title: Alisher Usmanov

text: He is the co-owner of Metalloinvest, which he founded with business partner Vasiliy Anisimov, in order to manage his acquisitions in the metal industry. Unlike Russia's tycoons who won control of empires through loans-for-share privatization schemes of the 1990s, Usmanov built up Metalloinvest through a series of acquisitions. Metalloinvest owns a wide range of Russian metal and mining businesses including Lebedinsky GOK and Mikhailovsky GOK; Oskol Elektrometallurgical Plant and Ural Steel steel mills and a ferrous scrap enterprise – Ural Scrap Company.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Since 2006, he has acquired stakes in Australia-based mining companies, Medusa, Mt Gibson and Aztec Resources through Gallagher Holdings, now USM Holdings. In 2009, Metalloinvest Holding sold its 10.37% stake in Australian gold producer Medusa Mining. Usmanov is the second largest shareholder, after Dr Mohammed Al Bawani (MB Holding), in Toronto-listed (TSX) Nautilus Minerals (NUSMF), which planned to extract undersea gold and copper deposits off Papua New Guinea in 2019. He has also purchased, through Gallagher Holdings, an interest in Australian mining company Strike Resources, which is working on an iron ore deposit in Peru.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2021, USM and Metalloinvest announced plans to construct one of the world's largest HBI eco-plants in Russia's Kursk region to supply greener products used to make steel amid a growing focus to clean up the industry.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2008 Usmanov bought the Udokan licence, which was discovered in Soviet times and proved to be one of the world's largest copper deposit. Geologists estimate there are 26.7mn tonnes of copper ore under the JORC classification.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2020 Baikal Mining Company (rebranded to Udokan copper) began strip mining at the Udokan mine, which had been untouched since 1949 due to the site's remoteness and extreme weather conditions. The development of Udokan includes the construction of the first stage of a mining and metallurgical plant for the production of cathode copper and copper concentrate, as well as the production of up to 125,000 tpy of copper in addition to 12mn tonnes of ore.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2008 Usmanov became acquainted with Yuri Milner, and soon became a shareholder of DST and VK (Mail.ru Group).


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov had 25.3% of interest in VK, and 60.6% of voting interest until he sold a $530 million stake and reduced his interests to 17.9 and 58.1% in 2013.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2013 Usmanov through VK acquired Pavel Durov's shares in Vk.ru, to help Durov retain control under the Telegram app when UCP claimed on Telegram.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 2 December 2021, Usmanov's holding shares were sold to Russian insurance company Sogaz. Usmanov said that VK involvement has largely determined the development of USM.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov as of March 2022 was the majority shareholder of Russia's second-largest mobile telephone operator, MegaFon.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2009 Facebook's founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg turned to Russian investors at a meeting brokered by Goldman Sachs. Usmanov made his first investment to Facebook in 2009 by Mail.ru, investing $200 million for a 1.96% stake that valued Facebook at $10 billion. He accepted Zuckerberg's conditions and gave up the voting rights on those shares to him. Facebook's IPO in 2012 valued it several times greater and in selling his stake Usmanov won around $1 billion on it.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Through Mail.Ru Group Usmanov made notable investments in other international technology companies, including Groupon, Zynga, Airbnb, ZocDoc, Alibaba and 360buy.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2013, he was said to have invested $100 million in Apple. He subsequently disposed of his shares in early 2014.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: The Alibaba investment was said by Usmanov to be up 500% in late 2014. The Facebook investment Usmanov implied he had sold, saying "I admire Facebook, but I said 'arrivederci' Facebook". At the same time, he said he had made an investment in "Chinese low-cost smartphone maker Xiaomi", saying it is a "future technology giant", and that he is looking to invest in India, particularly the online trade sector.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In September 2018, it was reported that Mail.ru would enter into a $2 billion joint venture with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The agreement would merge the online marketplaces of both companies in the Russian market and was backed by the Kremlin via the Russian Direct Investment Fund.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In August 2006, Usmanov began to invest in media. He bought "Kommersant", a newspaper formerly owned by Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, for US$200 million. Usmanov also made a $25 million purchase of a 50% stake in Russian sports TV channel 7TV in November 2006 and bought 75% of Russian TV music channel Muz-TV for $300 million in June 2007. Usmanov was a co-owner of the media holding company UTH, which holds 51% of Disney Russia and 100% of Muz TV and U television channels. He sold his TV assets to his business-partner Ivan Tavrin in 2017.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov was a shareholder of the English football team Arsenal from 2007 to 2018. He moved into the football arena in August 2007 by acquiring a 14.58% stake in Arsenal. He and his business partner Farhad Moshiri bought the stake in the club owned by former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein for £75 million. Dein was appointed head of their investment vehicle, Red and White Holdings, which became the largest shareholder in the club outside of members of the board of directors.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 28 September 2007, Red and White Holdings increased its shareholding to 23%, making it the second-largest shareholder in the club behind Arsenal non-executive director Danny Fiszman. On 15 February 2008, he increased it to over 24%, just short of Fiszman's 24.11%. He increased it to 25% on 16 February 2009. Red and White Holdings confirmed that it was the club's largest shareholder, and the company said it "has the necessary funding to increase its stake further [but] it has no current intention to make a full takeover bid for Arsenal for six months." If the stake were to reach 30%, Red and White Holdings would have to launch a formal takeover.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov's interest precipitated a "lock-down" agreement by the Gunners' board, whereby chairman Peter Hill-Wood announced that club directors could sell their stakes only to "permitted persons" before April 2009, and had to give fellow board members "first option" on shares until October 2012. "The lockdown ... makes us bullet-proof," said then Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: American businessman Stan Kroenke, already a major Arsenal shareholder, increased his stake in the club to just over 62% in April 2011 after buying out Fiszman and Lady Bracewell-Smith, making him the majority shareholder. As Kroenke's stake had risen above 30%, he was obliged to make an offer to buy out the remainder of Arsenal shares. Usmanov refused to sell, however, and maintained his stake.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov increased his Arsenal share beyond 29% in June 2011. He then purchased shares held by Scottish football club Rangers in February 2012. As of October 2013, he owned over 30% of the club. Usmanov criticized Arsenal's lack of ambition and financial model in an open letter sent to the board on 5 July 2012. He asserted that he had no intention of selling his shares.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 7 August 2018, however, Usmanov accepted a bid of £550m for his shares at Arsenal. He sold his shares in 2018 to Kroenke.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In January 2017, Usmanov's holding company, USM, entered a five-year, $15 million+ deal with Everton F.C. for the naming rights of the club's training ground, Finch Farm. Usmanov's accountant and partner in USM holdings is Farhad Moshiri, the current majority shareholder of Everton, and former co-owner of Usmanov's Arsenal shares, Red and White holdings. In 2019 Megafon became the sleeve sponsor for the men's training wear of Everton and its official matchday presenting partner. In 2020 MegaFon expanded their commercial agreement with Everton to become the main sponsor of the women's team.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In March 2022, Everton suspended its sponsorship ties with USM and MegaFon in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: A former sabre fencer for the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, Usmanov supported the promotion of fencing through his charity fund "For the Future of Fencing", created in 2004.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: He was president of the Russian Fencing Federation from 2001 to 2009. He was concurrently president of the European Fencing Confederation from 2005 to 2009.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: He was elected president of the International Fencing Federation in 2008 with 66 votes, to 61 for incumbent president René Roch. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2016. In 2021 he was re-elected by acclamation to a fourth term, for which he was congratulated by Vladimir Putin.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In that position, Usmanov implemented a number of initiatives, including the expansion of the Olympic fencing programme to 12 disciplines.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 28 February 2022, in reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union blacklisted Usmanov, imposing an EU-wide travel ban on him and freezing all of his assets. The EU stated: "He has been referred to as one of Vladimir Putin's favourite oligarchs." Following the imposition of the sanctions on him, he announced on 1 March 2022, in an accusatory letter, that he was stepping down as FIE President.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In February 2008, Metalloinvest became sponsor of Dinamo Moscow, a football team in Russia's capital. His Metalloinvest group's name replaced the Xerox Corporation's on its players' shirts as part of the $7 million deal.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov was a member of the Councils of the 2014 Sochi XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Olympian Sportsmen Support Fund. In 2015 it was announced that USM invested the equivalent of US$100 million in the Eastern European eSports team Virtus.pro.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 2 September 2007, Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan referred to Usmanov's criminal conviction, claiming that Usmanov "was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail" and his pardon was the work of Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov on the instructions of Uzbekistani power broker and alleged drug trafficker Gafur Rakhimov. In the face of libel threats from Usmanov's lawyers Schillings, some media had to apologize for publishing them. Murray persists in the allegation. The article was subsequently removed by Murray's web host, allegedly under pressure from Usmanov's legal team, London's Schillings law firm. However, what followed was that Schillings contacted independent blogs and websites warning them to remove any references to Murray's allegations, and any reproduction of the blog posting. UK Indymedia reported that they were one of the sites that had been issued with a take down notice on 10 September 2007 and again on 21 September. On 20 September 2007, Bloggerheads.com, the weblog of Tim Ireland, was taken down for reproducing Murray's article, incidentally causing the loss of other blogs belonging to the MP Boris Johnson and councillor Bob Piper – none of which themselves had reproduced the article.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 12 December 2011, following the 2011 Russian protests regarding vote-rigging in parliamentary elections, the weekly "Kommersant Vlast" magazine ran an unflattering issue on Vladimir Putin titled "Victory of United ballot-stuffers" – a pun on Putin's United Russia party. Usmanov sacked the editor, Maxim Kovalsky, and the head of the publisher's holding company, Andrei Galiyev, saying there had been an "ethical breach" and that the issue "bordered on petty hooliganism". The controversy surrounded an image of a ballot paper from the parliamentary vote with the words "Putin, go fuck yourself" scrawled in red ink. The caption read: "A correctly filled out ballot recognized as invalid." Demyan Kudryavtsev, the head of the "Kommersant" publishing house, assumed responsibility by resigning, stating in a blog post that the magazine issue had been "in violation of internal procedures, professional journalistic standards and the Russian law".


