Ahab's Ivory Palace and the Samaria Ivories

An Assyrian king, Shalmaneser III, recorded a victory over an alliance of a dozen kings. Wikipedia says one of them was Ahab of Israel.

Scripture: Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Samaria is where this passage says Ahab was buried, and where his chariot was washed at a pool. The photo here is labelled as the site of his ivory palace.

A fair warning. My sources don't say who excavated the ivory palace site, or where any ivories are kept. Nor do they say who found the Kurkh Monolith, where, when, or where it is today. So I won't guess.

What they do give is a date. At the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC, Assyria's Shalmaneser III fought a confederation of princes from Cilicia, northern Syria, Israel, Ammon and the Syrian desert. Ahab was among them.

Ahab was the son and successor of Omri, and husband of Jezebel of Sidon. The Bible portrays him as a Baal worshipper, though some modern scholars question that.

Scripture: The contemporary witness is the Kurkh Monolith. Wikipedia says he is also mentioned on the Mesha Stele, which it quotes as saying Omri and Ahab "oppressed Moab for many days".

Even his dates are debated. Albright proposed 869 to 850 BC, Thiele 874 to 853, and Michael Coogan 871 to 852.

Ahab's contribution at Qarqar was estimated at two thousand chariots. But Wikipedia says archaeology, including stable foundations, suggests the number was probably in the hundreds, unless the figure includes allies. Outside evidence can trim a figure as well as support one.

The verse points to Ahab's building work, including cities, and asks whether it is written in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. It offers no praise or blame. Separately, our Wikipedia source says Jezreel was identified as his fortified chariot and cavalry base.

So what does this show? Outside records support Ahab being a real king who took part in a real battle. The link to the ivory palace itself is the part these sources don't spell out, so treat it as indirect.

Open questions remain: his exact dates, the size of his army, and how his religion should be read. Edward Lipiński, for one, argues his Baal was a Samaria form of Yahweh worship. Others disagree.

Which small detail in a Bible passage have you wondered about the longest? Follow Bible Evidence for another story from the ground beneath the text. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.