Omrides

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House of Omri (Omrides)
Omri
CountryKingdom of Israel (northern)
Kingdom of Judah (southern)
FounderOmri
Final rulerJehoram (Israel)
Athaliah (Judah)[1]
Titles
  • King of Israel
  • Queen of Judah
Ruins of the Omride place in Samaria, modern-day Sebastia

The Omride dynasty, Omrides or House of Omri (Hebrew: בֵּית עָמְרִי‎‎, romanized: Bēt ʿOmrī; Akkadian: 𒂍𒄷𒌝𒊑𒄿, romanized: bīt-Ḫûmrî) were the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Samaria founded by King Omri. The dynasty's rule ended with the conquest of Samaria by the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Shalmaneser V, who annexed the territory as the Assyrian province of Samerina.

Five Assyrian records are known to refer to either "Land of Omri" or "House of Omri".[2][3][4] An archaeological reference to Omri and his unnamed son is found in the Mesha Stele, the only Northwest Semitic inscription known to reference this name. According to the Bible, the Omride rulers of Israel were Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah and Jehoram. Ahab's daughter Athaliah also became queen regnant of the Kingdom of Judah.

Biblical account[edit]

Overall, the Bible portrays the Omrides as apostates, who abandoned Yahwism for Baal worship. In terms of foreign policy, they dealt with troublesome neighbors, such as Aram-Damascus and Moab, and allied with the Kingdom of Judah via marriage. But domestically, they established Samaria as the new capital city. Eventually, Jehu revolted against them and fully restored Jeroboam's golden calf cult. The last ruler, Athaliah, survived and usurped the Judean throne.

List of reigning Omrides[edit]

Most modern historians follow either the older chronologies established by William F. Albright or Edwin R. Thiele,[5] or the newer chronologies of Gershon Galil and Kenneth Kitchen,[6] all of which appear below.

Common/Biblical name Regnal Name and style Albright Thiele Galil Kitchen Notes
Omri עמרי מלך ישראל
’Omri, Melekh Yisra’el 		876–869 BCE 885–874 BCE 884–873 BCE 886–875 BCE Reigned over Israel in Samaria for 12 years. Death: natural causes
Ahab אחאב בן-עמרי מלך ישראל
Ah’av ben ’Omri, Melekh Yisra’el 		869–850 BCE 874–853 BCE 873–852 BCE 875–853 BCE Reigned over Israel in Samaria for 22 years. Death: shot by an archer during the battle at Ramoth Gilead. He died upon his arrival at Samaria.
Ahaziah אחזיהו בן-אחאב מלך ישראל
’Ahazyahu ben 'Ah’av, Melekh Yisra’el 		850–849 BCE 853–852 BCE 852–851 BCE 853–852 BCE Reigned over Israel in Samaria for 2 years. Death: he fell through the lattice of his upper room and injured himself. Elijah the prophet told him he would never leave his bed and would die on it.
Jehoram יורם בן-אחאב מלך ישראל
Yehoram ben ’Ah’av, Melekh Yisra’el 		849–842 BCE 852–841 BCE 851–842 BCE 852–841 BCE Reigned over Israel in Samaria for 12 years. Death: killed by Jehu, the next king of Israel.
Athaliah עתליה בת-עמרי מלכת יהודה
‘Atalyah bat ‘Omri, Malkat Yehudah 		842–837 BCE 841–835 BCE 842–835 BCE 841–835 BCE Queen Mother, widow of Jehoram and mother of Ahaziah. Reigned over Judah in Jerusalem for 6 years. Death: killed by the troops assigned by Jehoiada the Priest to protect Joash.

Religion[edit]

Biblical scholar Edward Lipiński speculated that "Baal" does not refer to the Phoenician deity but to the "YHWH of Samaria". The pro-Judean authors of the Hebrew Bible conflated them because they considered the latter to be Yahwist heresy.[7] The Mesha Stele likewise mentions the Yahwist orientation of the Omrides ("And Chemosh said to me, Go take Nebo against Israel, and ... and I took it: ... and I took from it the vessels of Jehovah, and offered them before Chemosh."). Royal names (Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah) were theophoric and referred to Yahweh.[7][8] But there is evidence that "Baal" does not refer to Yahweh, based on Jezebel's royal seal and personal background. Despite this, the Omrides promoted Yahweh by integrating imagery from the Ugaritic Baal and Baal-Shamem, which the later biblical prophets accepted. [9][10][11]

Historicity[edit]

Israel Finkelstein believes the Omrides were responsible for the wealth and empire-building that was famously attributed to David and Solomon. Furthermore, they built and refurbished Samaria, Jezreel, Megiddo and Hazor. He believes these details were omitted in the Hebrew Bible because the authors disapproved of their polytheism. [12]

Christian Frevel argues that the Omrides were responsible for introducing YHWH to the Kingdom of Judah, who viewed YHWH as a patron god of the Judean state. Conversely, Israel contained a plurality of Yahwist cults. This was mostly achieved by Ahab, who gave his children theophoric names whilst expanding in the northern territories and Judah. Hazael’s conquests in Israel forced Ahab’s successors to strengthen ties with Judah, which further spread Yahwism among Judeans. It is possible that Yahwist traditions, including those about the Exodus, were preserved by the Omride family clan.[13] Michael J. Stahl believes the biblical narratives corroborate with this historical reality. For example, Ahab repented to Yahweh after Naboth's death and consulted with Yahwist prophets before warring with Arameans.[11]

Archaeological evidence[edit]

Mesha Stele describes the oppression of Moab by Omri, king of Israel, and the Moabite victory over his unnamed son, probably referring to Ahab

The Mesha Stele bears a Moabite inscription of about 840 BCE by Mesha, ruler of Moab, in which Mesha tells of the oppression of Moab by "Omri king of Israel" and his son after him, and boasts of his own victories over the latter.

