Throughout history, very few people have been able to preserve their national identity in exile; however, this is not the case for Jews. The Jewish nation not only preserved its national identity in exile, but also strengthened it. Whether through their will to survive or the guiding hand of God, the Jews were able to emerge from the Babylonian diaspora as a greater nation. Facing extinction, the Jewish nation of the Babylonian diaspora chose to band together to stay alive and, as a result, prospered economically and religiously. The Jewish nation during the time of the divided monarchy was weak due to unrest in the country. Many Jews lost faith in God and even began to fight among themselves. From 931 to 586 BCE, the Jewish nation was ruled by a divided monarchy. Jeroboam ruled Israel while Rehoboam ruled Judah and there was great conflict between these two kingdoms (Lecture Notes). Specifically, the southern kingdom of Judah wanted the Jewish people to reunite and therefore attempted to conquer the kingdom of Israel. Furthermore, during this period, much larger empires surrounded the Jewish nation. Among them, the Assyrian Empire was particularly interested in the land of Israel. They considered it a crucial piece of land because it was the center of all trade in the ancient Middle East. Consequently, in 722 BCE, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, causing many tribes to disperse throughout the land (Lecture Notes). Most of the remaining Jews in the kingdom of Israel were deported, leaving only the remaining tribes of Judah. For this reason, the Jewish nation was divided. The prophets came with the message that the Jews were not following God's way and therefore would be punished for it. Cl...... middle of paper ......temple, only 1500 families went there. The Jewish nation built its life in Babylon. They chose union over extinction and thus prospered. Judaism as a religion would not exist today without the Babylonian diaspora. This is evident because during the period of the divided monarchy, Jews were beginning to lose faith in God, there was civil war and chaos in the country. If this were to continue, the Jewish nation would have been wiped off the map. Instead, the Jews were conquered and found a new sense of urgency in living in Babylon. At that time, Jews were coming together to keep their religion alive, which basically describes the history of the Jews in a nutshell. Instead of conforming to the ways of others when it seems easiest, Jews decided to make the best of a difficult situation, using the diaspora as a springboard to revitalize their religion..