Aram–Damascus and the Southern Levant: Destruction and Urban Renewal in the Late Ninth Century B.C.E.

Archaeologists have attributed the widespread destruction at sites throughout the northern part of Israel and Transjordan in the last half of the 9th century B.C.E to the campaigns of Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus. Hazael has also been credited with the rebuilding of sites in these areas – such as Tel Dan, Tel Hazor, et-Tell and Tell er-Rumeith. This paper will compare the extent of these destructions to those attributed to various Egyptian and Assyrian campaigns in the northern Israel and Transjordan in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (1550-700 B.C.E.), and will examine the question of whether Hazael was responsible for the monumental architecture and new town layouts at sites in the region in the late 9th century.