The lasting legacy of David HaMelech are his writings (collectively known as T’hilim or Psalms), his moral legacy as a prophetic figure, and politically as a conqueror who expelled the Canaanites from Jerusalem and expanded Israel’s borders to their greatest extent. In contrast to the monarchs of his time, there is little archeological evidence testifying to his life.
The oldest known object mentioning the House of David is the Tel Dan Stele, on display at The Jewish Museum through January 5. This slab documents an Aramean king’s war against Israel and Judah.
“[I killed Jeho]ram son of [Ach’av] king of Israel, and [I] killed [Achaz]iahu son of [Jehoram kin]g of the House of David,” the inscription reads, in a translation provided by The Israel Museum, which owns the object.
The stele [standing stone slab] was discovered in 1993 at Tel Dan, an archeological site on Israel’s northern border. The two kings named on the stele were contemporaries of Chazael, king of Aram-Damascus, whose conquests are noted in the Book of Kings and read as the haftarah for Parshas Pinchas. Who was this foreign ruler with a Hebrew-sounding name?
Chazael was anointed as a ruler by Eliyahu HaNavi and sent gifts to his successor Elisha who predicted his war against Israel. Described by Assyrian sources as a “son of a nobody,” Chazael was a servant of the ailing Aramean king Ben-Hadad, murdering him in a palace coup and then seizing power.
Although Chazael worshiped idols, his rise to power in connection with Jewish prophets is related to his name, which translates as “G-d sees.”
“What makes the Tel Dan Stele so important is that it’s the oldest archeological evidence of the existence of the House of David, which is the sort of touchstone or fountainhead for the unfolding thereafter of Judaism, Christianity, and then Islam,” Jewish Museum director James Snyder said in an interview with JTA. “This archeological fragment is a perfect example of the intersection of where archeology and biblical history meet.”
The basalt slab measures 12 by 13 inches, but on account of its naming of three Jewish kings, its American museum tour over the past year is comparable to the pharaoh Tutankhamun of Egypt. In September, it was exhibited at the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology in Oklahoma in an exhibit titled Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered. A decade ago, this stele was on display at the Metropolitan Museum.
Jewish scripture notes that Chazael defeated a united force of two Israelite kingdoms. When his army approached Jerusalem, the holy city was saved from destruction by Yehoash, who offered Chazael treasures from the Beis HaMikdash and his royal palace.
Like the unnamed pharaoh who kept Jews enslaved, or the prophet Bilaam who was determined to curse the Jews, Chazael merited to hear from Eliyahu HaNavi about his future as king, and again from Elisha. He conquered much of the northern kingdom of Israel, portions of Judah, and the P’lishtim. He also repelled attacks from the Assyrians, a much more powerful force to his north that would later conquer Damascus and ten of the Israelite tribes.
On the stele, the author notes that Chazael’s invasion was in retaliation for Israel entering “my father’s land.” During the reign of David, the present-day battlefields of Syria were under Israeli control, reaching the Euphrates River.
Chazael’s name is absent from the Tel Dan Stele in which he brags of defeating 70 kings, including Ach’av and Achaz. Aramean is a language related to Hebrew and the presence of the Divine Name in Chazael is in line with the prophetic narrative that kings of foreign nations were guided by a higher power to punish and oppress a wayward nation.
By Sergey Kadinsky
