BibleMapTime Biblical Historical Atlas

Babylon & Judah

627–539 BCE · 3 snapshots

Watch the boundaries of biblical-era polities shift across a draggable timeline. Click any place to see its affiliation in all 13 periods, scriptural references and archaeology notes.

Snapshots

Josiah's Reform and Judah's Expansion after the Assyrian Collapse

621 BCE

While repairing the Temple Josiah finds the book of the Law, abolishes high places and idols, and expands Judah northward as Assyria collapses.

Scripture
2 Kgs 22-23; 2 Chr 34-35
Archaeology & dating
Iron Age IIC; the Arad altar, Gibeon wine cellars and the Temple scroll tradition

Fall of Jerusalem and Babylonian Exile

587 BCE

Zedekiah rebels against Babylon; after an eighteen-month siege Jerusalem falls, the Temple is burned and much of the population is exiled.

Scripture
2 Kgs 25:1-21; Jer 39; 52; Lam 1
Archaeology & dating
End of Iron Age IIC; Babylonian destruction layer in Jerusalem and the Lachish letters

Gedaliah's Province and Direct Babylonian Rule

581 BCE

Babylon makes Mizpah its provincial capital and appoints Gedaliah over the remnant; he is assassinated by a royal descendant and the survivors flee to Egypt.

Scripture
2 Kgs 25:22-26; Jer 40-43
Archaeology & dating
End of Iron Age IIC into the early Persian period; seals from Mizpah (Tell en-Nasbeh)
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Boundaries are schematic approximations, not survey-grade geography. This is a historical-geography study tool and takes no position on matters of faith.