National Israel Day – February 4, 2027

History of National Israel Day

The name Israel was originally recorded by a bishop of Caucasian Albania in the late 7th century. He undertook a failed mission to convert Alp Iluetuer, the ruler of the North Caucasian Huns, to Christianity in 682. The name Israel is most commonly associated with the country. Its beginnings can be traced back to King David’s reign circa 1000 B.C. King Solomon, his son, is credited with constructing the first holy temple in ancient Jerusalem. The country was divided into two kingdoms around 931 B.C. namely; Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

The Assyrians invaded and destroyed Israel’s northern kingdom in 722 B.C. The Babylonians captured Jerusalem in 568 B.C. and destroyed the first temple, which was replaced in around 516 B.C. by a second temple. The Ottoman Empire governed what is now Israel, as well as much of the Middle East, from 1517 to 1917.

Based on the first documented use of the name in the written record, which was in ancient Egypt, the name Israel has been the name of an ethnic group in the Levant for at least 3,200 years. On the Merneptah Stele, popularly known as the “Israel Stele,” there is a hieroglyphic inscription. The inscription “Israel is laid desolate, its offspring is no more,” was discovered, which dates from the late 13th century B.C.