outlook: aramaeans outside of syria 353
receiving the tribute of tyre, sidon, and Jehu of “Bit Ḫumri.”61 Because the
assyrian pressure on aram-damascus notably relaxed after 838/7 B.C.,
hazael himself moved into northern palestine around 837 (?) B.C. and
destroyed megiddo (stratum Va–iVB), among other places in the north.62
the Jezreel Valley, the Beth-shean plains, and Galilee were now part of
aram-damascus, whoever had settled there before (Geshur, Bit maacah,
israelite tribes). after hazael’s conquest, dan, hazor (stratum Viii;
phoenician or aramaic ostraca), and et-tell (stratum V, see above) were
(re-)built as centers of aram-damascus. how far to the south hazael’s
conquests went is unclear. according to 2 kgs 10: 32–33; 12: 18–19; am 1:
3–4, he took Gilead and went as far as Gath,63 imposing tribute on Joash
of Judah (840–801 B.C.). recent excavations at Gath (identified with tell
es-safi) seem to support the existence of aramaeans in front of Gath: the
rampart and fossa, siege constructions (stratum a3), and the burnt layer
in Gath, which are dated to the end of the 9th century B.C., could corre-
spond to this conquest, which put an end to a large, wealthy city. it is
unknown if hazael wanted to establish a formal vassalship on Judah and
israel, or some kind of direct or indirect rule. the remains of a model for
a victory stele (?) have been found in Gath (fig. XliV), indicating that
aramaean iconography sought to commemorate the supremacy over
Gath.64 in any case hazael could not establish his aramaean domination
in palestine, because damascus had to face more assyrian invasions.
damascus could again withstand the attacks of shalmaneser, who in
841 B.C. ravaged the country, received the tribute of Jehu, king of israel
(black obelisk), and reached the mediterranean coast, where phoenician
kings also paid him tribute. in 838 and 837 B.C., two more assyrian inva-
sions followed, which aram-damascus was able to resist.65 the future
fate of the aramaean states in syria (i.e., aram-damascus), of the trans-
and Cisjordanian states, and of israel depended in the following decades
61 rima 3, a.0.102.8:1’’–27’’ par. perhaps the Carmel Cape or rash en-Naqura. Jehu’s
tribute is also mentioned in rima 3, a.0.102.88.
62 the destruction of some important sites in the north is usually attributed to hazael
(not to Jehu, since it was his own territory): rehov iV, Beth-shean s1, Jesreel, taanach iiB,
hazor iXa, yokneam XiV, tell Bet mirsim B, Gath a3, Beth shemesh iiB.
63 see ehrlich 2002: 62–66 and recently maeir – Gur-arieh 2011.
64 stern 1993: fig. on page 1523. according to him, five fragments were found in the
rubbish dump in the middle of area C. stern refers to the assyrian style of the stele, which
seems better described as aramaean style (compare e.g., tell tayinat), see also maeir
- i want to express my thanks to Benjamin sass for his photograph and the permit to
print it here as fig. XliV.
65 lipiński 2000a: 350f, 384f and dion 1997: 196–199 refer to shalmaneser’s iii attacks
against aram-damascus.