-
Baasha, King of Israel
Introduction King Baasha was the third king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. According to 1 Kings 15:33, he reigned for 24 years from the Israelite capital of Tirzah, at the end of the 10th-beginning of the 9th centuries B.C.E.. Baasha was a usurper who had come to power through a coup d’etat, in which…
-
The Omride Dynasty and the House of David in the 9th Century B.C.E.
The ascension of Israelite military chief Omri to the throne in the early 9th century B.C.E. saw the formation of the Omride Dynasty, a royal family who ruled the Northern Kingdom for over 40 years. During the time of the Omride Dynasty, as attested in several historical sources, including various biblical references and the Tel…
-
Jehu, King of Israel
King Jehu was the tenth king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, who ruled the kingdom for most of the second half of the 9th century B.C.E. According to the Bible, Jehu ruled for 28 years (2 Kings 10:36) in Samaria. Information regarding the times and reign of Jehu can be found in the Bible,…
-
King Saul in Archaeology and Text
The biblical book of 1 Samuel contains memories of an early Israelite king by the name of Saul, who the texts allege was the first God-appointed king of Israel. Saul is said to have engaged in military conflicts with the Philistines to his south (1 Samuel 13-14; 17), the kingdom of Ammon in Transjordan (1…
-
Jehoram, King of Israel
King Jehoram was the ninth king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the final king of the Omride Dynasty, who ruled in the 9th century B.C. He reigned for 12 years, according to the Bible (2 Kings 3:1). Jehoram’s name – consisting of the verb rum and the theophoric element yah (an abbreviation of…
-
Samaria – The Genesis of the Bible’s Notorious City
Ancient Samaria is one of the most well-known and notorious cities of the Bible. For hundreds of years, it served as the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and a rival center to Jerusalem. Condemned by the Bible as a sinful and apostate city, the city housed several infamous Israelite kings over the years,…
-
Tiglath-pileser III’s Campaign against Israel
In circa. 736 B.C.E., an Israelite military officer named Pekah launched a military coup d’etat against King Pekahiah, assassinating him and seizing the throne of Israel (2 Kings 15:25). Pekah then collaborated with King Rezin of Aram-Damascus, along with multiple other states in the southern Levant, in a resistance movement against King Tiglath-pileser III of…
-
Did King Solomon Fortify Gezer? New Radiocarbon Evidence!
According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon was the fourth king of Israel sometime in the 10th century B.C.E (his predecessors being Saul, Eshbaal, and his father, David). The biblical accounts remember his reign as one of great peace, prosperity, and wealth in the Israelite kingdom. They further describe many of his building projects, including the…
-
The Kingdom of Israel under Saul
Saul was an ancient Israelite king who ruled parts of the southern Levant around the time of the late 11th-early 10th century BC. He was the first king of Israel, who managed to unite the majority of the Israelite people under his centralized authority, and fought wars with surrounding peoples, most notably the Philistines. Saul…
-
Jehoahaz, King of Israel
Introduction King Jehoahaz (also referred to in some sources as “Joahaz”) was the 11th king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, who reigned, according to most chronologies, in the late 9th century B.C.E. Jehoahaz was the son of King Jehu (who had previously usurped the throne from the earlier Omride Dynasty; cf. 2 Kings 9-10),…
