2. =Its capital= was at first _Shechem_, in the center of the land (1 Kings 12. 25); then, during several reigns, at _Tirzah_ (1 Kings 15. 33; 16. 23); then at _Samaria_ (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 Palestine (John 4. 3, 4). 3. =Its religion.= 1.) Very soon after the institution of the new kingdom Jeroboam 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 Israel ever since the Exodus (Exod. 32. 1-4). In character it was a modified idolatry, half-way between the pure religion and the abominations of the heathen. 2.) Ahab and his house introduced the Phenician _worship of Baal_, an idolatry of the most abominable and immoral sort (1 Kings 16. 30-33), but it never gained control in Israel, and was doubtless one cause of the revolution which placed another family on the throne. 3.) Through the history of Israel there remained a remnant of _worshipers of Jehovah_, 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 Israel 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 Jeroboam_ (B. C. 974 to 953), with two kings, followed by a general massacre of Jeroboam's family (1 Kings 15. 29, 30). 2.) _The House of Baasha_ (B. C. 953-929), two kings, followed by a civil war (1 Kings 16. 16-22). 3.) _The House of Omri_ (B. C. 929-884), four kings, of whom Omri and Ahab were the most powerful. This was the age of the prophet Elijah and the great struggle between the worship of Jehovah and of Baal (1 Kings 18. 4-21). 4.) _The House of Jehu_ (B. C. 884-772), five kings, under whom were great changes of fortune. The reign of Jehoahaz saw Israel reduced to a mere province of Syria (2 Kings 13. 1-9). His son Joash threw off the Syrian yoke, and _his_ son, Jeroboam II., raised Israel almost to its condition of empire in the days of Solomon (2 Kings 14. 23-29). His reign is called "the Indian summer of Israel." 5.) _The House of Menahem_ (B. C. 772-759), two reigns. Israel had by this time fallen under the power of Assyria, 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 Samaria, B. C. 721. 5. =Its foreign relations.= During the period of the Israelite kingdom we see lands struggling for the dominion of the East. The history of Israel is interwoven with that of Syria and Assyria, which may now be read from the monuments.