View source for History:Aram-Damascus

{{Short description|Ancient Aramean state to 732 BCE}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Aram-Damascus
| common_name            = Aram-Damascus
| native_name            = 
| capital                = [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]]
| religion               = Ancient Semitic religion
| demonym                = Aramean
| year_start             = {{circa|12th century BCE}}
| event_end              = Assyrian conquest
| year_end               = 732 BCE
| p1                     = Aramean states
| s1                     = Neo-Assyrian Empire
| flag_s1                = Map of Assyria.png
| today                  = [[Place:Syria|Syria]]<br/>Jordan<br/>[[Place:Israel|Israel]]<br/>[[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]]
| image_map              = Kingdoms around Israel 830 map.svg
| image_map_caption      = The region around 830&nbsp;BCE, with Aram-Damascus in green
| common_languages       = [[Social:Old Aramaic|Old Aramaic]]
| title_leader           = King
| year_leader1           = {{nowrap|885 BCE–865 BCE}}
| leader1                = Ben-Hadad I
| year_leader2           = {{nowrap|865 BCE–842 BCE}}
| leader2                = Ben-Hadad II
| year_leader3           = {{nowrap|842 BCE–796 BCE}}
| leader3                = Hazael
| year_leader4           = {{nowrap|796 BCE–792 BCE}}
| leader4                = Ben-Hadad III
| year_leader5           = {{nowrap|754 BCE–732 BCE}}
| leader5                = Rezin {{smaller|(last)}}
}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=April 2022}}

The '''Kingdom of Aram-Damascus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ær|ə|m|_|d|ə|ˈ|m|æ|s|k|ə|s}}; {{lang-syr|ܐܪܡ-ܕܪܡܣܘܩ}}) was an Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]] in the Southern Levant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pitard |first=Wayne T.|editor1=David Noel Freedman|editor2=Allen C. Myers|editor3=Astrid B. Beck |date=2000 |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible|chapter=Arameans|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.|page=86 }}</ref> Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later years by the polities of [[Place:Assyria|Assyria]] to the north, Ammon to the south, and Israel to the west.

==History==
The Tanakh gives accounts of Aram-Damascus' history, mainly in its interaction with Israel and Judah. There are biblical texts referencing battles that took place between the [[Place:Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|United Kingdom of Israel]] under David and the Arameans in Southern Syria in the 10th century BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bible|publisher=Holman|isbn=978-0999989265|chapter=2 Samuel 10:6-19}}</ref>

In the 9th century BCE, Hazael fought against the [[Place:Assyria|Assyrians]], had some influence over the northern Syrian state of Unqi, and conquered Israel.<ref>James B. Pritchard, ed., ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament'' (3rd ed.; Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1955) 246.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Bible|publisher=Holman|isbn=978-0999989265|edition=Christian Standard|chapter=2 Kings 13:3}}</ref>

To the southwest, Aram-Damascus reached most of the [[Place:Golan Heights|Golan]] to the Sea of Galilee.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khR0apPid8gC&q=Arameans+Golan+Sea+of+Galilee&pg=PA377|title=Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader|author=Suzanne Richard|edition=Hardcover|publisher=Eisenbrauns|year=2003|isbn=1-57506-083-3|page=377}}</ref>

In the 8th century BCE, Rezin had been a tributary of Tiglath-Pileser III, a king of Assyria.<ref name="Grabbe">Lester L. Grabbe, ''Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?'' (New York: T&T Clark, 2007): 134</ref> In {{Circa|732 BCE}}, he formed an alliance with Pekah, a king of Israel, to attack Ahaz, a king of Judah; Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III for help, which was provided by the Assyrian king after [[History:Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] paid tribute.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bible|publisher=Holman|isbn=978-0999989265|edition=Christian Standard|chapter=2 Kings 16:7-9}}</ref> Subsequently, Tiglath-Pileser III attacked Damascus and annexed [[Place:Aram (region)|Aram]].<ref name="Grabbe"/> The kingdom's population was deported and Rezin was executed. Tiglath-Pileser III recorded this act in one of his inscriptions.<ref>James B. Pritchard, ed., ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament'' (3rd ed.; Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969) 283.</ref>

[[File:Estats neohitites i arameus a Síria al segle VIII aC.png|thumb|right|260px|Various Neo-Hittite and Aramean (orange shades) western states in the 8th century BCE]]

==Kings==
*Hezion, ca. 960 BCE
*Tabrimmon, ca. 930 BCE, son of Hezion
*Ben-Hadad I, 885–865 BCE
*Ben-Hadad II, 865–842 BCE
*Hazael, 842–805/796 BCE, usurper
*Ben-Hadad III, 796–792 BCE, son of Hazael
*Rezin, 754 BCE–732 BCE

==See also==
*[[Place:Aram (region)|Aram (region)]], a historical region in the Levant mentioned in the Bible
*[[Place:Aram-Naharaim|Aram-Naharaim]], biblical term for the ancient land of the Arameans in Upper Mesopotamia
*Aram Rehob, an early Aramean kingdom

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book|last=Amadasi-Guzzo|first=Maria Giulia|chapter=What Do We Know about the Borders and Exchanges between Aram and Phoenicia in the 9th–8th Centuries B.C.E. in Anatolia and Syria?|title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E.|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=149–171|isbn=9789004398535 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1imVDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Bagg|first=Ariel M.|chapter=At the Limits of Historical Geography: Reconstructing Aramaean Territories in the West According to the Neo-Assyrian Written Sources|title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E.|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=1–25|isbn=9789004398535 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1imVDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Edmonds|first=Alexander J.|chapter=A People without Borders? Tracing the Shifting Identities and Territorialities of the Ahlameans|title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E.|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=26–62|isbn=9789004398535 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1imVDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Gzella|first=Holger|title=A Cultural History of Aramaic: From the Beginnings to the Advent of Islam|year=2015|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004285101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9UuBgAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lipiński|first=Edward|title=The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion|year=2000|location=Leuven|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=9789042908598 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrMKKtiBBI4C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lipiński|first=Edward|chapter=The Aramaeans in the West (13th–8th centuries)|title=Arameans, Chaldeans, and Arabs in Babylonia and Palestine in the First Millennium B.C.|year=2013|location=Wiesbaden|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|pages=123–147|isbn=9783447065443 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OuVQnwEACAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lemaire|first=André|chapter=The Boundary between the Aramaean Kingdom of Damascus and the Kingdom of Israel|title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E.|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=245–266|isbn=9789004398535 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1imVDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Sader|first=Hélène|chapter=History|title=The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria|year=2014|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|pages=11–36|isbn=9789004229433 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sW_AAgAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Younger|first=Kenneth Lawson|title=A Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins to the End of Their Polities|year=2016|location=Atlanta|publisher=SBL Press|isbn=9781628370843 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpgsDQAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Zwickel|first=Wolfgang|chapter=Borders between Aram-Damascus and Israel: A Historical Investigation|title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E.|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=267–335|isbn=9789004398535 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1imVDwAAQBAJ}}
{{refend}}


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[[Category:Former kingdoms]]

{{Sourceattribution|Aram-Damascus}}