Ben-Hadad I ( he, בן הדד, translit=bn hdd; arc, בר הדד, translit=br hdd), son of
Tabrimmon and grandson of
Hezion, was king of
Aram-Damascus between 885 BC and 865 BC. Ben-Hadad I was reportedly a contemporary of kings
Baasha of the
Kingdom of Israel and
Asa of the
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. C ...
.
According to the biblical
book of Kings, Asa called on Ben-Hadad I to aid him in attacking northern Israel while Baasha restricted access to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
through border fortifications. Ben-Hadad took the towns of "Ijon,
Dan,
Abel-beth-maachah
Tel Abel Beth Maacah ( he, תֵּל אָבֵל בֵּית מַעֲכָה; ar, تل آبل القامع, translit=Tell Abil el-Qameḥ, lit=) is a large archaeological tell with a small upper northern section and a large lower southern one, con ...
, and all
Chinneroth
Kinneret () is the name of an important Bronze and Iron Age city situated on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, mentioned in the 14th century BC Aqhat Epic of Ugarit, and in the Old Testament and New Testament. Older Bible translations ...
, with all the land of
Naphtali" (). This acquisition gave Aram-Damascus control of the trade route to southern
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
. By the time of the reign of Ahab, the area was back in Israelite hands.
According to the archaeologist
William Foxwell Albright
William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars."
...
, the
Melqart stele
The Melqart stele, also known as the Ben-Hadad or Bir-Hadad stele is an Aramaic stele which was created during the 9th century BCE and was discovered in 1939 in Roman ruins in Bureij Syria (7 km north of Aleppo). The Old Aramaic inscription is kn ...
should be attributed to Ben-Hadad I. However,
Kenneth Kitchen
Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (born 1932) is a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Univ ...
disagrees and states that there is no actual evidence that connects that stele to this particular king.
See also
*
Aramean kings
Aramean kings were kings of the ancient Arameans, and rulers of various Aramean states that existed throughout the Levant and Mesopotamia during the 14th and 13th centuries BC, before being absorbed by various other empires such as the Neo-Assy ...
References
External links
{{s-end
9th-century BC Kings of Syria
9th-century BC deaths
Aramean kings
Ancient Damascus
Year of birth unknown