person · P0423
Omri עמרי
Army commander acclaimed king in the field against Zimri, who then prevailed over Tivni's faction. He bought the hill of Shomron and built Israel's lasting capital. Kings gives him six verses; the ancient Near East knew his name for centuries — "Omri king of Israel" on the Mesha Stele, and Israel as Bit-Ḫumri, "house of Omri," in Assyrian records. No parent edge: his house begins in civil war.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- עמרי
- Also known as
- Omri king of Israel
- Era
- bible
- Children
- Achav
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 2984–3026 AM (reigned 3014–3026, twelve years)
- Academic
- reigned c. 885–874 BCE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈42 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Yehudah, Omri became king over Israel, twelve years; he bought the hill of Shomron from Shemer for two talents of silver, built on the hill, and named the city Shomron after Shemer its owner.
Directly stated in the cited source.
|
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The Mesha Stele (Moabite, 9th century BCE, Louvre) declares: "Omri king of Israel oppressed Moab many days... and his son succeeded him" — the earliest external inscription naming a king of Israel; Assyrian royal texts for over a century after call the kingdom Bit- Ḫumri, the house of Omri. | external archaeology | ★★★★★ | |
| The placement (reigned 3014–3026 AM) is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction: the northern kings' regnal years stated in Kings are chained forward from the division of the kingdom in 2964 AM, with sub-year reigns counted as zero; the chain closes exactly at the fall of Shomron in 3205 AM (Chizkiyahu's sixth year, Melachim II 18:10). 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 | ★★☆☆☆ |