Ancient Aramean state to 732 BCE
The Kingdom of Aram-Damascus (;
Syriac : ܐܪܡ-ܕܪܡܣܘܩ ) was an
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 .
[1] Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later years by the polities of
Assyria to the north,
Ammon to the south, and
Israel to the west.
History
The
Tanakh gives accounts of Aram-Damascus' history, mainly in its interaction with
Israel and Judah . There are biblical texts referencing battles that took place between the
United Kingdom of Israel under
David and the
Arameans in
Southern Syria in the 10th century BCE.
[2]
In the 9th century BCE,
Hazael fought against the
Assyrians , had some influence over the northern Syrian state of
Unqi , and conquered
Israel .
[3]
[4]
To the southwest, Aram-Damascus reached most of the
Golan to the
Sea of Galilee .
[5]
In the 8th century BCE,
Rezin had been a tributary of
Tiglath-Pileser III , a
king of Assyria .
[6] In
c. 732 BCE , he formed an alliance with
Pekah , a
king of Israel , to attack
Ahaz , a
king of Judah ; Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III for help, which was provided by the Assyrian king after
Judah paid tribute.
[7] Subsequently, Tiglath-Pileser III attacked Damascus and annexed
Aram .
[6] The kingdom's population was deported and Rezin was executed. Tiglath-Pileser III recorded this act in one of his inscriptions.
[8]
Various Neo-Hittite and Aramean (orange shades) western states in the 8th century BCE
Kings
Hezion , ca. 960 BCE
Tabrimmon , ca. 930 BCE, son of Hezion
Ben-Hadad I , 885–865 BCE
Ben-Hadad II , 865–842 BCE
Hazael , 842–805/796 BCE, usurper
Ben-Hadad III , 796–792 BCE, son of Hazael
Rezin , 754 BCE–732 BCE
See also
Aram (region) , a historical region in the Levant mentioned in the Bible
Aram-Naharaim , biblical term for the ancient land of the Arameans in Upper Mesopotamia
Aram Rehob , an early Aramean kingdom
References
^ Pitard, Wayne T. (2000). "Arameans". In David Noel Freedman; Allen C. Myers; Astrid B. Beck (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 86.
^ "2 Samuel 10:6-19". Bible . Holman.
ISBN
978-0999989265 .
^ James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (3rd ed.; Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1955) 246.
^ "2 Kings 13:3". Bible (Christian Standard ed.). Holman.
ISBN
978-0999989265 .
^ Suzanne Richard (2003).
Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader (Hardcover ed.). Eisenbrauns. p. 377.
ISBN
1-57506-083-3 .
^
a
b Lester L. Grabbe, Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? (New York: T&T Clark, 2007): 134
^ "2 Kings 16:7-9". Bible (Christian Standard ed.). Holman.
ISBN
978-0999989265 .
^ James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (3rd ed.; Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969) 283.
Sources
Amadasi-Guzzo, Maria Giulia (2019).
"What Do We Know about the Borders and Exchanges between Aram and Phoenicia in the 9th–8th Centuries B.C.E. in Anatolia and Syria?" . Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E . Leiden-Boston: Brill. pp. 149–171.
ISBN
9789004398535 .
Bagg, Ariel M. (2019).
"At the Limits of Historical Geography: Reconstructing Aramaean Territories in the West According to the Neo-Assyrian Written Sources" . Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E . Leiden-Boston: Brill. pp. 1–25.
ISBN
9789004398535 .
Edmonds, Alexander J. (2019).
"A People without Borders? Tracing the Shifting Identities and Territorialities of the Ahlameans" . Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E . Leiden-Boston: Brill. pp. 26–62.
ISBN
9789004398535 .
Gzella, Holger (2015).
A Cultural History of Aramaic: From the Beginnings to the Advent of Islam . Leiden-Boston: Brill.
ISBN
9789004285101 .
Lipiński, Edward (2000).
The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion . Leuven: Peeters Publishers.
ISBN
9789042908598 .
Lipiński, Edward (2013).
"The Aramaeans in the West (13th–8th centuries)" . Arameans, Chaldeans, and Arabs in Babylonia and Palestine in the First Millennium B.C . Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 123–147.
ISBN
9783447065443 .
Lemaire, André (2019).
"The Boundary between the Aramaean Kingdom of Damascus and the Kingdom of Israel" . Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E . Leiden-Boston: Brill. pp. 245–266.
ISBN
9789004398535 .
Sader, Hélène (2014).
"History" . The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria . Leiden: Brill. pp. 11–36.
ISBN
9789004229433 .
Younger, Kenneth Lawson (2016).
A Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins to the End of Their Polities . Atlanta: SBL Press.
ISBN
9781628370843 .
Zwickel, Wolfgang (2019).
"Borders between Aram-Damascus and Israel: A Historical Investigation" . Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E . Leiden-Boston: Brill. pp. 267–335.
ISBN
9789004398535 .
33°30′47″N 36°17′31″E / 33.5130°N 36.2920°E / 33.5130; 36.2920