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I have a question. In one of the episodes of big bang theory, the main character says “israelites were crossing the desert…”. was there even a concept of israel state or israel during that time period? This seems odd and propagandish to me.
Technically yes, there was such a term. Although I don’t think it’s entirely correct in usage here.
I understand your reaction, however the modern term of “Israel” is a copy of the ancient one, the kingdom of Israel, not a new invention. The trick is to not confuse the old kingdom and the current state
what was the kingdom of israel? how long ago did it exist and where?
Ideally I would suggest looking into actual historians and archaeologists, since I’m not one. A lot of the history of the matter is apocryphal and stems from religious texts - bet you understand how “reliable” those are.
In short, it was a state (as much as all those ancient places were states) some three thousand years ago, or so. There are actually several political bodies in the period - i.e. at one point the kingdom split in two, forming Judea and Israel. All were eventually rolled by their neighbours, and much later - by Romans.
As for where - it was in Canaan, so around the same area where Palestine is nowadays. But again - it’s all foggy and confusing due to time and religious mythology layered on top of history.