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Nadezhda Azhgihina, executive secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists, was shocked by the incident, calling it "a clear example of censorship from the owner". On 14 December 60 journalists from the "Kommersant" newspaper signed an open letter to Usmanov, saying, "We are being compelled to be cowards, which is unworthy and unproductive...We regard [Kovalsky's] dismissal as an act of intimidation aimed at preventing any critical words about Vladimir Putin...We take particular offense at the attempt to present the dismissal of a man for his professional position as a fight for the purity of the Russian language. This is the same kind of fabrication that offended people at the election." Usmanov responded that emotionally, he could "understand the journalists speaking up for sacked top managers" but that ""Kommersant Vlast" is a respectable, independent, socio-political publication." Mikhail Prokhorov, who had announced his candidacy for the 2012 presidential election, offered to buy "Kommersant" on the same day, but Usmanov rejected the offer.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 12 November 2012, the British newspaper "The Times" reported that Usmanov had hired a London-based PR firm, RLM Finsbury, that edited Usmanov's article on the online encyclopedia English Wikipedia to remove information on Usmanov's criminal convictions and later controversies surrounding their client. The discovery caused significant backlash among the PR professionals in the UK, with the CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations stressing that "public relations professionals should not directly edit Wikipedia for a client or employer". The PR firm acknowledged their actions and stated that they had acted without the authorisation of their client. The information was said to have been removed in expectation of the stock market listing of MegaFon, which is controlled by Usmanov.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Roger Wicker, Lindsey Graham, and Cory Gardner called on the former Trump administration to sanction Usmanov over what they allege is his corruption and bribery of Russian government officials.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 28 February 2022, in reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union blacklisted Usmanov, imposing an EU-wide travel ban on him and freezing all his assets. On 3 March, the United States imposed similar sanctions on him, with some exceptions for his companies. Usmanov was named in the "Official Journal of the European Union", the publication of record of the EU, as a "pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin [who is] one of Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs."


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In March 2022, the German federal government set up a task force to track down oligarch funds in Germany. Several ministries and authorities are involved, from the Ministry of Economics and Finance, the financial supervisory authority BaFin, the Federal Criminal Police Office, customs and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND). Authorities of this task force have been looking for Usmanov's property and assets that could be frozen and secured. Several villas on the Bavarian Tegernsee are said to belong to the oligarch. The German Federal Criminal Police Office is said to have come across 36 offshore companies and 90 suspicious money laundering reports in connection with Usmanov alone.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov's sister, Ismailova, was legally the owner of the super-yacht "Dilbar". The ship was confiscated in Hamburg. Another sister of the oligarch is also on the EU sanctions list. According to data from "Suisse Secrets", the gynecologist Saodat Narzieva is said to have been the beneficial owner of up to 27 accounts at the major Swiss bank Credit Suisse.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In November it was reported that the Uzbek government had lobbied the EU to lift sanctions on Usmanov, stating that the sanctions were restricting his ability to invest in his home nation.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov has no biological children. He has a stepson with his wife Irina Viner. The stepson is a real-estate investor, currently constructing 30 real estate projects.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov owns the Grade I listed Tudor mansion Sutton Place set in in Surrey, which he bought for £10 million in 2004. In 2012, it was claimed by businessman Boris Berezovsky that Usmanov was given Sutton Place as part of a business deal, a claim that Usmanov denied. In 2008, Usmanov bought Beechwood House, a Grade II listed Regency property in of grounds in the London suburb of Highgate from the Qatari sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani for £48 million. Usmanov also owns a property in Moscow and a villa on the Italian island of Sardinia.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov is estimated to be among the world's 100 wealthiest individuals. Data in leaks such as the Suisse Secrets, the Panama Papers, and FinCEN Files, shows that his wealth is held through an elaborate network of shell companies and trusts, as well as dispersal of his assets to relatives.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: His sister Saodat Narzieva owns 27 Swiss bank accounts through which billions of dollars pass. One of the accounts held over $2.1 billion in 2011.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: Usmanov has owned three luxury yachts named "Dilbar," after his mother. In 2005 he took delivery of the first "Dilbar" (now "Luna B) from Oceanco at a reported cost of $60 million. A second "Dilbar" (now "Al Raya") was delivered by Lürssen in 2008 at a reported cost of $250 million. As of 2019 it was the 38th largest motor yacht by length, measuring 110.0 m (361 ft). In 2015 Usmanov commissioned the third "Dilbar", the current largest yacht in the world by gross tonnage (15,917 gt) and the 6th largest yacht by length measuring 156.0 m (512 ft). It is reported to have cost $800 million, employ 84 full-time crew members, and contain the largest indoor swimming pool installed on a superyacht at 180 cubic metres. After taking delivery of the second "Dilbar", Usmanov renamed the original "Ona" and sold it in 2010. He later repeated that process when the second "Dilbar" was renamed "Ona" and was sold to a middle-eastern buyer in 2018. On 2 March 2022, German authorities seized "Dilbar" in Hamburg as part of sanctions against Usmanov stemming from the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. On April 15, 2022, the yacht was frozen by Germany after investigations regarding its ownership revealed that "Dilbar" belong to Usmanov's sister, who was also sanctioned.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: According to the "Index", Usmanov's net worth fell by nearly a quarter from February 22 to March 15, 2022, as the West imposed sanctions following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In 2021, "The Sunday Times" named Usmanov the most generous philanthropist on its Rich List, donating more than £4.2 billion to charity personally and by his businesses over the 20-year history of The Sunday Times Giving List. In 2012, Russian Forbes named Usmanov Philanthropist of the Year. In 2006 Usmanov founded "Art, Science and Sport" Charity Fund. The Fund is in close cooperation with London's Tate Britain. Together they carried out several projects in Russia such as the Turner exhibition in 2009 and the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition in 2013. Usmanov is a Trustee for a range of social, educational and cultural organisations, including the Russian Geographical Society, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, National Research University Higher School of Economics, and the European University at St Petersburg. In 2015 he donated €1.5 million toward the restoration of Rome's Basilica Ulpia.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: In February 2020, it was revealed Usmanov purchased Pierre de Coubertin's original 1892 Olympic Manifesto for $8.8 million. He then donated it to the Olympic Museum. The manifesto has become the world's most expensive piece of sports memorabilia. Two years in a row, in 2020 and 2021, Usmanov topped the list of contributors to the fight against COVID-19 among the participants of "The Sunday Times" Rich List with donations Russia, Uzbekistan and Italy of £134.2 m. In 2020 Usmanov said in an interview with the "Financial Times" that he will leave his assets to his family and USM management: "Many people have helped me. So I want to help my family and my management by giving them my shares. Fifty per cent to family, fifty per cent to management, who deserve this, in my view".


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 17 September 2007, Usmanov paid more than £20 million for an art collection owned by the late Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, days before it was to be auctioned by Sotheby's in London. He gave all the artwork to the Russian state, where it is housed in the Konstantinovsky Palace near St. Petersburg. Later that same month he purchased the rights to a large collection of Soviet cartoons, which for fifteen years had been owned by Russian-born actor Oleg Vidov, who emigrated to the United States in 1985. After the deal, valued at $5–10 million, Usmanov donated the cartoon collection to a newly formed Russian children's television channel.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: According to presidential decree No. 365 of 17 March 2004, Usmanov was awarded with a Medal of Honor of Russia. In 2011, Usmanov received the Order of Friendship of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 2013, he was awarded the Order for Service to the Fatherland IV class in recognition of his services to the state, as well as his community and charitable activities. In the same year, he was awarded a medal 'For contribution to international cooperation' by the Foreign Ministry of Russia. In 2014, Usmanov received the Order of Alexander Nevsky for his community and charitable activities. In 2016 he received The Decoration "For Beneficence" for his contribution to charitable and social activities in Russia. The same year Usmanov received the Al-Fahr Order for his great contribution to the revival of Islam in Russia. In 2018 Usmanov received the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" 3rd class.


title: Alisher Usmanov

text: On 4 December 2014, Usmanov paid $4.8m for Dr James Watson's Nobel Prize Medal in Physiology or Medicine, which was auctioned at Christie's in New York City. Watson was selling his prize to raise money to support scientific research. After auctions fees, Watson received $4.1m. Usmanov subsequently returned the medal to Watson, stating "in my opinion, a situation in which an outstanding scientist sells a medal recognizing his achievements is unacceptable. Watson's work contributed to cancer research, the illness from which my father died. It is important for me that the money that I spent on this medal will go to supporting scientific research, and the medal will stay with the person who deserved it."


title: Sarah Goldberg

text: Sarah Goldberg (born May 31, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Sally Reed in the HBO dark comedy series "Barry" (2018–present), which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also originated the dual role of Betsey/Lindsey in the Royal Court Theatre's production of "Clybourne Park", for which she was nominated for a 2011 Olivier Award, and later performed it on Broadway.


title: Sarah Goldberg

text: Goldberg was born into a Jewish family in Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 31, 1985. Attracted to the theater, she participated in productions in high school. After backpacking through Europe, she was accepted to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in 2004 and subsequently moved to London. She worked as a waitress and babysitter to support herself and graduated in 2007.


