<P> According to the Bible, the Kingdom of Israel (or Northern Kingdom) was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy (also called the Kingdom of Israel), which came into existence in about the 930s BCE after the northern Tribes of Israel rejected Solomon's son Rehoboam as their king . Nine landed tribes formed the Northern Kingdom: the tribes of Reuben, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim, and Manasseh . In addition, some members of the Tribe of Levi, who had no land allocation, were found in the Northern Kingdom . The Tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Rehoboam, and formed the Kingdom of Judah (or Southern Kingdom). Members of Levi and the remnant of Simeon were also found in the Southern Kingdom . </P> <P> According to 2 Chronicles 15: 9, members of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon "fled" to Judah during the reign of Asa of Judah (c. 911--870 BCE). Whether these groups were absorbed into the population or remained distinct groups, or returned to their tribal lands is not indicated . </P> <P> In c. 732 BCE, the Assyrian king Tiglath - Pileser III sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aramea and territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh in Gilead including the desert outposts of Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab . People from these tribes, including the Reubenite leader, were taken captive and resettled in the region of the Khabur River system in Assyria / Mesopotamia . Tiglath - Pilesar also captured the territory of Naphtali and the city of Janoah in Ephraim, and an Assyrian governor was placed over the region of Naphtali . According to 2 Kings 16: 9 and 15: 29, the population of Aram and the annexed part of Israel was deported to Assyria . </P> <P> Israel continued to exist within the reduced territory as an independent kingdom subject to Assyria until around 725 - 720 BCE, when it was again invaded by Assyria and the rest of the population deported . The Bible relates that the population of Israel was exiled, leaving only the Tribe of Judah, the Tribe of Simeon (that was "absorbed" into Judah), the Tribe of Benjamin, and the people of the Tribe of Levi who lived among them of the original Israelite tribes in the southern Kingdom of Judah . However, Israel Finkelstein estimated that only a fifth of the population (about 40,000) were actually resettled out of the area during the two deportation periods under Tiglath - Pileser III, Shalmaneser V, and Sargon II . Many also fled south to Jerusalem, which appears to have expanded in size fivefold during this period, requiring a new wall to be built, and a new source of water (Siloam) to be provided by King Hezekiah . Furthermore, 2 Chronicles 30: 1 - 11 explicitly mentions northern Israelites who had been spared by the Assyrians--in particular, members of Dan, Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, and Zebulun--and how members of the latter three returned to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem at that time . </P>

What happened to the 10 northern tribes of israel