AHAB, king of Israel, was the son and successor of Omri. He ascended the throne in the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah, i.e., 918 b.c., and reigned over Samaria 22 years. Having married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, he was brought into closer connec tion with the neighbouring powers in the north, and strengthened himself considerably, so that he was able to consolidate the disunited kingdom, and render it powerful against Judah. Some notices out of Menander, preserved by Josephus, lead to the conclusion that Ethbaal, father of Jezebel, was identical with Ithobal, priest of Astarte, who usurped the throne of Tyre after murdering Pheles the king. It is not improbable that Ahab’s marriage with such a princess was the means of procuring him great riches, which brought pomp and luxury in their train, along with the material and social influence that give a certain security to monarchy. We read of his building an ivory palace and founding new cities, the effect perhaps of a share in the flourishing commerce of Phoenicia. But his matrimonial connection with Tyre and Sidon, however fruitful in wealth, was in many respects detrimental. His wife was a strong-minded, passionate devotee of idolatry, who exercised an injurious influence over him. Led by her, he gave a great impulse to the worship of Baal and Astarte in his kingdom. For the former he built a temple with an altar ; of the latter he made the well-known image which existed long after. Under the patronage of Jezebel, the Phoenician cultus assumed important dimensions, for Baal is said to have had 450, Astarte 400 priests and prophets. The infatuated queen was especially hostile to the prophets and priests of Jehovah, whom she tried to exterminate; but the former in particular, though sore ...

the son and successor of Omri. He began his reign over Israel, A. M. 3086, and reigned 22 years. In impiety he far exceeded all the kings of Israel. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon, who introduced the whole abominations and idols of her country, Baal and Ashtaroth.

AHAB the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, were two false prophets, who, about A. M. 3406, seduced the Jewish captives at Babylon with hopes of a speedy deliverance, and stirred them up against Jeremiah. The Lord threatened them with a public and ignominious death, before such as they had deceived; and that their names should become a curse; men wishing that their foes might be made like Ahab and Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon roasted in the fire, Jer. xxix, 21, 22.

AHALA, a noble Roman family of the gens Servilia, which produced many distinguished men. Of these the most celebrated is C. Servilius Structus Ahala, master of the horse to the dictator Cincinnatus, b.c. 439. He signalised himself by his boldness in slaying in the forum with his own hand the popular agitator Sp. Maelius, for refusing to appear before the dictator on a charge of conspiracy against the state. For this act Ahala was brought to trial. He saved himself from condemnation by retiring into exile.

AHANTA, a territory on the Gold Coast of Africa, lying on the second parallel of W long. It is one of the richest and most fertile districts in that part of the continent. Axim, the chief settlement, was founded by the Dutch, but now belongs to Britain.

AHASUERUS, the Latinised form of the Hebrew Ahashνerοsh, אחשורוש (in the LXX. ’A σσo ύηρ oς , once in Tobit ’A σύηρ o ς ), occurs as a royal Persian or Median name in three of the books of the canonical Scriptures, and in one of the books of the Apocrypha. In every case the identification of the person thus named with those found in profane history is matter of controversy. The hypothesis of Fürst and others, that in all the passages one and the same person is meant, viz., the well-known Xerxes, may be set aside as quite inapplicable to the facts; and it becomes necessary to glance at the particular places.

In Dan. ix. 1, Ahasuerus appears as the father of Darius the Mede, who “was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans" after the conquest of Babylon and death of Belshazzar. Who this Darius was is one of the most difficult and disputed questions of ancient history. If, as is very generally supposed, he is Astyages, the grandfather of the great Cyrus, and the last independent king of Media, then Ahasuerus is to be identified with Cyaxares, the father of Astyages. The passage in Tobit where the name occurs (xiv. 15) lends confirmation to this view. It is there stated that Nineveh was captured and destroyed by “Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus.” According to Herodotus (i. 106 cf. Rawlinson’s Her., vol. i. 412), it was the Medes under Cyaxares who took Nineveh....

