Samaria
The Assyrian siege of the northern capital culminated in the fall of Samaria and the deportation of many Israelites.
2 Kings 17:1–6Biblical Maps • 2 Kings 17; 24–25
Assyrian & Babylonian Exile
The northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah experienced different imperial conquests more than a century apart. This map keeps the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations separate, uses generalized travel corridors instead of invented exact roads, and distinguishes biblical destination regions from imperial capitals shown only for orientation.
Accuracy note: The biblical texts identify deportation origins and destination regions, but they do not give a complete road itinerary for every group. Dashed lines therefore show broad movement through the Fertile Crescent rather than one verified road traveled by every exile.
Two exiles, different settings. Assyria deported Israelites from the northern kingdom in stages, including people from Transjordan and later from Samaria, to Halah, the Habor/Gozan region, and cities of the Medes. More than a century later Babylon deported Judeans in several waves, especially in 605, 597, and 586 BC. Nineveh is shown as an Assyrian imperial center, not as though 2 Kings 17 names it as the destination of all Israelite deportees.
Map key
Separate empires, separate layers.
Assyrian deportation movement
General movement from northern Israel toward the Habor/Gozan region and Media.
Babylonian deportation movement
General movement from Jerusalem/Judah toward Babylon through the northern Fertile Crescent corridor.
Destination region
Broad biblical region where a precise settlement cannot or should not be reduced to one pin.
Major city / anchor
Secure geographic point used to orient the imperial world.
Places to know
From kingdom to exile.
Habor / Gozan
2 Kings names the Habor river region of Gozan among the destinations of deported Israelites. This is shown as a broad zone because the verse describes a region, not one single settlement.
2 Kings 17:6; 18:11Media
Some Israelites were placed in cities of the Medes, requiring a broad destination zone rather than a single point.
2 Kings 17:6Nineveh
Nineveh was a major Assyrian imperial center and is included for orientation. The biblical exile notice does not say every Israelite was taken there.
Assyrian imperial contextJerusalem
Judah’s capital experienced repeated Babylonian pressure, deportations, and finally the destruction of the city and Temple in 586 BC.
2 Kings 24–25; 2 Chronicles 36Carchemish
A major Euphrates crossing and strategic city in the struggle between Egypt and Babylon. It helps explain the northern travel corridor between the Levant and Mesopotamia.
Jeremiah 46:2; 2 Chronicles 35:20Harran
A secure northern Mesopotamian anchor on the Fertile Crescent corridor. It is shown as route context, not as a required stop for every deportation group.
Regional route contextBabylon
The Babylonian capital became the primary destination and cultural setting for Judean exiles and the court narratives associated with Daniel.
2 Kings 24–25; Daniel 1Reference approach
Movement without false precision.
The chronology and destination regions are cross-checked with Bible Mapper’s “Israelites Are Exiled to Assyria” and “The Land of Exile.” Bible Mapper distinguishes Assyrian deportations around 740 and 722 BC from the later Babylonian waves affecting Judah. OpenBible.info provides very high-confidence coordinates for Samaria, Nineveh, Babylon, and Jerusalem, high-confidence coordinates for Harran, and a 90% identification for Carchemish at Jerabis. The Habor/Gozan and Media destinations remain broad zones on this map.