Ithobaal I
Template:Short description Template:Infobox royalty Ithobaal ITemplate:Efn is the name of a 9th-century BCE king of Tyre mentioned in the story of Jezebel from the Hebrew Bible, and in a citation by Josephus of a list of the kings of Tyre put together by the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus (2nd century BCE).
Sources and chronologyEdit
Primary information related to Ithobaal comes from Josephus's citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Against Apion i.18. Here it is said that the previous king, Phelles, “was slain by Ithobalus, the priest of Astarte, who reigned thirty-two years, and lived sixty-eight years; he was succeeded by his son Badezorus (Baal-Eser II).”
Based on the work of F. M. Cross<ref>F. M. Cross, “An Interpretation of the Nora Stone,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 208 (Dec. 1972) 17, n. 11.</ref> and other scholars<ref>J. M. Peñuela, “La Inscripción Asiria IM 55644 y la Cronología de los Reyes de Tiro”, Sefarad 13 (1953, Part 1) 217-37; 14 (1954, Part 2) 1-39.</ref><ref>William H. Barnes, Studies in the Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991) 29-55.</ref> who take 825 BC as the date of Dido's flight from her brother Pygmalion, after which she founded the city of Carthage in 814 BC, Ithobaal was born in 915 BC, killed King Phelles and assumed the throne in 883 BC, and died in 847 or 846 BC.
Relation to Ahab of IsraelEdit
Ithobaal held close diplomatic contacts with king Ahab of Israel. 1 Kings 16:31 relates that his daughter Jezebel married Ahab (874 – 853 BC),<ref>Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983) 94.</ref> and Phoenician influence in Samaria and the other Israelite cities was extensive. In 1 Kings Ithobaal is labeled king of the Sidonians. At this time Tyre and Sidon were consolidated into one kingdom.
Indirect Assyrian sourcesEdit
Tyre is not mentioned as an opponent of Shalmaneser III at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC,<ref>James B. Pritchard, ed.: Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969) 278-79.</ref> but twelve years later, in 841,<ref>Thiele, Mysterious Numbers 76.</ref> Ithobaal's son Baal-Eser II gave tribute to the Assyrian monarch.
Doubts on historicityEdit
For decades, it was believed Ithobaal was mentioned in the inscription found on the Ahiram sarcophagus as the titular king's heir;<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> however, more recent<ref>Reinhard G. Lehmann: Die Inschrift(en) des Ahirom-Sarkophags und die Schachtinschrift des Grabes V in Jbeil (Byblos), 2005, p. 38</ref><ref name="163-180">Reinhard G. Lehmann, Wer war Aḥīrōms Sohn (KAI 1:1)? Eine kalligraphisch-prosopographische Annäherung an eine epigraphisch offene Frage, in: V. Golinets, H. Jenni, H.-P. Mathys und S. Sarasin (Hg.), Neue Beiträge zur Semitistik. Fünftes Treffen der ArbeitsgemeinschaftSemitistik in der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft vom 15.–17. Februar 2012 an der Universität Basel (AOAT 425), Münster: Ugarit-Verlag 2015, pp. 163-180</ref> transcriptions of the text reconstruct the heir's name as Pilsibaal and not Ithobaal — which has raised questions about Ithobaal's paternity and historicity.