title: Sarah Goldberg

text: Shortly after graduating, Goldberg gained her first role in a production of Carson McCullers' "The Member of the Wedding" at the Young Vic. She also did voice-overs, motion capture for video games, and instructional videos. She was cast in "Apologia" at the Bush Theatre in 2009, and also appeared in Bekah Brunstetter's "Miss Lilly Gets Boned" at the Finborough Theatre and John Guare's "Six Degrees of Separation" at the Old Vic. In 2011, she was cast in a supporting role in Bruce Norris' "Clybourne Park" at the Royal Court, originating the dual role of Betsey/Lindsey. She was nominated for an Olivier Award for her performance, and later performed the play on Broadway. She portrayed Alison Porter in Sam Gold's off-Broadway 2012 revival of John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger", opposite Adam Driver and Matthew Rhys, and then appeared in Amy Herzog's "The Great God Pan" at Playwrights Horizons.


title: Sarah Goldberg

text: Goldberg had small parts in the films "A Bunch of Amateurs" (2008), "Gambit" (2012), and "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012). She also starred in the short-lived comedy-drama series "Hindsight" (2015). She began playing aspiring actress Sally Reed in the HBO dark comedy series "Barry" (2018–present), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2019.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The history of ancient Israel and Judah begins in the Southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. "Israel" as a people or tribal confederation (see Israelites) appears for the first time in the Merneptah Stele, an inscription from ancient Egypt that dates to about 1208 BCE. According to modern archaeology, ancient Israelite culture developed as an outgrowth from the Canaanites. Two related Israelite polities known as the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah had emerged in the region by Iron Age II.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: According to the Hebrew Bible, a "United Monarchy" (consisting of Israel and Judah) existed as early as the 11th century BCE, under the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon; the country later would have split into two separate kingdoms: Israel (containing the cities of Shechem and Samaria) in the north and Judah (containing Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple) in the south. The historicity of the United Monarchy is debated as there are no archaeological remains of it that are accepted as consensus, but historians and archaeologists agree that Israel and Judah existed as separate kingdoms by and , respectively.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Archaeological remains during that time does however, include Shoshenq I of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt invading the Levant around 930-925 BCE, conquering many cities and settlements. Unlike the United Monarchy, archaeological evidence of the conquest have been found in various sites in the Levant. However, the 22nd Dynasty did not directly annex the Levant following the conquest and brought the Levant back into Egyptian domination for unknown reasons. It was theorized by Israel Finkelstein that Shoshenq I invaded the Levant in order to prevent the formation of a unified state under the Israelites, thus forming the basis of the biblical story of Jeroboam's Revolt.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed around 720 BCE, when it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. While the Kingdom of Judah remained intact during this time, it became a client state of first the Neo-Assyrian Empire and then the Neo-Babylonian Empire. However, Jewish revolts against the Babylonians led to the destruction of Judah in 586 BCE, under the rule of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. According to the biblical account, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar II besieged Jerusalem between 589–586 BCE, which led to the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the exile of the Jews to Babylon; this event was also recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles. The exilic period, which saw the development of the Israelite religion (Yahwism) towards the distinct monotheism of Judaism, ended with the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid Persian Empire around 538 BCE. Subsequently, Persian king Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation known as the Edict of Cyrus, which authorized and encouraged exiled Jews to return to the Land of Israel. Cyrus' proclamation began the exiles' return to Zion, inaugurating the formative period in which a more distinctive Jewish identity was developed in the Persian province of Yehud. During this time, the destroyed Solomon's Temple was replaced by the Second Temple, marking the beginning of the Second Temple period.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: During the Hellenistic period, Yehud was absorbed into the Hellenistic kingdoms that followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. The 2nd century BCE saw a successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire and the subsequent formation of the Hasmonean kingdom—the last nominally independent kingdom of Israel. The Hasmonean kingdom gradually began to lose its independence from 63 BCE onwards, under Pompey the Great. It eventually became a client state of the Roman Republic and later of the Parthian Empire. Following the installation of client kingdoms under the Herodian dynasty, the Roman province of Judaea was wracked by civil disturbances, which culminated in the First Jewish–Roman War. The Jewish defeat by the Roman Empire in this conflict saw the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE as well as the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity. The name Judaea () then ceased to be used by the Greco-Romans. After the Bar Kokhba revolt of 135 CE, the majority of Jews in the Levant were expelled, after which Judaea was renamed by the Romans to "Syria Palaestina".


