23 THE ISRAELITE-JUDAHITE STRUGGLE heritage of Israel continued well into the post-exilic period, and is probably one of the central bones of contention in the Judean- Samaritan conflict throughout the Second Temple period. Department of Jewish History Nadav NA’AMAN Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv 69978 Israel SUMMARY The article addresses the controversial issue of the formation of “biblical Israel” in biblical historiography. It begins by presenting the political-cultural struggle between Assyria and Babylonia in the second and first millennia BCE, in part over the question of ownership of the cultural patrimony of ancient Mesopotamia. It goes on to examine relations between Judah and Israel and compares them to those between Assyria and Babylonia. It then suggests that the adoption of the Israelite identity by Judah, which took place during the reign of Josiah as part in his cultic reform, was motivated by the desire to take possession of the highly prestigious heritage of Israel, which had remained vacant since that kingdom’s annexation by Assyria in 720 BCE. Theologie der Exilzeit anhand des 89. Psalms (Helsinki 1982) 176-210; J. BLENKINSOPP, “The Judaean Priesthood during the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods: A Hypothetical Reconstruction”, CBQ 60 (1998) 25-43; idem, “Bethel in the Neo-Babylonian Period”, Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period (eds. O. LIPSCHITS – J. BLENKINSOPP) (Winona Lake, IN 2003) 93-107; A. ROFÉ, “The History of Israelite Religion and the Biblical Text. Corrections Due to the Unification of Worship”, Emanuel. Studies in Hebrew Bible, Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls in Honor of Emanuel Tov (eds. S.M. PAUL – R.A. KRAFT – L.H. SCHIFFMAN) (SVT 94; Boston, MA 2003) 781-793 ; J.F. GOMES, The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity (BZAW 368 ; Berlin – New York 2006) 185-223; KNAUF, “ Bethel ”, 291-349; NA’AMAN, “ Saul ”, 338-342, with earlier literature.