Samaria and Judah in an Early 8th-Century Assyrian Wine List

Abstract

A Judahite envoy is probably mentioned alongside an Israelite envoy in one of the Wine Lists from Nimrud (Calah) dated to the 780s BCE—that is, the time of Jeroboam II. This reference antedates by about 50 years the earliest available mention of Judah in extra-biblical sources. In light of the enmity between Israel and Judah during the time of Joash and Amaziah, the article examines the significance of the new evidence for evaluating the relations of the two kingdoms at the time of Jeroboam II (786–746 BCE) and Uzziah (788–737 BCE).