Jehu on the Black Obelisk

On 21 August 1851, Reverend Edward Hincks wrote in his diary of an identification: a captive on an Assyrian obelisk, he thought, was Jehu, king of Israel.

Scripture: But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin. In those days Yahweh began to cut away parts of Israel; and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel;

The passage tells of Jehu, who reigned twenty-eight years from Samaria, while Hazael pressed on Israel's borders.

Its twenty relief scenes, carvings raised from a flat surface, show five subdued rulers bringing tribute. It was set up in 825 BC, in the middle of a civil war.

On the second row, cuneiform, the wedge-shaped script of ancient Mesopotamia, names Iaua of the house of Omri, bringing tribute around 841 BC.

Scripture: The caption lists silver, gold, a golden bowl, tin, and spears, among other gifts.

In 1850, Henry Rawlinson read the name, but knew of no such prince. A year later, Hincks made the biblical connection.

Not every scholar agrees. George Smith, P. Kyle McCarter and Edwin Thiele questioned it, since Jehu was not of Omri's house, and over spelling and dates.

Hincks' reading is now the commonly held position among biblical archaeologists. If right, it is thought to be the earliest picture of a biblical figure. But it shows tribute, which the passage doesn't mention, so the link is indirect.

A name in stone, beside a line of scripture, with open questions left. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today. Follow Bible Evidence for more.