The Torah Atlas

person · P0411

Achaz אחז

The king who made Yehudah an Assyrian vassal. Besieged by Aram and Israel (the crisis of Yeshayahu 7), he sent the Temple silver to Tiglath-Pileser — "I am your servant and your son" — and copied a Damascus altar into the Temple court. Kings condemns him for passing his son through fire. Father of Chizkiyahu (Chizkiyahu).

I. Who

Hebrew
אחז
Also known as
Ahaz, Yehoachaz II
Era
bible
Parents
Yotam
Children
Chizkiyahu

II. When

Traditional
c. 3163–3199 AM (reigned 3183–3199, sixteen years; twenty at accession)
Academic
reigned c. 732–716 BCE
Lifespan (traditional)
≈36 years
Precision
approximate

III. Where

Places
Jerusalem

V. How do we know

ClaimEvidenceConfidenceSources
In the seventeenth year of Pekach ben Remalyahu, Achaz ben Yotam king of Yehudah became king: twenty years old at accession, he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not do what was right like David his father.
Directly stated in the cited source.
biblical ★★★★★
Pressed by Retzin of Aram and Pekach of Israel, Achaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria — "I am your servant and your son; come up and save me" — with the silver and gold of the Temple and palace; Assyria took Damascus, exiled it to Kir, and killed Retzin. biblical ★★★★★
Tiglath-Pileser III's summary inscription lists "Jehoahaz (Ia-ú-ḫa- zi) of Judah" — Achaz under his fuller name — among the western kings paying tribute, corroborating the vassalage that Kings describes. external archaeology ★★★★☆
The placement (reigned 3183–3199 AM) is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction: the regnal years stated in Kings are chained backward from the First Temple's destruction in 3338 AM, with sub- year reigns counted as zero — the same rule that yields Chizkiyahu 3199–3228. The cited source states the reign's length, not absolute dates.
The cited sources establish relative chronology or regnal duration; they do not state the absolute AM range.
tradition reconstruction ★★☆☆☆