The World

The marriage of Ahab to Jezebel linked Omri’s family to this sophisticated Eurasian network, very far from the puritanical priests of remote Jerusalem. Many of the achievements assigned by the Bible to Solomon may describe Omri, who built the port-fortress at Tel Kheleifah on the Red Sea between Elath and Aqaba, to trade spices and ivory, via the kingdom of Sheba (Yemen/Eritrea), with Africa, Arabia and India. But when Omri died in 873, Ahab and Jezebel faced an imminent threat: Assyria was back.

Shalmaneser III, portrayed on his steles gripping a royal mace and wearing the crown, robes and braided long beard of an Assyrian monarch, blessed by his god Ashur, reconquered Iraq, attacked into Persia – boasting that he received the tribute of the Paruwash (the first mention of the Persians) – then struck westwards, demanding the tribute of Israelites and Canani.

Ahab of Israel and Hadanezer of Aram-Damascus refused and massed their armies, joined by the 1,000 cameleers of King Gindibu of the Arabs, their first appearance in history, and the first recorded use of camels in battle.^*

Shalmaneser marched south. Jews and Arabs, Aramaeans and Phoenicians drew their swords.

TIGLATH-PILESER AND FAMILY: THE WORLD -CONQUERING ASSYRIANS

Shalmaneser, fielding 100,000 men that day, defeated the Israelite–Aramaean–Arab alliance, killing 14,000 of them, but a rebellion called him home. As soon as he was gone, the allies fell out among themselves: Ahab returned to his alliance with his compatriots in Jerusalem, marrying his daughter Athaliah to its heir. But he was killed by Hadanezer. Jezebel oversaw the succession of her family in Jerusalem and Samaria, but in 825, ‘Jehu of the House of Omri’ – as the Assyrians called him – assassinated both kings and then trapped Queen Mother Jezebel in her Samarian palace, where she faced down the rebels dressed in her royal jewels and regalia, only for three court eunuchs, suborned by the rebels, to toss her out of the window. Jehu trampled the queen with his horse, her body torn apart by dogs – and paid tribute to Shalmaneser.

The sole survivor of this family massacre was Queen Mother Athaliah of Judah who seized power in Jerusalem and ruled in her own right – that rare phenomenon, a queen regnant. But Athaliah was – like her mother Jezebel – a homicidal megalomaniac who slaughtered the royal family to retain power. Only one Davidic prince was hidden from her killers. Once his survival was known, the courtiers assassinated Athaliah. Israel was an Assyrian vassal but tiny Judah survived as Assyria itself faltered.^*

In 754 Urartu, a mountain kingdom famed for its military ferocity and bronze craftsmanship, situated in the mountains of north-western Iran, Azerbaijan and Armenia, shattered the Assyrians. The downfall seemed final, but one man changed everything: his real name was Pulu, a prince who governed the Assyrian capital Kahlu (Nimrud). In 745, taking the name Tiglath-Pileser III, he created a new Assyria, diminishing the overmighty nobility, recruiting a professional army and specialized auxiliaries, all funded by his efficient tax collecting, directed though a cabinet of seven; his orders stamped with the imperial seal of the king killing a lion were conveyed along royal roads by special couriers. Tiglath-Pileser was voracious and tireless, in perpetual motion, scourging Elam, climbing with his men into the mountains to defeat Urartu^* and routing an Arab queen. When Damascus and Israel besieged Jerusalem, King Ahaz of Judah unwisely invited Tiglath-Pileser to help: ‘“I’m your servant … Come and save me,” and the King of Assyria came.’

Tiglath-Pileser made Judah a vassal and reduced Israel to a rump, whose king in 727 desperately sought a way to escape Assyrian rule: he appealed to Egypt, but its pharaohs no longer counted. The unthinkable was about to happen: Kush was about to take Egypt.

ALARA OF KUSH: FIRST AFRICAN EMPIRE

In 727 BC, Piye, king of Kush, galloped northwards into Egypt. Kush had existed for millennia alongside Egypt, its twin riverine civilization. Around 800, a local ruler called Alara, who later assumed the title of king, united a realm based in Napata, a city founded by Thutmose III, close to the holy cobra mountain of Jebel Barkal, which was governed by a literate court – with secretaries of the archives and chief treasurers. Kush fielded crack archers and formidable cavalry, all funded by trade between the Mediterranean, inland Africa and, via the Red Sea, India.