In the kingdom of Judah (or House of Jacob), the conditions were quite different. Politically weakened by the severance of the tribes and the incursions of Egypt under Shishak, its wounds were too deep to heal before the lapse of a considerable time. But Judah had not sunk in religion or morals. Rehoboam appears to have troubled himself but little about religious or moral affairs; he was indifferent in every respect, and his pride having once received a blow, he seems to have passed his days in idleness. But the Temple, on the one hand, and the Levites, on the other, appear to have counteracted all deteriorating influences. In outward appearance all remained as it had been in the time of Solomon; the High Altars (Bamoth), on which families performed the sacrificial rites throughout the year, continued to be maintained, but at the autumn festivals the people repaired to the temple. Deviations from the established order of divine service were exceptional, and were accepted only by the circle of court ladies. As Solomon had permitted altars to be erected for his heathen wives, Rehoboam did not feel called upon to be more severe in his enactments. His mother Maachah, the daughter or granddaughter of Absalom, had a predilection for the immoral Canaanite worship; she erected a statue of Astarte in her palace, and maintained temple priestesses. Rehoboam permitted all this, but the unholy innovations did not spread very wide. Meanwhile, although idolatrous practices did not gain ground in the kingdom of Judah, there was no impulse towards a higher stage of moral culture under Rehoboam's government. A weakness seemed to have come over the people, as if they were in the last stage of senility. Nearly two centuries elapsed before traces of a higher spiritual force became evident. Rehoboam's reign of seventeen years was inglorious. The reign of his son Abijam (960-958) passed in a like manner. He also indulged in petty acts of hostility against Jeroboam, but without any important result. He, too, permitted the idolatrous practices of his mother Maachah. Abijam, it appears, died young, leaving no issue, and he was therefore succeeded by his brother Asa (957-918). He again was a minor, and the queen-mother Maachah held the reins of government. At first she seems to have desired to extend her idolatrous and immoral worship, but a revolution in the kingdom of the Ten Tribes put an end to her projects, and changed the course of events.