Hazael (; ;

Old Aramaic Old Aramaic refers to the earliest stage of the Aramaic language, known from the Aramaic inscriptions discovered since the 19th century. Emerging as the language of the city-states of the Arameans in the Fertile Crescent in the Early Iron Age, ...

𐤇𐤆𐤀𐤋 ''Ḥzʔl'') was a king of

Aram-Damascus Aram-Damascus ( ) was an Arameans, Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of Damascus in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later years b ...

mentioned in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of contemporary

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and Israel-Samaria. While he was likely born in the greater

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

region of today, his place of birth is unknown, with both Bashan and the Beqaa Valley being favoured by different historians.

In the Bible

Hazael is first mentioned by name in . God tells

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

to anoint Hazael king of Syria. Years after this, the Syrian king Ben-Hadad II, probably identical to the Hadadezer mentioned in the Tel Dan stele, was ill and sent his court official Hazael with gifts to Elijah's successor, Elisha. Elisha told Hazael to tell Hadadezer that he would recover and revealed to Hazael that the king would recover but would be assassinated. He also predicted that Hazael would commit atrocities against the Israelites. Hazael denies that he is capable of perpetrating such deeds. Elisha predicts that Hazael will be king of Syria; he returns to Damascus the next day and tells Hadadezer he will recover but suffocates Hadadezer and seizes power himself. During his reign, King Hazael led the Arameans in a battle against the allied forces of Jehoram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah. After defeating them at Ramoth-Gilead, Hazael repelled two attacks by the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

ns, seized Israelite territory east of the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

, and the

Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...

city of Gath. Although unsuccessful, he also sought to take

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

(). Hazael's death is mentioned in .

Tel Dan stele

A monumental Aramaic inscription discovered at Tel Dan is seen by most scholars as having been erected by Hazael, after he defeated the kings of Israel and Judah. Recent excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath have revealed dramatic evidence of the siege and subsequent conquest of Gath by Hazael. An archaeomagnetic study has suggested that the sites of Tell Zeitah,

Tel Rehov Tel Rehov () or Tell es-Sarem (), is an archaeological site in the Bet She'an Valley, a segment of the Jordan Valley, Israel, approximately south of Beit She'an and west of the Jordan River. It was occupied in the Bronze Age and Iron Age. The s ...

and Horvat Tevet were destroyed by Hazael's campaign.

Items belonging to Hazael

Bronze plaques

Decorated bronze plaques from chariot horse-harness taken from Hazael, identified by their inscriptions, have been found as re-gifted votive objects at two Greek sites, the Heraion of Samos and in the temple of Apollo at

Eretria Eretria (; , , , , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th century BC, mentioned by many famous writers ...

Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...

. The inscriptions read "that which

Hadad Hadad (), Haddad, Adad ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm- and rain-god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions. He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. From ...

gave to our lord Hazael from 'Umq in the year that our lord crossed the River". The river must be the Orontes. The triangular front pieces show a " Master of the animals" gripping inverted sphinxes or lions in either hand, and with goddesses who stand on the heads of lions. When Tiglath-Pileser III took Damascus in 733/2, these heirlooms were part of the loot that fell eventually into Greek, probably

n hands.

Arslan Tash ivories

A set of ivory bed decorations were found in 1928 in Arslan Tash in northern Syria (ancient Hadātu) by a team of French archaeologists. Among them is the Arslan Tash ivory inscription in

that carries the name 'Hazael' (𐤇𐤆𐤀𐤋 ''ḤZʔL''); this bed seems to have belonged to king Hazael of Aram-Damascus. The inscription is known as KAI 232. Also, some fragmentary ivories mentioning Hazael were found in

Nimrud Nimrud (; ) is an ancient Assyrian people, Assyrian city (original Assyrian name Kalḫu, biblical name Calah) located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah (), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. ...

, Iraq.A. R. Millard, Alphabetic Inscriptions on Ivories from Nimrud. Iraq, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring, 1962), pp. 41-51 (13 pages). https://doi.org/10.2307/4199711

Notes

References

* Biran, A., and Naveh, J. 1995. The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment. ''Israel Exploration Journal'' 45(1):1–18. * Ephal, I., and Naveh, J. 1989. Hazael's booty inscriptions. ''Israel Exploration Journal'' 39(3–4):192–200. * Lemaire, A. 1991. Hazaël, de Damas, Roi d’Aram. Pp. 91–108 in ''Marchands, Diplomates et Empereurs, Etudes sur la civilisation mésopotamienne offertes à P. Garelli''. Paris: Editions Recherche sur la Civilisations. * Maeir, A. 2004. The Historical Background and Dating of Amos VI 2: An Archaeological Perspective from Tell es-Safi/Gath. ''

Vetus Testamentum ''Vetus Testamentum'' is a quarterly academic journal covering various aspects of the Old Testament. It is published by Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and ...

'' 54(3):319–34. * Galil, G., "David and Hazael: War, Peace, Stones and Memory," ''Palestine Exploration Quarterly'', 139,2 (2007), 79–84. * Maeir, A. M., and Gur-Arieh, S. 2011. Comparative aspects of the Aramean Siege System at Tell es-Sa¦fi/Gath. Pp. 227–44 in ''The Fire Signals of Lachish: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age and Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin'', eds. I. Finkelstein and N. Na’aman. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

External links

Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavation Project BlogTell es-Safi/Gath Excavation Project website
{{Authority control 790s BC deaths 9th-century BC Aramean kings Kings of Aram-Damascus 8th-century BC Aramean kings Monarchs in the Hebrew Bible Year of birth unknown Biblical murderers Gath (city)