Editing Davidic line (section)

==Historicity==
[[File:JRSLM 300116 Tel Dan Stele 01.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Tel Dan Stele]], with mention of the "House of David" highlighted in white.]]
Very little is conclusively known about the House of David. The [[Tel Dan Stele]] mentions the death of the reigning king from "BYTDWD",{{sfn|Pioske|2015|p=180}} (interpreted as "House of David") and thus far is the only extrabiblical explicit mention of [[David]] himself. The stele is dated to circa 840 BCE; however, the name of the Davidic king is not totally preserved, as much of the stele has not survived since the 9th century BCE. All that remains of the name is the final syllable, the extremely common [[Theophoric name#Yahweh|theophoric suffix]] ''-yahū''. Because the stele coincides the death of the Davidic king with the death of [[Jehoram of Israel|[Jeho]ram]], the king of the [[Kingdom of Samaria]], scholars have reconstructed the second slain king as [[Ahaziah of Judah]], the only king contemporary to Jehoram with a name ending in ''-yahū''.{{efn|Jehoram's reign in Israel saw three kings of Judah — [[Jehoshaphat]], his son [[Jehoram of Judah]], and ''his'' son, Ahaziah}}

The earliest unambiguously{{efn|'Unambiguous' as Ahaziah's name on the Tel Dan Stele is incomplete, and there is no explicit confirmation that the apical ancestor David of ''Bayt-David'' was a king}} attested king from the Davidic line is [[Uzziah]], who reigned in the 8th century BCE, about 75&nbsp;years after Ahaziah, who is named on bullae seals belonging to his servants Abijah and Shubnayahu.<ref>Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals. N. Avigad and B. Sass. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1997, nos. 4 and 3 respectively; Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 B.C.E. Lawrence J. Mykytiuk. SBL Academia Biblica 12. Atlanta, 2004, 153–59, 219.</ref> Uzziah may also be mentioned in the annals of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]]; however, the texts are largely fragmentary.<ref>Haydn, Howell M. ''[https://www.jstor.org/pss/4617145 Azariah of Judah and Tiglath-Pileser III]'' in ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Vol. 28, No. 2 (1909), pp. 182–199</ref>{{efn|The name in the annals is ''Azariah'', not "Uzziah". While Uzziah is called "Azariah" several times in the Bible, scholars consider this to be the result of a ''later'' scribal error. Thus it is unlikely that Tiglath-Pileser's scribes would have used this name to refer to Uzziah.}} Additionally, a [[Uzziah#"Uzziah Tablet" funerary inscription|tombstone]] dated to the [[Second Temple Period]] claiming to mark the grave (or, reburial) site of Uzziah, was discovered in a convent on the [[Mount of Olives]] in 1931, but there is no way of determining if the remains were genuinely Uzziah's as the stone had to have been carved more than 700 years after Uzziah died and was originally interred, and the tablet's provenance remains a mystery. A controversial artefact called the [[Jehoash Tablet]] recalls deeds performed by [[Jehoash of Judah]], who reigned about 44 years before Uzziah; however, scholars are tensely divided on whether or not the inscription is genuine. After Uzziah, each successive king of Judah is attested to in some form, with the exception of [[Amon of Judah]]: [[Jotham]], Uzziah's successor, is named on the seals of his own son and successor, [[Ahaz]],<ref>Deutsch, Robert. "[http://www.archaeological-center.com/en/monographs/m1/ First Impression: What We Learn from King Ahaz's Seal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904042404/http://www.archaeological-center.com/en/monographs/m1 |date=4 September 2018 }}". ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', July 1998, pp. 54–56, 62</ref> who ruled from 732 to 716 BCE. [[Hezekiah]], Ahaz's son, is attested to by numerous royal seals<ref>{{cite web|title=Biblical King's seal discovered in dump site|author=Heilpern, Will|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/03/middleeast/king-hezekiah-royal-seal/|publisher=CNN|date=December 4, 2015|access-date=2016-05-03}}</ref><ref>Cross, Frank Moore (March–April 1999). "[http://members.bib-arch.org/search.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=25&Issue=2&ArticleID=3&UserID=0& King Hezekiah's Seal Bears Phoenician Imagery]". ''Biblical Archaeology Review''.</ref> and [[Sennacherib's Annals]];<ref>Oppenheim, A. L. in [[#CITEREFAnet|Pritchard 1969]], pp. 287–288</ref> [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]] is recorded giving tribute to [[Esarhaddon]];<ref>Oppenheim, A. L. in [[#CITEREFAnet|Pritchard 1969]], p. 291</ref> [[Josiah]] has no relics explicitly naming him; however, seals belonging to his son Eliashib<ref>Albright, W. F. in [[#CITEREFAnet|Pritchard 1969]], p. 569</ref> and officials [[Nathan-melech]]<ref>Weiss, Bari.[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/opinion/sunday/bible-josiah-david-seal.html The Story Behind a 2,600-Year-Old Seal]
Who was Natan-Melech, the king's servant? New York Times. March 30, 2019</ref><ref>[https://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/2600-year-old-seal-discovered-in-City-of-David-585321 2,600-year old seal discovered in City of David]. Jerusalem Post. April 1, 2019</ref> and [[Asaiah]]<ref>Heltzer, Michael, ''THE SEAL OF ˓AŚAYĀHŪ''. In [[#CITEREFHallo|Hallo, 2000]], Vol. II p. 204</ref> have been discovered; and the kings [[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz II]], [[Jehoiakim]], and [[Zedekiah]] are never explicitly named in historical records but are instead alluded to; however, [[Jeconiah]] is mentioned by name in [[Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets|Babylonian documents]] detailing the rations he and his sons were given while held prisoner during the [[Babylonian captivity]].<ref>James B. Pritchard, ed., ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969) 308.</ref>

