=The Varied Elements in the North.= The northern kingdom was rich in resources but lacked unity. Within its limited territory were found almost every kind of climate, flora, and fauna. Its population was as varied as its physical contour. In the east-Jordan land the shepherd and the Bedouin still held sway. Its valleys in the west-Jordan were the home of the agriculturist. The cities on its western borders and beside the great highways were already beginning to engage in commerce. Around the Sea of Galilee were thriving fishing villages. Every type of civilization, therefore, the nomadic, the agricultural, and the commercial, was to be found within its bounds. In view of its mixed population, its varied interests, and its exposed situation, the only force that could hold together Northern Israel was a strongly centralized military régime. When a dynasty became weak, a stronger man mounted the throne. Hence Northern Israel's history is a series of bloody rebellions in which assassins, rising from the ranks of the army, seized the throne and founded short-lived dynasties. [Illustration: ISRAEL AND JUDAH AFTER THE DIVISION OF THE HEBREW EMPIRE.] =Capitals of Northern Israel.= Jeroboam, who was called to the throne of Northern Israel after the division, came from the ranks of the common people. His home was in the small, as yet unidentified town of Zeredah in Mount Ephraim. At first he established his capital at Shechem, but this city was incapable of defence and so the centre of authority was transferred across the Jordan to Penuel near Succoth. The occasion of this transfer was probably the invasion of Palestine by Shishak, king of Egypt, who overran and plundered the west-Jordan territory. Later the capital was transferred again to the city of Tirzah, somewhere west of the Jordan. The identification of this city is uncertain. It may have been at the modern town of Telluza, situated on a hill one thousand nine hundred and forty feet above the level of the sea, immediately north of Mount Ebal. The town has many ancient cisterns but no spring. This identification would correspond to the statement of an early traveller (Borocardus) that Tirzah was on a height three leagues east of Samaria. The other more probable site is at Teiasir, about twelve miles northeast from Shechem, on the main highway that leads from this ancient capital through the Ophrah of Gideon to Bethshean and the upper Jordan valley (_cf._ p. 80). Teiasir is a central and commanding site, with extensive ruins to the north which indicate that it was once an important city. In II Kings 15:14 it is stated that "Menahem went up from Tirzah to Samaria," which applies excellently to Teiasir down near the Jordan but not to Telluza, which is one thousand feet higher and five hundred feet above Samaria. There is little doubt, therefore, that Teiasir represents the ancient northern capital.