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Omrides
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 murder of Jehoram of Israel by Jehu in c. 841 BC.
Five Assyrian records are known to refer to either "Land of Omri" or "House of Omri". 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.
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. However Jehu, who was the son of Jehoshaphat, and the grandson of Nimshi, could possibly be a great-grandson of Omri (although the latter notion is not supported by the biblical text), which would extend the period of the "House of Omri" for much longer.
Most modern historians follow either the older chronologies established by William F. Albright or Edwin R. Thiele, or the newer chronologies of Gershon Galil and Kenneth Kitchen, all of which appear below.
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. 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. But there is evidence that "Baal" does not refer to Yahweh, based on Jezebel's royal seal and personal background. Thus, the Omrides promoting Yahweh by integrating imagery from the Ugaritic Baal and Baal-Shamem, which the later biblical prophets accepted, falls in line with early supporters of a monolatrist Yahwism faction appearing in the 9th–8th centuries BCE, during the time of Elijah and Hosea, but their respective depiction of Yahweh still having only marginal impact under Josiah, and not becoming lasting until the exilic and post-exilic period. Characteristics of other deities, such as Asherah and Baal, were selectively absorbed in conceptions of Yahweh.
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.[page needed]
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. 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.
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.
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Omrides
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 murder of Jehoram of Israel by Jehu in c. 841 BC.
Five Assyrian records are known to refer to either "Land of Omri" or "House of Omri". 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.
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. However Jehu, who was the son of Jehoshaphat, and the grandson of Nimshi, could possibly be a great-grandson of Omri (although the latter notion is not supported by the biblical text), which would extend the period of the "House of Omri" for much longer.
Most modern historians follow either the older chronologies established by William F. Albright or Edwin R. Thiele, or the newer chronologies of Gershon Galil and Kenneth Kitchen, all of which appear below.
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. 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. But there is evidence that "Baal" does not refer to Yahweh, based on Jezebel's royal seal and personal background. Thus, the Omrides promoting Yahweh by integrating imagery from the Ugaritic Baal and Baal-Shamem, which the later biblical prophets accepted, falls in line with early supporters of a monolatrist Yahwism faction appearing in the 9th–8th centuries BCE, during the time of Elijah and Hosea, but their respective depiction of Yahweh still having only marginal impact under Josiah, and not becoming lasting until the exilic and post-exilic period. Characteristics of other deities, such as Asherah and Baal, were selectively absorbed in conceptions of Yahweh.
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.[page needed]
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. 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.
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.