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The eastern Mediterranean seaboard the Levant stretches 400 miles north to south from the Taurus Mountains to the Sinai Peninsula, and 70 to 100 miles east to west between the sea and the Arabian Desert. The coastal plain of the southern Levant, broad in the south and narrowing to the north, is backed in its southernmost portion by a zone of foothills, the Shfela; like the plain this narrows as it goes northwards, ending in the promontory of Mount Carmel. East of the plain and the Shfela is a mountainous ridge, the "hill country of Judea" in the south, the "hill country of Ephraim" north of that, then Galilee and Mount Lebanon. To the east again lie the steep-sided valley occupied by the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and the wadi of the Arabah, which continues down to the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Beyond the plateau is the Syrian desert, separating the Levant from Mesopotamia. To the southwest is Egypt, to the northeast Mesopotamia. The location and geographical characteristics of the narrow Levant made the area a battleground among the powerful entities that surrounded it.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Canaan in the Late Bronze Age was a shadow of what it had been centuries earlier: many cities were abandoned, others shrank in size, and the total settled population was probably not much more than a hundred thousand. Settlement was concentrated in cities along the coastal plain and along major communication routes; the central and northern hill country which would later become the biblical kingdom of Israel was only sparsely inhabited although letters from the Egyptian archives indicate that Jerusalem was already a Canaanite city-state recognising Egyptian overlordship. Politically and culturally it was dominated by Egypt, each city under its own ruler, constantly at odds with its neighbours, and appealing to the Egyptians to adjudicate their differences.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The Canaanite city state system broke down during the Late Bronze Age collapse, and Canaanite culture was then gradually absorbed into those of the Philistines, Phoenicians and Israelites. The process was gradual and a strong Egyptian presence continued into the 12th century BCE, and, while some Canaanite cities were destroyed, others continued to exist in Iron Age I.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The name "Israel" first appears in the Merneptah Stele c. 1208 BCE: "Israel is laid waste and his seed is no more." This "Israel" was a cultural and probably political entity, well enough established for the Egyptians to perceive it as a possible challenge, but an ethnic group rather than an organised state.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Archaeologist Paula McNutt says: "It is probably ... during Iron Age I [that] a population began to identify itself as 'Israelite'," differentiating itself from its neighbours via prohibitions on intermarriage, an emphasis on family history and genealogy, and religion.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: In the Late Bronze Age there were no more than about 25 villages in the highlands, but this increased to over 300 by the end of Iron Age I, while the settled population doubled from 20,000 to 40,000. The villages were more numerous and larger in the north, and probably shared the highlands with pastoral nomads, who left no remains. Archaeologists and historians attempting to trace the origins of these villagers have found it impossible to identify any distinctive features that could define them as specifically Israelite collared-rim jars and four-room houses have been identified outside the highlands and thus cannot be used to distinguish Israelite sites, and while the pottery of the highland villages is far more limited than that of lowland Canaanite sites, it develops typologically out of Canaanite pottery that came before. Israel Finkelstein proposed that the oval or circular layout that distinguishes some of the earliest highland sites, and the notable absence of pig bones from hill sites, could be taken as markers of ethnicity, but others have cautioned that these can be a "common-sense" adaptation to highland life and not necessarily revelatory of origins. Other Aramaean sites also demonstrate a contemporary absence of pig remains at that time, unlike earlier Canaanite and later Philistine excavations.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: In "The Bible Unearthed" (2001), Finkelstein and Silberman summarised recent studies. They described how, up until 1967, the Israelite heartland in the highlands of western Palestine was virtually an archaeological "terra incognita". Since then, intensive surveys have examined the traditional territories of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. These surveys have revealed the sudden emergence of a new culture contrasting with the Philistine and Canaanite societies existing in the Land of Israel earlier during Iron Age I. This new culture is characterised by a lack of pork remains (whereas pork formed 20% of the Philistine diet in places), by an abandonment of the Philistine/Canaanite custom of having highly decorated pottery, and by the practice of circumcision. The Israelite ethnic identity had originated, not from the Exodus and a subsequent conquest, but from a transformation of the existing Canaanite-Philistine cultures.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Modern scholars therefore see Israel arising peacefully and internally from existing people in the highlands of Canaan.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Extensive archaeological excavations have provided a picture of Israelite society during the early Iron Age period. The archaeological evidence indicates a society of village-like centres, but with more limited resources and a small population. During this period, Israelites lived primarily in small villages, the largest of which had populations of up to 300 or 400. Their villages were built on hilltops. Their houses were built in clusters around a common courtyard. They built three- or four-room houses out of mudbrick with a stone foundation and sometimes with a second story made of wood. The inhabitants lived by farming and herding. They built terraces to farm on hillsides, planting various crops and maintaining orchards. The villages were largely economically self-sufficient and economic interchange was prevalent. According to the Bible, prior to the rise of the Israelite monarchy the early Israelites were led by the Biblical judges, or chieftains who served as military leaders in times of crisis. Scholars are divided over the historicity of this account. However, it is likely that regional chiefdoms and polities provided security. The small villages were unwalled but were likely subjects of the major town in the area. Writing was known and available for recording, even at small sites.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: According to Israel Finkelstein, after an emergent and large polity was suddenly formed based on the Gibeon-Gibeah plateau and destroyed by Shoshenq I, the biblical Shishak, in the 10th century BCE, a return to small city-states was prevalent in the Southern Levant, but between 950 and 900 BCE another large polity emerged in the northern highlands with its capital eventually at Tirzah, that can be considered the precursor of the Kingdom of Israel. The Kingdom of Israel was consolidated as an important regional power by the first half of the 9th century BCE, before falling to the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722 BCE, and the Kingdom of Judah began to flourish in the second half of the 9th century BCE.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Unusually favourable climatic conditions in the first two centuries of Iron Age II brought about an expansion of population, settlements and trade throughout the region. In the central highlands this resulted in unification in a kingdom with the city of Samaria as its capital, possibly by the second half of the 10th century BCE when an inscription of the Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq I records a series of campaigns directed at the area. Israel had clearly emerged in the first half of the 9th century BCE, this is attested when the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III names "Ahab the Israelite" among his enemies at the battle of Qarqar (853 BCE). At this time Israel was apparently engaged in a three-way contest with Damascus and Tyre for control of the Jezreel Valley and Galilee in the north, and with Moab, Ammon and Aram Damascus in the east for control of Gilead; the Mesha Stele (c. 830 BCE), left by a king of Moab, celebrates his success in throwing off the oppression of the "House of Omri" (i.e., Israel). It bears what is generally thought to be the earliest extra-biblical reference to the name "Yahweh". A century later Israel came into increasing conflict with the expanding Neo-Assyrian Empire, which first split its territory into several smaller units and then destroyed its capital, Samaria (722 BCE). Both the biblical and Assyrian sources speak of a massive deportation of people from Israel and their replacement with settlers from other parts of the empire such population exchanges were an established part of Assyrian imperial policy, a means of breaking the old power structure and the former Israel never again became an independent political entity.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Judah emerged as an operational kingdom somewhat later than Israel, during the second half of 9th century BCE, but the subject is one of considerable controversy. There are indications that during the 10th and 9th centuries BCE, the southern highlands had been divided between a number of centres, none with clear primacy. During the reign of Hezekiah, between c. 715 and 686 BCE, a notable increase in the power of the Judean state can be observed. This is reflected in archaeological sites and findings, such as the Broad Wall; a defensive city wall in Jerusalem; and the Siloam tunnel, an aqueduct designed to provide Jerusalem with water during an impending siege by the Neo-Assyrian Empire led by Sennacherib; and the Siloam inscription, a lintel inscription found over the doorway of a tomb, has been ascribed to comptroller Shebna. LMLK seals on storage jar handles, excavated from strata in and around that formed by Sennacherib's destruction, appear to have been used throughout Sennacherib's 29-year reign, along with bullae from sealed documents, some that belonged to Hezekiah himself and others that name his servants.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Archaeological records indicate that the Kingdom of Israel was fairly prosperous. The late Iron Age saw an increase in urban development in Israel. Whereas previously the Israelites had lived mainly in small and unfortified settlements, the rise of the Kingdom of Israel saw the growth of cities and the construction of palaces, large royal enclosures, and fortifications with walls and gates. Israel initially had to invest significant resources into defense as it was subjected to regular Aramean incursions and attacks, but after the Arameans were subjugated by the Assyrians and Israel could afford to put less resources into defending its territory, its architectural infrastructure grew dramatically. Extensive fortifications were built around cities such as Dan, Megiddo, and Hazor, including monumental and multi-towered city walls and multi-gate entry systems. Israel's economy was based on multiple industries. It had the largest olive oil production centers in the region, using at least two different types of olive oil presses, and also had a significant wine industry, with wine presses constructed next to vineyards. By contrast, the Kingdom of Judah was significantly less advanced. Some scholars believe it was no more than a small tribal entity limited to Jerusalem and its immediate surroundings. In the 10th and early 9th centuries BCE, the territory of Judah appears to have been sparsely populated, limited to small and mostly unfortified settlements. The status of Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE is a major subject of debate among scholars. Jerusalem does not show evidence of significant Israelite residential activity until the 9th century BCE. On the other hand, significant administrative structures such as the Stepped Stone Structure and Large Stone Structure, which originally formed part of one structure, contain material culture from earlier than that. The ruins of a significant Judahite military fortress, Tel Arad, have also been found in the Negev, and a collection of military orders found there suggest literacy was present throughout the ranks of the Judahite army. This suggests that literacy was not limited to a tiny elite, indicating the presence of a substantial educational infrastructure in Judah.In the 7th century Jerusalem grew to contain a population many times greater than earlier and achieved clear dominance over its neighbours. This occurred at the same time that Israel was being destroyed by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and was probably the result of a cooperative arrangement with the Assyrians to establish Judah as an Assyrian vassal state controlling the valuable olive industry. Judah prospered as a vassal state (despite a disastrous rebellion against Sennacherib), but in the last half of the 7th century BCE, Assyria suddenly collapsed, and the ensuing competition between Egypt and the Neo-Babylonian Empire for control of the land led to the destruction of Judah in a series of campaigns between 597 and 582.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Babylonian Judah suffered a steep decline in both economy and population and lost the Negev, the Shephelah, and part of the Judean hill country, including Hebron, to encroachments from Edom and other neighbours. Jerusalem, while probably not totally abandoned, was much smaller than previously, and the town of Mizpah in Benjamin in the relatively unscathed northern section of the kingdom became the capital of the new Babylonian province of Yehud Medinata. (This was standard Babylonian practice: when the Philistine city of Ashkalon was conquered in 604, the political, religious and economic elite [but not the bulk of the population] was banished and the administrative centre shifted to a new location). There is also a strong probability that for most or all of the period the temple at Bethel in Benjamin replaced that at Jerusalem, boosting the prestige of Bethel's priests (the Aaronites) against those of Jerusalem (the Zadokites), now in exile in Babylon.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The Babylonian conquest entailed not just the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, but the liquidation of the entire infrastructure which had sustained Judah for centuries. The most significant casualty was the state ideology of "Zion theology," the idea that the god of Israel had chosen Jerusalem for his dwelling-place and that the Davidic dynasty would reign there forever. The fall of the city and the end of Davidic kingship forced the leaders of the exile community kings, priests, scribes and prophets to reformulate the concepts of community, faith and politics. The exile community in Babylon thus became the source of significant portions of the Hebrew Bible: Isaiah 40–55; Ezekiel; the final version of Jeremiah; the work of the hypothesized priestly source in the Pentateuch; and the final form of the history of Israel from Deuteronomy to 2 Kings. Theologically, the Babylonian exiles were responsible for the doctrines of individual responsibility and universalism (the concept that one god controls the entire world) and for the increased emphasis on purity and holiness. Most significantly, the trauma of the exile experience led to the development of a strong sense of Hebrew identity distinct from other peoples, with increased emphasis on symbols such as circumcision and Sabbath-observance to sustain that distinction.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Hans M. Barstad writes that the concentration of the biblical literature on the experience of the exiles in Babylon disguises that the great majority of the population remained in Judah; for them, life after the fall of Jerusalem probably went on much as it had before. It may even have improved, as they were rewarded with the land and property of the deportees, much to the anger of the community of exiles remaining in Babylon. Conversely, Avraham Faust's writes that archaeological and demographic surveys show that the population of Judah was significantly reduced to barely 10% of what it had been in the time before the Exile. The assassination around 582 of the Babylonian governor by a disaffected member of the former royal House of David provoked a Babylonian crackdown, possibly reflected in the Book of Lamentations, but the situation seems to have soon stabilised again. Nevertheless, those unwalled cities and towns that remained were subject to slave raids by the Phoenicians and intervention in their internal affairs by Samaritans, Arabs, and Ammonites.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: When Babylon fell to the founder and king of Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE, Judah (or Yehud medinata, the "province of Yehud") became an administrative division within the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus was succeeded as king by Cambyses, who added Egypt to the empire, incidentally transforming Yehud and the Philistine plain into an important frontier zone. His death in 522 was followed by a period of turmoil until Darius the Great seized the throne in about 521. Darius introduced a reform of the administrative arrangements of the empire including the collection, codification and administration of local law codes, and it is reasonable to suppose that this policy lay behind the redaction of the Jewish Torah. After 404 the Persians lost control of Egypt, which became Persia's main rival outside Europe, causing the Persian authorities to tighten their administrative control over Yehud and the rest of the Levant. Egypt was eventually reconquered, but soon afterward Persia fell to Alexander the Great, ushering in the Hellenistic period in the Levant.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Yehud's population over the entire period was probably never more than about 30,000 and that of Jerusalem no more than about 1,500, most of them connected in some way to the Temple. According to the biblical history, one of the first acts of Cyrus, the Persian conqueror of Babylon, was to commission Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple, a task which they are said to have completed c. 515. Yet it was probably not until the middle of the next century, at the earliest, that Jerusalem again became the capital of Judah. The Persians may have experimented initially with ruling Yehud as a Davidic client-kingdom under descendants of Jehoiachin, but by the mid–5th century BCE, Yehud had become, in practice, a theocracy, ruled by hereditary high priests, with a Persian-appointed governor, frequently Jewish, charged with keeping order and seeing that taxes (tribute) were collected and paid. According to the biblical history, Ezra and Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in the middle of the 5th century BCE, the former empowered by the Persian king to enforce the Torah, the latter holding the status of governor with a royal commission to restore Jerusalem's walls. The biblical history mentions tension between the returnees and those who had remained in Yehud, the returnees rebuffing the attempt of the "peoples of the land" to participate in the rebuilding of the Temple; this attitude was based partly on the exclusivism that the exiles had developed while in Babylon and, probably, also partly on disputes over property. During the 5th century BCE, Ezra and Nehemiah attempted to re-integrate these rival factions into a united and ritually pure society, inspired by the prophecies of Ezekiel and his followers.