The policies of King Solomon's idiot son Rehoboam split the united kingdom in two: Israel and Judah. The fracture was permanent. I introduce the Biblical sources we have for this period, Kings and Chronicles and a few prophets; and the Assyrian and Babylonian records. I also introduce the archaeological evidence we have (such as the Moabite stone, the black obelisk of Shalmaneser III, and the Tel Dan stele), and the very difficult chronological problems. What would we know about the Hebrew kingdoms without the Bible? Not much.