2. =Its capital= was first at _She'chem_, in the center of the land (1 Kings 12. 25); then, during several reigns, at _Tir'zah_ (1 Kings 15. 33; 16. 23); then at _Sa-ma'ri-a_ (1 Kings 16. 24), where it remained until the end of the kingdom. That city after a time gave its name to the kingdom (1 Kings 21. 1), and after the fall of the kingdom to the province in the center of Pal'es-tine (John 4. 3, 4). 3. =Its religion.= 1.) Very soon after the institution of the new kingdom Jer-o-bo'am established a national religion, the _worship of the calves_ (1 Kings 12. 26-33). This was not a new form of worship, but had been maintained in Is'ra-el ever since the exodus (Exod. 32. 1-4). In character it was a modified idolatry, halfway between the pure religion and the abominations of the heathen. 2.) A'hab and his house introduced the Phoe-ni'cian _worship of Ba'al_, an idolatry of the most abominable and immoral sort (1 Kings 16. 30-33), but it never gained control in Is'ra-el, and was doubtless one cause of the revolution which placed another family on the throne. 3.) Through the history of Is'ra-el there remained a remnant of _worshipers of Je-ho'vah_, who were watched over by a noble array of prophets, and though often persecuted remained faithful (1 Kings 19. 14, 18). 4. =Its rulers.= During two hundred and fifty years Is'ra-el was governed by nineteen kings, with intervals of anarchy. Five houses in turn held sway, each established by a usurper, generally a soldier, and each dynasty ending in a murder. 1.) _The House of Jer-o-bo'am_, with two kings, followed by a general massacre of Jer-o-bo'am's family (1 Kings 15. 29, 30). 2.) _The House of Ba'a-sha_, two kings, followed by a civil war (1 Kings 16. 16-22). 3.) _The House of Om'ri_, four kings, of whom Om'ri and A'hab were the most powerful. This was the age of the prophet E-li'jah and the great struggle between the worship of Je-ho'vah and of Ba'al (1 Kings 18. 4-21). 4.) _The House of Je'hu_, five kings, under whom were great changes of fortune. The reign of Je-ho'a-haz saw Is'ra-el reduced to a mere province of Syr'i-a (2 Kings 13. 1-9). His son Jo'ash threw off the Syr'i-an yoke, and _his_ son, Jer-o-bo'am II, raised Is'ra-el almost to its condition of empire in the days of Sol'o-mon (2 Kings 14. 23-29). His reign is called "the Indian summer of Is'ra-el." 5.) _The House of Men'a-hem_, two reigns. Is'ra-el had by this time fallen under the power of As-syr'i-a, now dominant over the East, and its history is the story of kings rising and falling in rapid succession, with long intervals of anarchy. From the fall of this dynasty there was only the semblance of a state until the final destruction of Sa-ma'ri-a, B. C. 721. 5. =Its foreign relations.= During the period of the Is'ra-el-ite kingdom we see lands struggling for the dominion of the East. The history of Is'ra-el is interwoven with that of Syr'i-a and As-syr'i-a, which may now be read from the monuments.