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The Persian era, and especially the period between 538 and 400 BCE, laid the foundations for the unified Judaic religion and the beginning of a scriptural canon. Other important landmarks in this period include the replacement of Hebrew as the everyday language of Judah by Aramaic (although Hebrew continued to be used for religious and literary purposes) and Darius's reform of the empire's bureaucracy, which may have led to extensive revisions and reorganizations of the Jewish Torah. The Israel of the Persian period consisted of descendants of the inhabitants of the old kingdom of Judah, returnees from the Babylonian exile community, Mesopotamians who had joined them or had been exiled themselves to Samaria at a far earlier period, Samaritans, and others.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The beginning of the Hellenistic Period is marked by the conquest of Alexander the Great (333 BCE). When Alexander died in 323, he had no heirs that were able to take his place as ruler of his empire, so his generals divided the empire among themselves. Ptolemy I asserted himself as the ruler of Egypt in 322 and seized Yehud Medinata in 320, but his successors lost it in 198 to the Seleucids of Syria. At first, relations between Seleucids and Jews were cordial, but the attempt of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (174–163) to impose Hellenic cults on Judea sparked the Maccabean Revolt that ended in the expulsion of the Seleucids and the establishment of an independent Jewish kingdom under the Hasmonean dynasty. Some modern commentators see this period also as a civil war between orthodox and hellenized Jews. Hasmonean kings attempted to revive the Judah described in the Bible: a Jewish monarchy ruled from Jerusalem and including all territories once ruled by David and Solomon. In order to carry out this project, the Hasmoneans forcibly converted one-time Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites to Judaism, as well as the lost kingdom of Israel. Some scholars argue that the Hasmonean dynasty institutionalized the final Jewish biblical canon.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Ptolemy I took control of Egypt in 322 BCE after the death of Alexander the Great. He also took control of Yehud Medinata in 320 because he was very aware that it was a great place from which to attack Egypt and was also a great defensive position. However, there were others who also had their eyes on that area. Another former general, Antigonus Monophthalmus, had driven out the satrap of Babylon, Seleucus, in 317 and continued on towards the Levant. Seleucus found refuge with Ptolemy and they both rallied troops against Antigonus' son Demetrius, since Antigonus had retreated back to Asia Minor. Demetrius was defeated at the battle of Gaza and Ptolemy regained control of Yehud Medinata. However, not soon after this Antigonus came back and forced Ptolemy to retreat back to Egypt. This went on until the Battle of Ipsus in 301 where Seleucus' armies defeated Antigonus. Seleucus was given the areas of Syria and Palestine, but Ptolemy would not give up those lands, causing the Syrian Wars between the Ptolemies and Seleucids. Not much is known about the happenings of those in Yehud Medinata from the time of Alexander's death until the Battle of Ipsus due to the frequent battles. At first, the Jews were content with Ptolemy's rule over them. His reign brought them peace and economic stability. He also allowed them to keep their religious practices, so long as they paid their taxes and didn't rebel. After Ptolemy I came Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who was able to keep the territory of Yehud Medinata and brought the dynasty to the peak of its power. He was victorious in both the first and second Syrian Wars, but after trying to end the conflict with the Seleucids by arranging a marriage between his daughter Berenice and the Seleucid king Antiochus II, he died. The arranged marriage did not work and Berenice, Antiochus, and their child were killed from an order of Antiochus' former wife. This was one of the reasons for the third Syrian War. Before all of this, Ptolemy II fought and defeated the Nabataeans. In order to enforce his hold on them, he reinforced many cities in Palestine and built new ones. As a result of this, more Greeks and Macedonians moved to those new cities and brought over their customs and culture, or Hellenism. The Ptolemaic Rule also gave rise to 'tax farmers'. These were the bigger farmers who collected the high taxes of the smaller farmers. These farmers made a lot of money off of this, but it also put a rift between the aristocracy and everyone else. During the end of the Third Syrian War, the high priest Onias II would not pay the tax to the Ptolemy III Euergetes. It is thought that this shows a turning point in the Jew's support of the Ptolemies. The Fourth and Fifth Syrian Wars marked the end of the Ptolemaic control of Palestine. Both of these wars hurt Palestine more than the previous three. That and the combination of the ineffective rulers Ptolemy IV Philopater and Ptolemy V and the might of the large Seleucid army ended the century-long rule of the Ptolemaic Dynasty over Palestine.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The Seleucid Rule of the Holy Land began in 198 BCE under Antiochus III. He, like the Ptolemies, let the Jews keep their religion and customs and even went so far as to encourage the rebuilding of the temple and city after they welcomed him so warmly into Jerusalem. However, Antiochus owed the Romans a great deal of money. In order to raise this money, he decided to rob a temple. The people at the temple of Bel in Elam were not pleased, so they killed Antiochus and everyone helping him in 187 BCE. He was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopater. He simply defended the area from Ptolemy V before being murdered by his minister in 175. His brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes took his place. Before he killed the king, the minister Heliodorus had tried to steal the treasures from the temple in Jerusalem. He was informed of this by a rival of the current High Priest Onias III. Heliodorus was not allowed into the temple, but it required Onias to go explain to the king why one of his ministers was denied access somewhere. In his absence, his rivals put up a new high priest. Onias' brother Jason (a Hellenized version of Joshua) took his place. Now with Jason as high priest and Antiochus IV as king, many Jews adopted Hellenistic ways. Some of these ways, as stated in the Book of 1 Maccabees, were the building of a gymnasium, finding ways to hide their circumcision, and just generally not abiding by the holy covenant. This led to the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: According to the Book of Maccabees, many Jews were not happy with the way Hellenism had spread into Judea. Some of these Jews were Mattathias and his sons. Mattathias refused to offer sacrifice when the king told him to. He killed a Jew who was going to do so as well as the king's representative. Because of this, Mattathias and his sons had to flee. This marks the true beginning of the Maccabean Revolt. Judas Maccabeus became the leader of the rebels. He proved to be a successful general, defeating an army led by Apollonius. They started to catch the attention of King Antiochus IV in 165, who told his chancellor to put an end to the revolt. The chancellor, Lysias, sent three generals to do just that, but they were all defeated by the Maccabees. Soon after, Lysias went himself but, according to 1 and 2 Maccabees he was defeated. There is evidence to show that it was not that simple and that there was negotiation, but Lysias still left. After the death of Antiochus IV in 164, his son, Antiochus V, gave the Jews religious freedom. Lysias claimed to be his regent. Around this time was the re-dedication of the temple. During the siege of the Acra, one of Judas' brothers, Eleazor, was killed. The Maccabees had to retreat back to Jerusalem, where they should have been beaten badly. However, Lysias had to pull out because of a contradiction of who was to be regent for Antiochus V. Shortly after, both were killed by Demetrius I Soter who became the new king. The new high priest, Alcimus, had come to Jerusalem with the company of an army led by Bacchides. A group of scribes called the Hasideans asked him for his word that he would not harm anyone. He agreed, but killed sixty of them. Around this time Judas was able to make a treaty with the Romans. Soon after this, Judas was killed in Jerusalem fighting Bacchides' army. His brother Jonathan succeeded him. For eight years, Jonathan didn't do much. However, in 153 the Seleucid Empire started to face some problems. Jonathan used this chance to exchange his services of troops for Demetrius so that he could take back Jerusalem. He was appointed high priest by Alexander Balas for the same thing. When conflicts between Egypt and the Seleucids arose, Jonathan occupied the Acra. As conflicts over the throne arose, he completely took control of the Acra. But in 142 he was killed. His brother Simon took his place.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Simon was nominated for the title of high priest, general, and leader by a "great assembly". He reached out to Rome to have them guarantee that Judea would be an independent land. Antiochus VII wanted the cities of Gadara, Joppa, and the Acra back. He also wanted a very large tribute. Simon only wanted to pay a fraction of that for only two of the cities, so Antiochus sent his general Cendebaeus to attack. The general was killed and the army fled. Simon and two of his sons were killed in a plot to overthrow the Hasmoneans. His last remaining son, John Hyrcanus, was supposed to be killed as well, but he was informed of the plan and rushed to Jerusalem to keep it safe. Hyrcanus had many issues to deal with as the new high priest. Antiochus invaded Judea and besieged Jerusalem in 134 BCE. Due to lack of food, Hyrcanus had to make a deal with Antiochus. He had to pay a large sum of money, tear down the walls of the city, acknowledge Seleucid power over Judea, and help the Seleucids fight against the Parthians. Hyrcanus agreed to this, but the war against the Parthians didn't work and Antiochus died in 128. Hyrcanus was able to take back Judea and keep his power. John Hyrcanus also kept good relations with the Roman and the Egyptians, owing to the large number of Jews living there, and conquered Transjordan, Samaria, and Idumea (also known as Edom). Aristobulus I was the first Hasmonean priest-king. He defied his father's wishes that his mother should take over the government and instead had her and all of his brothers except for one thrown in prison. The one not thrown in prison was later killed on his orders. The most significant thing he did during his one-year-reign was conquer most of Galilee. After his death, he was succeeded by his brother Alexander Jannaeus, who was only concerned with power and conquest. He also married his brother's widow, showing little respect for Jewish law. His first conquest was Ptolemais. The people called to Ptolemy IX for aid, as he was in Cyprus. However, it was his mother, Cleopatra III, who came to help Alexander and not her son. Alexander was not a popular ruler. This caused a civil war in Jerusalem that lasted for six years. After Alexander Jannaeus' death, his widow became ruler, but not high priest. The end of the Hasmonean Dynasty was in 63 when the Romans came at the request of the current priest-king Aristobulus II and his competitor Hyrcanus II. In 63 BCE the Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and the Romans put Hyrcanus II up as high priest, but Judea became a client-kingdom of Rome. The dynasty came to an end in 40 BCE when Herod was crowned king of Judah by the Romans. With their help, Herod had seized Jerusalem by 37.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: In 40–39 BCE, Herod the Great was appointed king of the Jews by the Roman Senate, and in 6 CE the last ethnarch of Judea, a descendant of Herod's, was deposed by Emperor Augustus, his territories combined with Idumea and Samaria and annexed as Iudaea Province under direct Roman administration.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Henotheism is the act of worshipping a single god, without denying the existence of other deities. Many scholars believe that before monotheism in ancient Israel, there came a transitional period; in this transitional period many followers of the Israelite religion worshiped the god Yahweh, but did not deny the existence of other deities accepted throughout the region. Henotheistic worship was not uncommon in the Ancient Near East, many Iron Age nation states worshipped an elevated national god which was nonetheless only part of a wider pantheon; examples include Chemosh in Moab, Qos in Edom, Milkom in Ammon, and Ashur in Assyria.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Canaanite religion syncretized elements from neighboring cultures, largely from Mesopotamian religious traditions. Using Canaanite religion as a base was natural due to the fact that the Canaanite culture inhabited the same region prior to the emergence of Israelite culture. Israelite religion was no exception, as during the transitional period, Yahweh and El were syncretized in the Israelite pantheon. El already occupied a reasonably important place in the Israelite religion. Even the name "Israel" is based on the name El, rather than Yahweh. It was this initial harmonization of Israelite and Canaanite religious thought that lead to Yahweh gradually absorbing several characteristics from Canaanite deities, in turn strengthening his own position as an all-powerful "One." Even still, monotheism in the region of ancient Israel and Judah did not take hold overnight, and during the intermediate stages most people are believed to have remained henotheistic.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: During this intermediate period of henotheism many families worshiped different gods. Religion was very much centered around the family, as opposed to the community. The region of Israel and Judah was sparsely populated during the time of Moses. As such many different areas worshiped different gods, due to social isolation. It was not until later on in Israelite history that people started to worship Yahweh alone and fully convert to monotheistic values. That switch occurred with the growth of power and influence of the Israelite kingdom and its rulers. Further details of this are contained in the Iron Age Yahwism section below. Evidence from the Bible suggests that henotheism did exist: "They [the Hebrews] went and served alien gods and paid homage to them, gods of whom they had no experience and whom he [Yahweh] did not allot to them" (Deut. 29.26). Many believe that this quote demonstrates that the early Israelite kingdom followed traditions similar to ancient Mesopotamia, where each major urban center had a supreme god. Each culture embraced their patron god but did not deny the existence of other cultures' patron gods. In Assyria, the patron god was Ashur, and in ancient Israel, it was Yahweh; however, both Israelite and Assyrian cultures recognized each other's deities during this period.Some scholars have used the Bible as evidence to argue that most of the people alive during the events recounted in the Old Testament, including Moses, were most likely henotheists. There are many quotes from the Old Testament that are used to support this view. One such quote from Jewish and Christian tradition is the first commandment which in its entirety reads "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me." This quote does not deny the existence of other gods; it merely states that Jews and Christians should consider Yahweh or God the supreme god, incomparable to other supernatural beings. Some scholars attribute the concept of angels and demons found in Judaism and Christianity to the tradition of henotheism. Instead of completely getting rid of the concept of other supernatural beings, these religions changed former deities into angels and demons. Yahweh became the supreme god governing angels, demons and humans, with angels and demons considered more powerful than the average human. This tradition of believing in multiple forms of supernatural beings is attributed by many to the traditions of ancient Mesopotamia and Canaan and their pantheons of gods. Earlier influences from Mesopotamia and Canaan were important in creating the foundation of Israelite religion consistent with the Kingdoms of ancient Israel and Judah, and have left lasting impacts on some of the biggest and most widespread religions in our world today.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The religion of the Israelites of Iron Age I, like the Ancient Canaanite religion from which it evolved and other religions of the ancient Near East, was based on a cult of ancestors and worship of family gods (the "gods of the fathers"). With the emergence of the monarchy at the beginning of Iron Age II the kings promoted their family god, Yahweh, as the god of the kingdom, but beyond the royal court, religion continued to be both polytheistic and family-centered. The major deities were not numerous El, Asherah, and Yahweh, with Baal as a fourth god, and perhaps Shamash (the sun) in the early period. At an early stage El and Yahweh became fused and Asherah did not continue as a separate state cult, although she continued to be popular at a community level until Persian times.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Yahweh, the national god of both Israel and Judah, seems to have originated in Edom and Midian in southern Canaan and may have been brought to Israel by the Kenites and Midianites at an early stage. There is a general consensus among scholars that the first formative event in the emergence of the distinctive religion described in the Bible was triggered by the destruction of Israel by Assyria in c. 722 BCE. Refugees from the northern kingdom fled to Judah, bringing with them laws and a prophetic tradition of Yahweh. This religion was subsequently adopted by the landowners of Judah, who in 640 BCE placed the eight-year-old Josiah on the throne. Judah at this time was a vassal state of Assyria, but Assyrian power collapsed in the 630s, and around 622 Josiah and his supporters launched a bid for independence expressed as loyalty to "Yahweh alone".


