person · P0424
Achav אחאב
Son of Omri and Israel's most powerful — and, for Kings, most sinful — king: husband of Izevel, builder of the Baal temple in Shomron, antagonist of Eliyahu (Eliyahu) from the drought to Navot's vineyard. He died at Ramot Gilad from a bowshot drawn at random. Assyria's Kurkh Monolith counts "Ahab the Israelite" among the great kings at Qarqar with two thousand chariots.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- אחאב
- Also known as
- Ahab
- Era
- bible
- Parents
- Omri
- Spouses
- Izevel
- Children
- Achazyah of Israel, Yehoram of Israel
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 2996–3048 AM (reigned 3026–3048, twenty-two years)
- Academic
- reigned c. 874–853 BCE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈52 years
- Precision
- approximate
IV. What
- Events
- Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achav ben Omri became king in the thirty-eighth year of Asa and reigned twenty-two years in Shomron; he took Izevel bat Etbaal king of the Tzidonim as wife, served Baal, and built him an altar and temple in Shomron — doing more to anger God than all the kings of Israel before him.
Directly stated in the cited source.
|
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| At Ramot Gilad a man drew his bow innocently and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor; propped in his chariot facing Aram until evening, he died, and the blood of the wound ran into the hollow of the chariot; he was buried in Shomron. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Shalmaneser III's Kurkh Monolith lists "Ahab the Israelite" (A-ḫa- ab-bu Sir-i-la-a-a) in the coalition at the battle of Qarqar (853 BCE) with 2,000 chariots and 10,000 soldiers — the largest chariot force named, and the earliest dated external mention of an Israelite king.
The battle does not appear in Tanakh; the chariot figure is the Assyrian scribe's and is debated.
|
external archaeology | ★★★★★ | |
| The placement (reigned 3026–3048 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 | ★★☆☆☆ |