Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/8th-century-bc-aramean-kings

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Rezin

King of Aram-Damascus, also known as Rasin of Syria


King of Aram-Damascus, also known as Rasin of Syria

FieldValue
nameRezin
titleRasin of Syria
successionKing of Aram-Damascus
moretext(King of Syria)
reign754–732 BC
predecessorBen-Hadad III or Hezion
pre-typePredecessor
successor*Monarchy abolished*
suc-typeSuccessor
regentTributary King of King Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria
reg-typeCo-regent
birth_dateUnknown
birth_placePresumably Damascus
death_date732 BC
death_placeDamascus
consort
issue

| reign-type = | cor-type = | pre-type = Predecessor | suc-type = Successor | reg-type = Co-regent | spouse-type = | issue-link = | issue-pipe = | issue-type = | house-type = Rezin of Aram (, ; ; *Raḍyan; ) was an Aramean King ruling from Damascus during the 8th century BC.

Reign

During his reign, he was a tributary of King Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria (r. 745-727 BC).

Rebellion

Rezin conspired with a number of Levantine kings (e.g., Hiram II of Tyre) to rebel against Tiglath-Pileser III. Rezin's reign ended in 732 BC, when Tiglath-Pileser III sacked Damascus and annexed Aram:

In order to save his life, he (Raḫiānu) fled alone and entered the gate of his city [like] a mongoose. I [im]paled his foremost men alive while making (the people of) his land watch. For forty-five days I set up my camp [aro]und his city and confined him (there) like a bird in a cage. I cut down his plantations, [...] ..., (and) orchards, which were without number; I did not leave a single one (standing). I surrounded (and) captured [the city ...]ḫādara, the ancestral home of Raḫiānu (Rezin) of the land Damascus, [the pl]ace where he was born. I carried off 800 people, with their possessions, their oxen, (and) their sheep and goats. I carried off 750 captives from the cities Kuruṣṣâ (and) Samāya, (as well as) 550 captives from the city Metuna. Like tell(s) after the Deluge, I destroyed 591 cities of 16 districts of the land Damascus. (RINAP 1, Tiglath-Pileser III 20, l. 8’-17’)

Assyrian inscriptions indicate that Tiglath-pileser made a three-year campaign in the Levant from 734 to 732 BC. In the first year he attacked the Phoenicians and sacked the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. In the second year he devastated the land of Aram and the Arabs living in the Trans-Jordan under Queen Shamsi. Although he beat the Arameans in the field, he failed to take Damascus. In the third year he managed to take Damascus, where he slew King Rezin. He also destroyed and leveled the villages in Northern Israel. He boasted of slaying King Pekah, and he installed Hoshea on the throne. Only the fortified capital of Samaria remained, and the entire land was brought low. Archaeology confirms that many cities destroyed during this time period were never rebuilt.

According to the Bible (2 Kings 16), the sack of Damascus was instigated by King Ahaz of Judah and ended in Rezin's execution (). The execution of Rezin is neither confirmed nor disconfirmed by independent evidence.

According to 2 Kings Rezin allied with Pekah, son of Remaliah, against Ahaz. The defeat of both kings is promised to Ahaz in the Immanuel prophecy Isaiah 7:14, linked to the birth of a child who will be an infant, possibly Ahaz' royal heir Hezekiah, when this takes place.

References

References

  1. IPA]]-ified from «»
  2. Nadav Naʼaman. (2005). "Ancient Israel and Its Neighbors: Interaction and Counteraction". Eisenbrauns.
  3. [[Lester L. Grabbe]], ''Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?'' (New York: T&T Clark, 2007): p.134
  4. [[Hayim Tadmor]] and [[Shigeo Yamada]], ''The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BC) and Shalmaneser V (726-722 BC), Kings of Assyria.'' (The Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period 1; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011).
  5. Grabbe, ''Ancient Israel'', p.149
  6. Whittaker, H. A. ''Isaiah'' Biblia, Cannock
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Rezin — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report