Though the Bible claims that Jehu killed the last Omride king Jehoram and his ally King Ahaziah of Judah in a coup about 841 BCE, afterwards going on to destroy most remaining members of the House of Omri, archaeological evidence cast some doubt on this account. The author of the Tel Dan Stele (usually identified as King Hazael of Damascus (c.842–806 BCE)) appears himself to have claimed to have killed the two kings.[14]

Part of the gift-bearing Israelite delegation of King Jehu, Black Obelisk, 841–840 BCE.[15]

In addition, the Black Obelisk of King Shalmaneser III of Assyria, usually dated to 841-840 BCE, names Jehu as a "son of Omri."[16][17] (The reign of Jehu is usually given as 841–814 BCE.)

Nevertheless, the reference to "son of Omri" in the Black Obelisk in the expression "Jehu son of Omri" may be a reference to the "House of Omri", which is believed to be the Assyrian name for the Kingdom of Israel. Assyrian kings frequently referred to Omri's successors as belonging to the "House of Omri" (Bit Hu-um-ri-a).[18]. However, none of these later references are aimed at persons, but either to the land or the people. Only in relation to Jehu is mar Hu-um-ri-i, "son of Omri", used.[19]

List of proposed Assyrian references to the House of Omri[edit]

The table below lists all the historical references to Omri in Assyrian records.[20]

Assyrian King Inscription Year Transliteration Translation
Shalmaneser III Black Obelisk, Calah Fragment, Kurba'il Stone, Ashur Stone 841 BCE mar Hu-um-ri-i "of the people of the land of Omri"[n 1][21][22]
Adad-nirari III Nimrud Slab 803 BCE KUR Bīt-Hu-um-ri-i "the land of the house of Omri"
Tiglath-Pileser III ND 4301 + 4305, III R 10,2 731 BCE KUR E Hu-um-ri-a "the land of Omri"
Sargon II Palace Door, Small Summary Inscription, Cylinder Inscription, Bull Inscription[n 2] 720 BCE mat KUR Bit-Hu-um-ri-a "all the land of the house of Omri"
  1. ^ Historically translated as "son of Omri"
  2. ^ All four items share the same inscription

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ 2 Kings 8:26
  2. ^ Lemche, Niels Peter (2008). The Old Testament Between Theology and History: A Critical Survey. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-0-664-23245-0.
  3. ^ Davies, Philip R. (1995). In Search of "Ancient Israel": A Study in Biblical Origins. A&C Black. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-85075-737-5.
  4. ^ McNair, Raymond F (2012). Key to Northwest European Origins. Author House. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-4685-4600-2.
  5. ^ Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). ISBN 978-0-8254-3825-7, 9780825438257
  6. ^ On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003) by Kenneth Kitchen. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-4960-1.
  7. ^ a b Edward Lipiński "Studia z dziejów i kultury starożytnego Bliskiego Wschodu" Nomos Press, 2013, ISBN 978-83-7688-156-0
  8. ^ Łukasz Toboła "Ba'al in the Omrides' history: The Historical-theological Study", Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Faculty of Theology ; 162 ISBN 978-83-63266-14-1
  9. ^ Korpel, Marjo C. A. (May 2008). "Fit for a Queen: Jezebel's Royal Seal". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  10. ^ Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1977) 327.
  11. ^ a b Stahl, Michael J. (2023). "Yahweh or Baal- Who Was the God of Northern Israel?". Biblical Archaeology Review. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024.
  12. ^ Israel Finkelstein, The Bible Unearthed : Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, New York: The Free Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-684-86912-4.
  13. ^ Frevel, Christian (2021). "When and from Where did YHWH Emerge? Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah". Entangled Religions. 12 (2) – via RUB.
  14. ^ Hallvard Hagelia, "Philological Issues in the Tel Dan Inscription," in Lutz Edzard and Jan Retso, eds., Current Issues in the Analysis of Semitic Grammar and Lexicon, Harrassowitz, 2005, 235.
  15. ^ Delitzsch, Friedrich; McCormack, Joseph; Carruth, William Herbert; Robinson, Lydia Gillingham (1906). Babel and Bible;. Chicago, The Open court publishing company. p. 78.
  16. ^ Daniel D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. I, Chicago 1926, §§ 590, 672.
  17. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia, "Omri"
  18. ^ James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed., Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969, 283. ISBN 978-0-691-03503-1
  19. ^ Balancing evidence about Jehu and Joash in ancient near east texts - Critical reassessment
  20. ^ * Kelle, Brad (2002), "What's in a Name? Neo-Assyrian Designations for the Northern Kingdom and Their Implications for Israelite History and Biblical Interpretation", Journal of Biblical Literature, 121 (4): 639–666, doi:10.2307/3268575, JSTOR 3268575
  21. ^ Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament - Robert William Rogers
  22. ^ Bezold, Carl; King, L. W. (1889). Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Kouyunjik Collection of the British Museum. British Museum Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan. ISBN 978-1-145-51935-0.
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