The origins of the dynasty, on the other hand, are shrouded in mystery. The Tel Dan Stele, as aforementioned, remains the only mention of David himself outside the Bible, and the historical reliability of the United Monarchy of Israel is archaeologically weak. The [[Stepped Stone Structure]] and [[Large Stone Structure]] in [[Jerusalem]], assuming [[Eilat Mazar]]'s contested stratigraphic dating of the structures to the Iron Age I is accurate, show that Jerusalem was at least somewhat populated in King David's time, and lends some credence to the biblical claim that Jerusalem was originally a Canaanite fortress; however, Jerusalem seems to have been barely developed until long after David's death,<ref name="mazar" /> bringing into question the possibility that it could have been the imperial capital described in the Bible. In David's time, the capital probably served as little more than a formidable citadel, and the Davidic "kingdom" was most likely closer to a loosely-confederated regional polity,<ref name="mazar">{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/2503754 |title=Archaeology and the Biblical Narrative: The Case of the United Monarchy |pages=29–58|journal=One God – One Cult – One Nation. Archaeological and Biblical Perspectives, Edited by Reinhard G. Kratz and Hermann Spieckermann in Collaboration with Björn Corzilius and Tanja Pilger, (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 405)|location=Berlin/ New York |first=Amihai |last=Mazar |access-date=12 October 2018}}</ref> albeit a relatively substantial one. On the other hand, excavations at [[Khirbet Qeiyafa]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Garfinkel |first1=Yossi |last2=Ganor |first2=Sa'ar |last3=Hasel |first3=Michael |title=Journal 124: Khirbat Qeiyafa preliminary report |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1989 |website=Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |access-date=12 June 2018 |ref=garfinkel2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623021750/http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1989 |archive-date=23 June 2012 |date=19 April 2012}}</ref> and [[Eglon (Canaan)|Eglon]],<ref>{{cite news |title= Proof of King David? Not yet. But riveting site shores up roots of Israelite era |url= https://www.timesofisrael.com/proof-of-king-david-not-yet-but-riveting-site-shores-up-roots-of-israelite-era/ |access-date=24 October 2019 |newspaper= Times of Israel |date=14 May 2018}}</ref> as well as structures from [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], [[Gezer]], [[Tel Megiddo|Megiddo]] and other sites conventionally dated to the 10th century BCE, are interpreted by many scholars to show that Judah was capable of accommodating large-scale urban societies centuries before minimalist scholars claim,<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Old Testament in Archaeology and History |last=Halpern |first=Baruch |publisher=Baylor University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4813-0743-7 |pages=337–62 |editor-last=Ebeling |editor-first=Jennie R. |chapter=The United Monarchy: David between Saul and Solomon |editor-last2=Wright |editor-first2=J. Edward |editor-last3=Elliott |editor-first3=Mark Adam |editor-last4=Flesher |editor-first4=Paul V. McCracken}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Biblical World |last=Johnson |first=Benjamin J. M. |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-317-39255-2 |edition=2nd |pages=498–519 |editor-last=Dell |editor-first=Katharine J. |chapter=Israel at the time of the united monarchy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Solomon, Scripture, and Science: The Rise of the Judahite State in the 10th Century BCE |journal=Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology |url=https://jjar.huji.ac.il/publications/solomon-scripture-and-science-rise-judahite-state-10th-century-bce |volume=1 |pages=102–125 |last=Dever |first=William G. |year=2021 |doi=10.52486/01.00001.4|doi-access=free }}</ref> and some have taken the physical archaeology of tenth-century [[Canaan]] as consistent with the former existence of a unified state on its territory,<ref>{{cite book |last= Kitchen |first= Kenneth |title= On the Reliability of the Old Testament |year=2003 |publisher= William B. Eerdmans |location= Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=978-0-80280-396-2 |page=158 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Kw6U05qBiXcC&pg=PA158 }}</ref> as archaeological findings demonstrate substantial development and growth at several sites, plausibly related to the tenth century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kuhrt|first=Amélie|author-link=Amélie Kuhrt|title=The Ancient Near East, c. 3000-330 BC, Band 1|year=1995|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-41516-762-8|page=438|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_sfMzRPTgoC&q=Kuhrt%2C+Amiele+%281995%29.+The+Ancient+Near+East.}}</ref> Even so, as for David and his immediate descendants themselves, the position of some scholars, as described by [[Israel Finkelstein]] and [[Neil Asher Silberman|Neil Silberman]], authors of ''[[The Bible Unearthed]]'', espouses that David and Solomon may well be based on "certain historical kernels", and probably did exist in their own right, but their historical counterparts simply could not have ruled over a wealthy lavish empire as described in the Bible, and were more likely chieftains of a comparatively modest Israelite society in Judah and not regents over a kingdom proper.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Israel |last1=Finkelstein |author1-link=Israel Finkelstein |first2=Neil Asher |last2=Silberman |author2-link=Neil Asher Silberman |title=David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition |publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7432-4362-9 |author-mask=3 |url=https://archive.org/details/davidsolomoninse00fink}} p. 20</ref>