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: In both Israel and Judah, prophets had taken on significant religious and political significance. It is particularly well-known thanks to the prophetic books ("Nevi'im") of the Hebrew Bible. Nearly all of the prophets mentioned in the biblical texts are men, and although they did not necessarily write the prophetic texts, they are undoubtedly the source of those texts. Amos and Hoshea were written in the first half of the 8th century, the First Isaiah ("Proto-Isaiah") a little later, Jeremiah and Ezekiel during the fall of Judah and the early years of the Babylonian captivity, Daniel during the Exile, the Second Isaiah ("Deutero-Isaiah") between the end of the Exile and the start of the post-exilic period, etc.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: Prophecy was widespread in the Ancient Near East, as shown by records from Assyria and Mari. Gods communicated with humans (men or women) in order to convey a message meant both specifically for the king and more broadly for the subjects of the kingdom. In some instances, the king requested that the prophet receive a divine message. The context of this function's performance in the Bible is unclear; prophets can be found alone or in groups, at the royal court or in temples (as is most common in other regions of the Near East).


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The prophets featured in the biblical accounts were messengers of Yahweh. In the kingdom of Israel, they competed with Ba'al-related prophets. They serve as diviners, and because of their special relationship with Yahweh, they are also said to possess miraculous powers: the Bible records instances of prophets curing the sick, raising the dead, multiplying bread and oil, and bringing rain after a drought.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The prophets of Yahweh from the time of the monarchy have two main messages for the king: to make sure he only worships Yahweh, and to make sure he looks out for the people, especially the least fortunate (the widow and the orphan). The prophets were sometimes supporters of the king's initiatives and his advisors; at other times, they were fierce opponents. They frequently had harsh criticism for how the populace lived. The prophets undoubtedly had a stronger social role than the temple priests, who are a part of the elite group.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The role of the prophets in shaping Yahwism and Monotheism is not clear. Although it has frequently been argued that the prophets were merely intermediaries for the wishes of the Yahwist elites of the court and the Temple, it is possible that they were instrumental in the development and spread of monotheism.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: According to the Deuteronomists, as scholars call these Judean nationalists, the treaty with Yahweh would enable Israel's god to preserve both the city and the king in return for the people's worship and obedience. The destruction of Jerusalem, its Temple, and the Davidic dynasty by Babylon in 587/586 BCE was deeply traumatic and led to revisions of the national mythos during the Babylonian exile. This revision was expressed in the Deuteronomistic history, the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, which interpreted the Babylonian destruction as divinely-ordained punishment for the failure of Israel's kings to worship Yahweh to the exclusion of all other deities.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The Second Temple period (520 BCE 70 CE) differed in significant ways from what had gone before. Strict monotheism emerged among the priests of the Temple establishment during the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, as did beliefs regarding angels and demons. At this time, circumcision, dietary laws, and Sabbath-observance gained more significance as symbols of Jewish identity, and the institution of the synagogue became increasingly important, and most of the biblical literature, including the Torah, was substantially revised during this time.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: As was customary in the ancient Near East, a king () ruled over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The national god Yahweh, who selects those to rule his realm and his people, is depicted in the Hebrew Bible as having a hand in the establishment of the royal institution. In this sense, the true king is God, and the king serves as his earthly envoy and is tasked with ruling his realm. In some Psalms that appear to be related to the coronation of kings, they are referred to as "sons of Yahweh". The kings actually had to succeed one another according to a dynastic principle, even though the succession was occasionally decided through coups d'état. The coronation seemed to take place in a sacred place, and was marked by the anointing of the king who then becomes the "anointed one (māšîaḥ ,the origin of the word Messiah) of Yahweh"; the end of the ritual seems marked by an acclamation by the people (or at least their representatives, the Elders), followed by a banquet.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: The Bible's descriptions of the lists of dignitaries from the reigns of David and Solomon show that the king is supported by a group of high dignitaries. Those include the chief of the army (), the great scribe () who was in charge of the management of the royal chancellery, the herald (), as well as the high priest () and the master of the palace (), who has a function of stewardship of the household of the king at the beginning and seems to become a real prime minister of Judah during the later periods. The attributions of most of these dignitaries remain debated, as illustrated in particular by the much-discussed case of the “king's friend” mentioned under Solomon.


