Seams in History #3: King Ahab
The monolith of Kurukh is an important historical document from Shalmaneser the third (battle of Karkar 853 BC). It accounts his battle against the alliance of the Levant against him. One of the Kings mentioned is king Achav of Israel with 2000 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers. These numbers are the largest army in the list. This detail has driven critics of the bible mad because it shows how strong the biblical account is. They went out of their way to claim there was a mistake, which is the common nonsense you hear. Kings of Israel were very important at the time, and had a well established footing in the world (Melmet.A Battles of Israel and Assyria, in "History of Israel in Biblical Times" 1964). This proves the kingship and the presence of Israel as an organized nation is much older, and does date to the 1400's BC.
Karkar, his royal city, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. 1,200 chariots, I,200 cavalry, 20,000 soldiers, of Hadad-ezer, of Aram (? Damascus); 700 chariots, 700 cavalry, 10,000* soldiers of Irhulêni of Hamath, 2,000 chariots, 10,000 soldiers of Ahab, the Israelite, 500 soldiers of the Gueans, 1,000 soldiers of the Musreans, 10 chariots, 10,000 soldiers of the Irkanateans, 200 soldiers of Matinuba'il, the Arvadite, 200 soldiers of the Usanateans, 30 chariots, [ ],000 soldiers of Adunu-ba'il, the Shianean, 1,000 camels of Gindibu', the Arabian, [ ],000 soldiers [of] Ba'sa, son of Ruhubi, the Ammonite, - these twelve kings he brought to his support; to offer battle and fight, they came against me. (Trusting) in the exalted might which Assur, the lord, had given (me), in the mighty weapons, which Nergal, who goes before me, had presented (to me), I battled with them. From Karkar, as far as the city of Gilzau, I routed them. 14,000 of their warriors I slew with the sword. Like Adad, I rained destruction upon them. I scattered their corpses far and wide, (and) covered (lit.., filled) the face of the desolate plain with their widespreading armies. With (my) weapons I made their blood to flow down the valleys(?) of the land. The plain was too small to let their bodies fall, the wide countryside was used up in burying them. With their bodies I spanned the Arantu (Orotes) as with a bridge(?). In that battle I took from them their chariots, their cavalry, their horses, broken to the yoke. (*Possibly 20,000)
There are several questions about the inscription, but the main point is that Ahab is mentioned here as a leader of a large army. This concept has vexed several Scholars who have tries to date the Northern Kingdom only to the 9th century, but ignore monolithic and royal buildings (Ben-Tor.A "The Argument Over the Historical Truth of the Bible, Yad Ben Tzvi 2001).
We find the same attitude with other inscription such as the Mesha Stele (840 BC) where the "House of Omri" seems to be a very important entity in the area:
"My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I have reigned after my father. And I have built this sanctuary for Chemosh in Karchah, a sanctuary of salvation, for he saved me from all aggressors, and made me look upon all mine enemies with contempt. Omri was king of Israel, and oppressed Moab during many days, and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire upon him and his house, and Israel said, I shall destroy it for ever. Now Omri took the land of Madeba, and occupied it in his day, and in the days of his son, forty years."
Many historians find a problem with this description due to the timing of it, and conclude that it was actually Ahab and his son Yoram who were kings at the time. This also led scholars to conclude that "Omri" was a royal name, and not a personal name. If true this shows that Ahab was part of a very strong kingdom that had been around for a long while (Livur Y. in Bustenai.O "History of Israel in the First Temple", Open U 2007).
