Hazael
| Hazael | |
|---|---|
| (El/God has seen) | |
 Ivory inlay possibly depicting Hazael of Damascus | |
| KingofAram Damascus | |
| Reign | 842–796 BC |
| Predecessor | Hadadezer |
| Successor | Ben-Hadad III |
| Occupation | Court official |
Hazael(/ˈheɪziəl/;Biblical Hebrew:חֲזָאֵל or חֲזָהאֵל,romanized:Ḥăzāʾēl[1]) was a king ofAram-Damascusmentioned in theBible.[2][3]Under his reign,Aram-Damascusbecame an empire that ruled over large parts of contemporarySyriaandIsrael-Samaria.[4]While he was likely born in the greaterDamascusregion of today, his exact place of birth is still controversial, with bothBashanand theBeqaa Valleybeing favoured by different historians.[5][6][7]
In the Bible
[edit]| Arameans |
|---|
| Syro-Hittite states |
| Aramean kings |
| Aramean cities |
| Sources |
Hazael is first mentioned by name in1 Kings 19:15.God tellsElijahtheprophetto anoint Hazael king of Syria. Years after this, the Syrian king Ben-Hadad II, probably identical to theHadadezermentioned in theTel 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 die another way. 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 (c. 842–800 BCE),[4]King Hazael led the Arameans in a battle against the allied forces ofJehoram of IsraelandAhaziah of Judah.After defeating them atRamoth-Gilead,Hazael repelled two attacks by theAssyrians,seized Israelite territory east of theJordan River,and thePhilistinecity ofGath.Although unsuccessful, he also sought to takeJerusalem(2 Kings 12:17–18). Hazael's death is mentioned in2 Kings 13:24.
Tel Dan Stele
[edit]A monumental Aramaic inscription discovered at Tel Danis seen by most scholars as having been erected by Hazael, after he defeated the Kings of Israel and Judah.[8][9]Recent excavations atTell es-Safi/Gathhave revealed dramatic evidence of the siege and subsequent conquest of Gath by Hazael. An archaeomagnetic study has suggested that the sites ofTell Zeitah,Tel Rehovand Horvat Tevet were destroyed by Hazael's campaign.[10]
Items belonging to Hazael
[edit]Bronze plaques
[edit]Decorated bronze plaques from chariot horse-harness taken from Hazael, identified by their inscriptions, have been found as re-giftedvotive objectsat two Greek sites, theHeraion of Samosand in the temple of Apollo atEretriaonEuboea.The inscriptions read "that whichHadadgave to our lord Hazael from 'Umq in the year that our lord crossed the River ".[11]The river must be theOrontes.The triangular front pieces show a "Master of the animals"[12]gripping inverted sphinxes or lions in either hand, and with goddesses who stand on the heads of lions. WhenTiglath-Pileser IIItook Damascus in 733/2, these heirlooms were part of the loot that fell eventually into Greek, probablyEuboeanhands.[13]
Arslan Tash ivories
[edit]A set of ivory bed decorations were found in 1928 inArslan Tashin northernSyria(ancient Hadātu) by a team of French archaeologists.[14]Among them is theArslan Tash ivory inscriptioninOld Aramaicthat carries the name 'Hazael'; this bed seems to have belonged to king Hazael of Aram-Damascus. The inscription is known as KAI 232.[15]
Also, some fragmentary ivories mentioning Hazael were found inNimrud,Iraq.[16]
See also
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Notes
[edit]- ^I Kings 19:15, II Kings 8:8, etc.
- ^Hastings, James; Driver, Samuel Rolles (1899).A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with its Language, Literature, and Contents, including the Biblical Theology.Vol. 3. T. & T. Clark. p. 832.
- ^Arnold, Bill T.; Williamson, Hugh Godfrey Maturin (2006).Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books(Illustrated ed.). InterVarsity Press. p. 46.ISBN978-0-8308-1782-5.
- ^abDavid Noel Freedman; Allen C. Myers (31 December 2000).Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible.Amsterdam University Press. p. 84.ISBN978-90-5356-503-2.
- ^Sigurður Hafþórsson (2006).A Passing Power: An Examination of the Sources for the History of Aram-Damascus in the Second Half of the Ninth Century B.C.Almqvist & Wiksell International. p. 61.ISBN978-91-22-02143-8.
- ^D. Matthew Stith (2008).The Coups of Hazael and Jehu: Building an Historical Narrative.Gorgias Press. p. 55.ISBN978-1-59333-833-6.
- ^Hadi Ghantous (14 October 2014).The Elisha-Hazael Paradigm and the Kingdom of Palestine: The Politics of God in Ancient Syria-Palestine.Routledge. p. 71.ISBN978-1-317-54435-7.
- ^"Biblical Archaeology 4: The Moabite Stone (A.k.a. Mesha Stele)".15 July 2011.
- ^"The Tel Dan Inscription: The First Historical Evidence of King David from the Bible".11 June 2021.
- ^Vaknin, Yoav; Shaar, Ron; Lipschits, Oded; Mazar, Amihai; Maeir, Aren M.; Garfinkel, Yosef; Freud, Liora; Faust, Avraham; Tappy, Ron E.; Kreimerman, Igor; Ganor, Saar; Covello-Paran, Karen; Sergi, Omer; Herzog, Zeev; Arav, Rami; Lederman, Zvi; Münger, Stefan; Fantalkin, Alexander; Gitin, Seymour; Ben-Yosef, Erez (2022-10-24)."Reconstructing biblical military campaigns using geomagnetic field data".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.119(44): e2209117119.Bibcode:2022PNAS..11909117V.doi:10.1073/pnas.2209117119.PMC9636932.PMID36279453.
- ^I. Eph'al and J. Naveh, "Hazael's booty inscriptions",Israel Exploration Journal39(1989:192-200).
- ^Compare the Aegean "Mistress of the Animals"
- ^Robin Lane Fox,Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer,2008:109-11.
- ^Arslan-Tash. v. 1p.135: "Trois fragments d'une lamelle d'ivoire portant une ligne de texte en caractères araméens. Ces fragments ont été trouvés aux environs immédiats des cadres décrits plus haut p. 89 et suiv."
- ^Muscarella, Oscar White (29 January 1980).The Catalogue of Ivories from Hasanlu, Iran: Hasanlu Special Studies, Volume II.UPenn Museum of Archaeology. pp. 218–.ISBN978-0-934718-33-2.
- ^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
References
[edit]- Biran, A., and Naveh, J. 1995. The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment.Israel Exploration Journal45(1):1–18.
- Ephal, I., and Naveh, J. 1989. Hazael's booty inscriptions.Israel Exploration Journal39(3–4):192–200.
- Lemaire, A. 1991. Hazaël, de Damas, Roi d’Aram. Pp. 91–108 inMarchands, 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 Testamentum54(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 inThe 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
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