What was King Ahab's impact on Israel?

Answer 1

AnswerKing Ahab ruled Israel from 873-852 BCE.

The Old Testament Book of Kings downplays the positive side of his reign and emphasises his marriage to the Phoenician princess Jezebel, whom it criticises strenuously.

The Book of Kings attributes a great expansion of Israelite territory to King David, during the century before the time of Ahab, leaving Ahab as merely a moderately successful military leader. Modern archaeologists are being forced to re-evaluate this, and see Ahab and his father, Omri, as the great military leaders who oversaw the expansion of Israelite territory, not David.

When archaeologists were excavating Megiddo, they found buildings that looked like magnificent stables. Of course, they at first attributed them to King Solomon who - the Bible explains - owned a lot of horses and chariots. The new view is that they probably belonged to King Ahab. For this theory there is extra-Biblical evidence from Israel's traditional enemy, Assyria. In 853, King Shalmaneser led a major invasion force against Syria, Phoenicia and Israel. A coalition of nations met him near Qarqar in western Syria. Apparently Shalmaneser won because he claimed victory and erected a monument known as the Monolith Inscription in which he gloats how he triumphed over all the armies arrayed against him, including "Ahab the Israelite" with 2,000 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers.