Ben-Hadad I

Ben-Hadad I (Hebrew: בֶּן־הֲדַד, romanized: Ben-Hăḏaḏ),^[1] son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, was king of Aram-Damascus between 885 BCE and 865 BCE. Ben-Hadad I was reportedly a contemporary of kings Baasha of the Kingdom of Israel and Asa of the Kingdom of Judah.

Ben-Hadad I
King of Aram Damascus
Reign	885–865 BCE
Predecessor	Hezion (or Tabrimmon)
Successor	Ben-Hadad II
Father	Tabrimmon

According to the biblical book of Kings, Asa called on Ben-Hadad I to aid him in attacking northern Israel while Baasha restricted access to Jerusalem through border fortifications. Ben-Hadad took the towns of "Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali" (1 Kings 15:20). This acquisition gave Aram-Damascus control of the trade route to southern Phoenicia. By the time of the reign of Ahab, the area was back in Israelite hands.^[2]

According to the archaeologist William Foxwell Albright, the Melqart stele should be attributed to Ben-Hadad I.^[3] However, Kenneth Kitchen disagrees and states that there is no actual evidence that connects that stele to this particular king.^[4]

See also

• Asia portal

• Aramean kings