Israel (commonly referred to as the ten tribes of Israel or the lost ten tribes of Israel) was taken captive by Assyrian King Shalmaneser V in 723 B.C.  Judah's (composed of the tribe of Judah, Benjamin and Levi) capital city of Jerusalem fell to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. The Babylonian king replaced Judah's king (Jehoichin) with Zedekiah. King Zedekiah sits on the throne for eleven years before Nebuchadnezzar returns to destroy both the city of Jerusalem and its temple in 586 B.C.

Jerusalem's temple, first built by King Solomon, was burned and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 24:13; 2Chronicles 36:7) who also carried all the temple's treasures to Babylon. The destruction of the temple began on the 9th of Ab (Hebrew month), the very same day the destruction of Jerusalem's SECOND temple by the Romans would begin in 70 A.D.