title: History of ancient Israel and Judah

text: A writing system unique to the Israelites emerged from the Phoenician alphabet around the 10th century. This system is today known as the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. Consonantal in nature, this abjad contains twenty-two letters. The language spoken during this period was Biblical Hebrew, an ancient variant of Hebrew, a Northwest Semitic language related to Phoenician and Aramaic. As evidenced by ancient inscriptions, dialect variations existed, particularly between the northern Kingdom of Israel ("Israelian Hebrew") and the South (Judah). The biblical texts are predominantly written in the Judahite dialect.


title: E Street Band

text: The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing career, the band consisted of: guitarists Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, and Patti Scialfa, keyboardists Danny Federici and Roy Bittan, bassist Garry Tallent, drummer Max Weinberg, and saxophonist Clarence Clemons.


title: E Street Band

text: When not working with Springsteen, members of the band have recorded solo material and have pursued successful careers as session musicians, record producers, songwriters, actors and other roles in entertainment. The most highly visible in their separate careers are drummer Max Weinberg, who has led his own band, first on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and then on "the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien", from 1993 to 2010, and guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who starred as Silvio Dante in the HBO television series "The Sopranos", from 1999 to 2007, and as Frank "The Fixer" Tagliano in the 2012–2014 Netflix series "Lilyhammer".


title: E Street Band

text: The band members have also performed and recorded (both individually and as a band) with a wide range of other artists including Air Supply, Gary U.S. Bonds, David Bowie, Tracy Chapman, Ray Davies, Dire Straits, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, John Fogerty, Aretha Franklin, Peter Gabriel, The Grateful Dead, Emmylou Harris, Ian Hunter, Lady Gaga, Darlene Love, Paul McCartney, Meat Loaf, Tom Morello, Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Bob Seger, Southside Johnny, Ronnie Spector, Ringo Starr, Sting, Bonnie Tyler, Lucinda Williams, and Neil Young.


title: E Street Band

text: The E Street Band was founded in October 1972, but it was not formally named until September 1974. Springsteen has put together other backing bands during his career, but the E Street Band has been together more or less continuously since its inception.


title: E Street Band

text: The original lineup included Garry Tallent (bass), Clarence Clemons (saxophone), Danny Federici (keyboards, accordion), Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez (drums) and David Sancious (keyboards). The band took its name from the street in Belmar, New Jersey, where Sancious' mother lived. She allowed the band to rehearse in her garage. Tourists to the area seeking sight of early Springsteen haunts often mistakenly believe the house was on the corner of E Street and 10th Avenue, perhaps due to the song "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" about the band's beginnings. The Sancious house was at 1107 E Street with the garage squeezed between the house and the southside fence.


title: E Street Band

text: Springsteen's debut "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." was released in January 1973, and the band's first national tour began in October 1972. Sancious, even though he played on the album, missed that first tour. It was not until June 1973 that he began appearing regularly on stage with the band.


title: E Street Band

text: In February 1974, Lopez was asked to resign, and was briefly replaced by Ernest "Boom" Carter. A few months later, in August 1974, Sancious and Carter left to form their own jazz fusion band called Tone. They were replaced in September 1974 by Roy Bittan (keyboards) and Max Weinberg (drums). Violinist Suki Lahav was briefly a member of the band before leaving in March 1975 to emigrate to Israel (where she would later find success as a songwriter and novelist). Steven Van Zandt (guitar, vocals), who had long been associated with Springsteen and had played in previous bands with him, officially joined the band in July 1975.


title: E Street Band

text: This lineup remained stable until the early 1980s when Van Zandt left to pursue his own career, a move that was announced in 1984. He would later rejoin the band in 1995. In June 1984, Nils Lofgren (guitar, vocals) was added to replace Van Zandt; Springsteen's future wife Patti Scialfa (vocals, later guitar) was also added to the lineup.


title: E Street Band

text: By 2002, the band also included Soozie Tyrell (violin, guitar, vocals). Tyrell had earlier worked with Scialfa touring with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and sporadically with Springsteen dating back to the early 1990s. Whether Tyrell became as full-fledged a member as the others remains unclear. Some press releases refer to her as a "special guest", the cover notes of "Live in Barcelona" list her as a "with" member, the liner notes of "" refer to her as "violinist with the E Street Band", and some press releases don't mention her at all. When asked about the lack of mention in a press release prior to the Magic Tour, Springsteen just said in response, "Soozie will be with us."


title: E Street Band

text: On November 21, 2007, it was announced that Danny Federici would take a leave of absence from Springsteen and the E Street Band's ongoing Magic Tour to pursue treatment for melanoma, and was temporarily replaced by veteran musician Charles Giordano. Springsteen stated at the time: "Danny is one of the pillars of our sound and has played beside me as a great friend for more than 40 years. We all eagerly await his healthy and speedy return." Federici made his only return to the stage on March 20, 2008, when he appeared for portions of a Springsteen and E Street Band performance at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis; he died on April 17 that year at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, having suffered for three years with melanoma. Springsteen's album "Working on a Dream" is dedicated to him. Giordano has since become an unofficial member of the band.


title: E Street Band

text: Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke on June 12, 2011. While initial signs had been hopeful after his hospitalization and two subsequent brain surgeries, he reportedly took a turn for the worse later in the week and died on June 18. Clemons' nephew Jake has filled his role on the saxophone since 2012.


title: E Street Band

text: On occasions (e.g. their Super Bowl XLIII performance) the lineup has been augmented by a horn section, sometimes referred to as The Miami Horns. Its most prominent members include Richie Rosenberg (trombone) and Mark Pender (trumpet).


title: E Street Band

text: In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a vibrant music scene in and around the City of Asbury Park on the Jersey Shore. Prominent in this scene were Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny as well as the early members of the E Street Band. Clemons, Federici, Lopez, Sancious, Tallent and Van Zandt honed their skills in numerous bands, both with and without Springsteen. These included Little Melvin & the Invaders, the Downtown Tangiers Band, the Jaywalkers, Moment of Truth, Glory Road, Child, Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom, the Sundance Blues Band, and the Bruce Springsteen Band. In 1972, when Springsteen gained a recording contract with CBS, he picked the cherries among Jersey Shore musicians to record – and to tour in support of – his debut album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." By 1973, they had recorded a second album with Springsteen, "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle".


title: E Street Band

text: The E Street Band established its reputation among studio musicians in the 1970s and the 1980s with its significant contribution to the Springsteen albums "Born to Run", "Darkness on the Edge of Town", "The River" and "Born in the U.S.A." However, unlike such backing bands as the Silver Bullet Band or the Heartbreakers, the E Street Band never received a full credit on a Springsteen studio album. Only individual band members were credited. Even though the band did all or nearly all of the playing on these albums, each was released solely under Springsteen's name. Indeed, the E Street Band is not even mentioned as such in any of the literature for these albums until an inside liner note for "The River", and then a cover "Performed by" credit on "Born in the U.S.A". Later albums such as "Tunnel of Love" and "Greatest Hits" did name the band and list the members.


title: E Street Band

text: Concerts were a different story. Live performances were almost always billed as Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and Springsteen pointed the spotlight on the brand logo style of the band onstage. In each concert, Springsteen typically would extend one song (between 1974 and 1984, almost always "Rosalita") to involve an elaborate introduction of each member of the band, introducing nicknames, characterizing each player ("Professor" Roy Bittan, "Miami" Steve Van Zandt, "Phantom" Dan Federici, "Mighty" Max Weinberg, and Garry "W." Tallent), whipping the song and the audience into a frenzy for the final, over-the-top introduction of the "Big Man", Clarence Clemons. More substantially, Springsteen split concert revenues equally with the band members, a practice almost unheard of for backing bands in the music industry.


title: E Street Band

text: Thus in 1979 when Springsteen and the band featured on the "No Nukes" album and "No Nukes" film, the live performance was credited to both. The band received their first full credit on a Springsteen album with the release of "Live/1975–85", which was credited to Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. All subsequent live recordings and concert DVDs have also been credited to both.


title: E Street Band

text: Van Zandt also began to establish himself a reputation as a producer/songwriter. Apart from helping out with production on Springsteen albums, he worked with his "other band", Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, as well as with Ronnie Spector and Gary U.S. Bonds, before he launched his own solo career as Little Steven. The E Street Band and Springsteen regularly helped out on all these projects. In 1977, they recorded a single with Ronnie Spector featuring a cover of the Billy Joel song, "Say Goodbye to Hollywood", and a Van Zandt original, "Baby Please Don't Go". This was the first time the band received a full credit. In 1978, Weinberg became an "honorary Juke" when he recorded "Hearts of Stone" with Southside Johnny.


title: E Street Band

text: In the early 1980s, the E Street Band helped re-launch the career of Gary U.S. Bonds, when it provided backup on two albums, "Dedication" and "On the Line". Van Zandt produced both with Springsteen. Each album featured songs by Springsteen and Van Zandt, and a cover of the Cajun classic "Jole Blon". The moderate success of these albums earned Van Zandt a solo recording contract with EMI. Initially without a band of his own, he simply borrowed Clemons, Federici, Tallent, Weinberg, and an assortment of Jukes, including Rosenberg and Pender, to record his 1982 debut "Men Without Women". This was released under the name of Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul.


title: E Street Band

text: Other artists had also begun to recognize their talents and the band members were never out of work. Producer/songwriter Jim Steinman used Bittan and Weinberg on Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell" and "Dead Ringer"; on his own "Bad for Good" project; Bonnie Tyler's "Faster Than the Speed of Night" and "Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire" albums; and "Greatest Hits" from Air Supply, on the cut, "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" which featured an extra expansive Wall of Sound effect from Bittan & Weinberg. Also, Tallent, Bittan, and Weinberg, along with Mick Ronson, recorded an album with Ian Hunter titled "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic". Bittan and Federici also provided keyboards for Garland Jeffreys on his "Escape Artist", while the former would make notable contributions to albums by David Bowie, Dire Straits, Bob Seger and Stevie Nicks. Several of these albums acknowledged their contributions with a credit such as "courtesy of the E Street Band".


