The Northern Israelite Kingdom

The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is an inscription that was written by Mesha, the king of Moab, in the 9th century BCE. In it he writes that he defeated Omri, the king of Israel. It is the earliest known inscriptional evidence of the…

This map shows the ancient Near East and the expansion of the Assyrian kingdom. The core of the Assyrian kingdom was in Assyria (in the upper right portion of the red area), and the red area depicts the kingdom's expansion under Shalmaneser III…

This bronze bull was found on a hilltop southwest of Mt. Gilboa, all the way at the northern end of the central hill. When the site was excavated, excavators found an elliptical wall, 70 feet in diameter, inside of which was a large, roughly hewn…

This relief map shows the Coastal Plain, Central Hill, and Jordan Valley in the central part of the country. Jerusalem is just off the map to the south, and Megiddo, on the edge of Galilee, is at the northern edge. In the period before the Israelite…

This detail photograph of the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian King Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE) shows an inscription (at the top, in cuneiform script) that reads, in part, 'The tribute of Jehu (Iaua), son of Omri (Humri); I received from him silver,…

This detail photograph of the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian King Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE) shows an inscription (at the top, in cuneiform script) that reads, in part, 'The tribute of Jehu (Iaua), son of Omri (Humri); I received from him silver,…

This detail photograph of the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian King Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE) shows an inscription (at the top, in cuneiform script), part of which reads: "The tribute of Jehu (Iaua), son of Omri (Humri); I received from him silver,…

The Black Obelisk of the Assyrian King Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE) was carved on all four sides and five registers of reliefs illustrate the obeisance of four rulers from Shalmaneser's western campaigns. It is important for the history of…

This detail photograph of the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE) shows King Jehu, son of King Omri, kissing the ground at Shalmaneser's feet. The divine symbols of the god Shamash (the winged disk) and the goddess Ishtar…