Aram-Damascus ( ARR-əm ...) was an Aramean polity that existed from the late 12th century BCE to 732 BCE and was centred on the city of Damascus, in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later years by the polities of Assyria to the north, Ammon to the south, and Israel to the west.
The compound name "Aram-Damascus" is found only in the Hebrew Bible, where it sometimes also is referred to as simply "Aram" or "Damascus". It is also referred to as "Aram" in some Aramaic inscriptions. In Assyrian sources, "Aram" was never used to designate it, which was often referred to as "Damascus" or "imērīšu" (meaning "his donkey") and sometimes as "Bīt-Ḫaza’ili" (meaning "house of Hazael"), in Assyrian sources.
History
The Tanakh gives accounts of the history of Aram-Damascus, mainly in its interaction with Israel and Judah. There are biblical texts referencing battles that took place between the United Kingdom of Israel under David and the Arameans in Southern Syria in the 10th century BCE.
In the 9th century BCE, Hazael fought against the Assyrians, had some influence over the northern Syrian state of Unqi, and conquered Israel.
To the southwest, Aram-Damascus reached most of the Golan to the Sea of Galilee.
In the 8th century BCE, Rezin had been a tributary of Tiglath-Pileser III, a king of Assyria. In c. 732 BCE, he formed an alliance with Pekah, a king of Israel, to attack Ahaz, a king of Judah; Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III for help, which was provided by the Assyrian king after Judah paid tribute. Subsequently, Tiglath-Pileser III attacked Damascus and annexed Aram. The kingdom's population was deported, and Rezin was executed. Tiglath-Pileser III recorded the act in one of his inscriptions.
Kings
- Hezion, ca. 960 BCE
- Tabrimmon, ca. 930 BCE, son of Hezion
- Ben-Hadad I, 885–865 BCE
- Ben-Hadad II, 865–842 BCE
- Hazael, 842–805/796 BCE, usurper
- Ben-Hadad III, 796–792 BCE, son of Hazael
- Rezin, 754 BCE–732 BCE