title: E Street Band

text: Throughout the 1980s, members of the band were involved with various other projects. In 1985, Bittan and Van Zandt recorded sessions with Bob Dylan for his "Empire Burlesque" album. Although not used at the time, the recordings later surfaced on Dylan's "The Bootleg Series". In 1985, Van Zandt spearheaded Artists United Against Apartheid. An album and single featured Springsteen and Clemons, among others. Tallent also produced a single with Jersey Artists For Mankind which featured Springsteen, Lofgren, Clemons and Weinberg as well as Carter and Rosenberg. Clemons teamed up with Sancious both on his solo album "Hero" and on albums with Zucchero Fornaciari. Clemons and Lofgren also went on tour with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band in 1989.


title: E Street Band

text: In 1989, Springsteen informed the E Street Band members that he would not be using their services for the foreseeable future. He had already recorded one completely solo album, "Nebraska". The last full band activity had been autumn 1988's Human Rights Now! Tour. Band members started to go their separate ways and onto separate projects – Tallent to Nashville to work on record production, Federici to California, Clemons to Florida, Lofgren to Maryland to resume his long-time solo activities. Weinberg, besides an abortive try at law school, was putting together the band Killer Joe and recording an album. "Scene of the Crime" included a guest appearance from Little Steven, playing guitar on the Springsteen written instrumental "Summer On Signal Hill". In 1993, Weinberg became the band leader on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and remained such for its entire run. When O'Brien moved to "The Tonight Show" in 2009, Weinberg reprised his role as bandleader, and the show's house band – formerly called the Max Weinberg 7 – was redubbed Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band.


title: E Street Band

text: In 1992, the E Street Band and the Miami Horns backed Darlene Love on the single "All Alone on Christmas" written by Little Steven and featured on the soundtrack for "".


title: E Street Band

text: Springsteen made guest appearances on solo albums by both Nils Lofgren and Clarence Clemons and he joined Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent and Little Steven when they reprised their role as "honorary Jukes" on Southside Johnny's "Better Days" in 1992.


title: E Street Band

text: Springsteen also continued to use assorted members of the band on his forthcoming albums and projects. Roy Bittan would be retained for both "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town". The former included a guest appearance from David Sancious while the latter introduced Soozie Tyrell. Patti Scialfa also provided backing vocals on both. Little Steven produced and played guitar on a remix of the single "57 Channels". However, the majority of musicians used on these albums were session musicians. The E Street Band was not used on the subsequent Springsteen tour either, although Bittan was again retained and Scialfa occasionally added backing vocals; both were consequently featured on "In Concert/MTV Plugged". "The Ghost of Tom Joad" saw Danny Federici, Garry Tallent, Tyrell and Scialfa provide backing on some tracks while Federici, Tyrell and Scialfa all turn up sporadically on "Devils & Dust".


title: E Street Band

text: Although individual members of the band played on "Human Touch", "Lucky Town", "In Concert/MTV Plugged", "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "Devils & Dust", none of these albums are regarded as E Street Band albums. "Tunnel of Love" falls into a grey area and its status is open to debate.


title: E Street Band

text: In 1995, Springsteen released "Greatest Hits" and the E Street Band was temporarily reunited to record four new songs. In 1998, he released "Tracks", a box set collection of unreleased recordings dating back to 1972, many of which featured the band.


title: E Street Band

text: Finally in 1999, Springsteen and the E Street Band reunited on a more substantial basis, ten years after he had dismissed them. They staged an extremely successful Reunion Tour, culminating in an HBO special and collection "". With the exception of Weinberg and Van Zandt, the members of the band had not been in the public eye. There seemed to be no long-term animosity from the split.


title: E Street Band

text: In 2002, the reunion was continued with the release of new studio album "The Rising" and the long, successful Rising Tour. Another important release from this era was "The Essential Bruce Springsteen", another greatest hits package combined with more archival material.


title: E Street Band

text: The October 2004 Vote for Change tour was the last E Street Band effort for a while. The 2005 "Devils & Dust" album used scatterings of Federici, Scialfa, and Tyrell, while the 2006 Sessions Band Tour used Scialfa and Tyrell among the largely numbered backing musicians. During the latter, Springsteen mentioned he did plan to work with the E Street Band again in the future, but was vague about details.


title: E Street Band

text: Finally, in early 2007, E Street Band members separately traveled to Atlanta to contribute to Springsteen's "Magic". Concurrent with the album's release in October 2007, the Magic Tour began. However, after the conclusion of the tour's first leg on November 19, 2007, Danny Federici took a leave of absence from the tour to pursue treatment for melanoma; he was replaced by Sessions Band member Charles Giordano. Federici made his only return to the stage on March 20, 2008, when he appeared for portions of a Springsteen and E Street Band performance in Indianapolis. He died on April 17, 2008.


title: E Street Band

text: Springsteen had always given elaborate band introductions during shows, often incorporating humorous characterizations of band members or stories of how they had joined and always building up to an over-the-top introduction of "Master of the Universe" stage foil Clarence Clemons. Springsteen used the ending of the Reunion Tour's band intro song, "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", to introduce a more specially branded sequence to emphasize his view of the E Street Band's greatness. This practice continued on "Mary's Place" on The Rising Tour and at the end of the Magic Tour shows with "American Land". The exact wording varied, but generally was some form of the following:


title: E Street Band

text: On the Magic Tour, the video screens around the stage added cartoon-like graphics to illustrate the final "E! Street! Band!" exclamation.


title: E Street Band

text: In the wake of the passing of Federici and then Clemons, Springsteen amended the introduction to "testifying, death-defying, legendary E Street Band!"


title: E Street Band

text: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were the stars of the Super Bowl XLIII Halftime Show in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009. Springsteen's "heart-stopping ..." rap was included in the promotional material aired on NBC in the two months leading up to the performance. The sequence then got its biggest audience immediately prior to Springsteen and the band taking the stage at halftime, when a prerecorded series of football players from the game saying each phrase in turn was aired by way of introducing the performance.


title: E Street Band

text: Prior to the game, on Thursday, January 29, Springsteen gave a rare press conference, where he promised a "twelve minute party". When asked if he would be nervous performing before such a large audience, Springsteen alluded to his recent January 18, 2009 appearance at the at the Lincoln Memorial, a celebration of Barack Obama's Presidential inauguration: "You'll have a lot of crazy football fans, but you won't have Lincoln staring over your shoulder. That takes some of the pressure off." The Super Bowl performance coincided with the release of a new album titled "Working on a Dream", released on January 27, 2009. The band's set, which ran a little over the allotted 12 minutes, included the songs "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", "Born to Run", "Working on a Dream", and "Glory Days". The Miami Horns and a large choir, the Joyce Garrett Singers, joined the band onstage.


title: E Street Band

text: Nineteen-year-old Jay Weinberg filled in at drums for his father, Max, during portions of shows, or for some full shows, during the 2009 Working on a Dream Tour. This was due to the elder Weinberg's obligations for the debuting "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien".


title: E Street Band

text: On June 12, 2011, Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke and died six days later from resulting complications, on June 18 at age 69. Steve Van Zandt wrote on his web site "We will continue to make music and perform. Let's face it, that's all we really know how to do. But it will be very different without him." On February 11, 2012, Springsteen announced that Jake Clemons, the nephew of Clarence Clemons, would tour with the E Street Band as the group's new saxophonist, splitting time with Eddie Manion. Augmented by a full horn section, an additional percussionist Everett Bradley, and an additional singer and rapper in Michelle Moore, the E Street Band that undertook the 2012–2013 Wrecking Ball Tour was the largest yet. Guitarist Tom Morello, best known for his work with Rage Against the Machine, filled in for Van Zandt on some of the dates.


title: E Street Band

text: On December 17, 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that the E Street Band would be inducted in 2014 under The Award for Musical Excellence induction category. The band was inducted by Springsteen on April 10, 2014. Bittan, Clemons, Federici, Lofgren, Lopez, Scialfa, Sancious, Tallent, Weinberg, and Van Zandt were all inducted and each given time to speak, with the family/widows of Federici and Clemons representing their husbands. Following the induction, Springsteen and the E Street Band – with Lopez, Sancious and The E Street Horns – performed "The E Street Shuffle", "The River" and "Kitty's Back". "They should have figured it out before the band started passing away," grumbled Lofgren. "Clarence and especially Danny both took our exclusion hard, and neither is with us any more. So it was a bittersweet night."


title: E Street Band

text: The High Hopes Tour kicked off in January 2014 and concluded in May 2014. The band was again joined by the horn section and by Tom Morello for the entire tour. Van Zandt missed most of the North American leg due to filming his television series, "Lilyhammer". The tour supported Springsteen's 2014 album, "High Hopes". Jake Clemons' role in the band had been expanded and his interactions on stage with Springsteen were like those of his uncle. In 2015, Springsteen announced plans for The River Tour 2016. He had originally planned a solo tour, but felt that it would delay his next tour with the E Street Band for a few years. Envisaged as a short tour, it expanded to an eight-month outing from January to September 2016. The tour did not include Morello or the horn section, with the exception of Clemons. The band's second show in Philadelphia on September 9, 2016, was amongst the longest shows of Springsteen's career, clocking in at 4 hours and 4 minutes, two minutes shy of his longest show ever in 2012. An 11-date tour of Australia and New Zealand called Summer '17 took place in January and February 2017.