B.C. The so-called judges are tribal chiefs, military leaders, who in this period stand at the head of the state. There is no regular transmission of authority, and no one is at the head of all the tribes at once. Sometimes they rule contemporaneously. In this age of settlement the bonds between the different tribes gradually become dissolved as they attain to security and peace. The earlier judges carry on the conquest of Canaan, and repel some outside invaders. Barak of Kadesh prompted by the prophet Deborah deals a crushing blow on the banks of the Kishor to a strong coalition of northern Canaanites under the leadership of Sisera. Gideon, one of the judges, puts a stop to the frequent incursions of the Midianites. The need of a monarchy begins to be felt. Gideon refuses a crown offered by the tribes of central Palestine, but his son Abimelech, aided by Shechemite kinsfolk, attempts to found a kingship. He is unsuccessful owing to internal dissension among his followers. Jephthah leads the Gileadites in a successful campaign against the Ammonites, and this leads to a bloody tribal conflict between the Gileadites and Ephraimites. There are short wars with Philistia, with which the name of Samson the Danite is connected. In one of them the Israelites are 1040 badly beaten at Aphek and the Ark of the Covenant captured. The latter is returned after seven months, and sent to Kirjath-jearim for safe keeping. The tribes are rapidly becoming disorganised, though by conquest and fusion with the Canaanites they have become a large and vigorous people. The old religion is almost forgotten. In this age probably belongs the beginning of Hebrew literature, and the use of writing becomes common. About twenty years after the battle of Aphek, Samuel, the last of the judges, calls an assembly of the tribes at Mizpeh. Law and order are restored in the community, and the covenant with Yahveh renewed. To complete the work of unification, Saul of Benjamin is elected king of Israel, and anointed by Samuel. Samuel also establishes schools of the prophets (Nebiim) in various parts of the land, whose main duties are to keep the light of religion from dying out, and to preserve the feeling of national unity. THE MONARCHY TO THE DIVISION OF ISRAEL (1020-930 B.C.)