Joshua 19, the genealogies and census records in 1 Chr 7 and the record of the census in 2 Sam 24, as well as archaeological evidence of settlement beginning in the tenth century BCE.