was the king of Persia, who advanced Esther to be queen, and at her request delivered the Jews from the destruction plotted for them by Haman. Archbishop Usher is of opinion that this Ahasuerus was Darius Hystaspes; and that Atossa was the Vashti, and Artystona the Esther, of the Scriptures. But, according to Herodotus, the latter was the daughter of Cyrus, and therefore could not be Esther; and the former had four sons by Darius, besides daughters, born to him after he was king; and therefore she could not be the queen Vashti, divorced from her husband in the third year of his reign, nor he the Ahasuerus who divorced her. Besides, Atossa retained her influence over Darius to his death, and obtained the succession of the crown for his son, Xerxes; whereas Vashti was removed from the presence of Ahasuerus by an irrevocable decree, Esther i, 19. Joseph Scaliger maintains that Xerxes was the Ahasuerus, and Hamestris his queen, the Esther, of Scripture. The opinion is founded on the similitude of names, but contradicted by the dissimilitude of the characters of Hamestris and Esther. Besides, Herodotus says that Xerxes had a son by Hamestris that was marriageable in the seventh year of his reign; and therefore she could not be Esther. The Ahasuerus of Scripture, according to Dr. Prideaux, was Artaxerxes Longimanus. Josephus positively says that this was the person. The Septuagint, through the whole book of Esther, uses Artaxerxes for the Hebrew Ahasuerus wherever the appellation occurs; and the apocryphal additions to that book every where call the husband of Esther Artaxerxes; and he could be no other than Artaxerxes Longimanus. The extraordinary favour shown to the Jews by this king, first in sending Ezra, and afterward Nehemiah, to relieve this people, and restore them to ...

The name of a river of Babylonia, or rather of Assyria, where Ezra assembled those captives whom he afterward brought into Judea, Ezra viii, 15. The river Ahava is thought to be that which ran along the Adabene, where a river Diava, or Adiava, is mentioned, and on which Ptolemy places the city Abane or Aavane. This is probably the country called Ava, whence the kings of Assyria translated the people called Avites into Palestine, and where they settled some of the captive Israelites, 2 Kings xvii, 24; xviii, 34; xix, 13; xvii, 31. Ezra, intending to collect as many Israelites as he could, who might return to Judea, halted in the country of Ava, or Aahava, whence he sent agents into the Caspian mountains, to invite such Jews as were willing to join him, Ezra viii, 16. The history of Izates, king of the Adiabenians, and of his mother Helena, who became converts to Judaism some years after the death of Jesus Christ, sufficiently proves that there were many Jews still settled in that country.

AHAZ (literally Possessor), son of Jotham, and the eleventh king of Judah, reigned 16 years, from 741 to 725 b.c. He was the most weak-minded and corrupt of all the kings that had hitherto reigned over Judah. About the time of his accession, Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Syria, had formed an alliance with the view of acquiring the kingdom of Judah by conquest. They invaded the country, laid siege to Jerusalem, and carried away an immense number of captives, though they failed to secure their ultimate object. At the same time incursions were made by the Edomites and Philistines, and Ahaz was fain to call in the aid of Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, who destroyed the power of Syria, but took care to exact heavy tribute for the service thus rendered. Ahaz was even compelled to appear as a vassal at Damascus, and so to bring his kingdom to the lowest point of political degradation. In religion Ahaz was a heathen. He broke in pieces the vessels of the temple of God, and at last ventured to close its gates altogether. He sacrificed to Syrian deities, erected altars on which incense was to be offered, and caused his son to pass through the fire to Moloch. He was succeeded by his son Hezekiah. In the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser II., king of Assyria, Yahu-khazi Jahudai, that is, Joahaz or Ahaz of Israel, appears among the names of those who acknowledged his sovereignty and paid tribute. (Schrader’s Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament.)

succeeded his father Jotham, as king of Israel, at the age of twenty years, reigned till the year before Christ, 726, and addicted himself to the practice of idolatry. After the customs of the Heathen, he made his children to pass through fire; he shut up the temple, and destroyed its vessels. He became tributary to Tiglath-pileser, whose assistance he supplicated against the kings of Syria and Israel. Such was his impiety, that he was not allowed burial in the sepulchres of the kings of Israel, 2 Kings xvi; 2 Chron. xxviii.

AHAZIAH (lit. Whom the Lord sustains), son and successor of Ahab, and eighth king of Israel, reigned scarcely two years, from 897 to 896 b.c. He continued in the idolatrous practices of his father, worshipping Baal and Astarte. Upon his accession the Moabites revolted, and refused any longer to pay the tribute which had been exacted from them since the establishment of Israel as a separate kingdom. Before Ahaziah could take measures to subdue them, he was seriously injured by a fall from the lattice of an upper chamber in his palace. He immediately sent messengers to the oracle of the god Baalzebub at Ekron to inquire the issue of his illness. While on their way they were met by Elijah the prophet, who bade them return and tell the king that he would surely die.

AHAZIAH, son of Jehoram and Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, and sixth king of Judah, reigned one year, 885 b.c. Under the evil influence of his mother, he walked in the ways of Ahab’s house, and was an idolatrous and wicked king. He was slain by Jehu, the son of Nimshi.

the son of Ahab, king of Israel. Ahaziah reigned two years, partly alone, and partly with his father Ahab, who appointed him his associate in the kingdom a year before his death. Ahaziah imitated his father’s impieties, 1 Kings xxii, 52, &c, and paid his adorations to Baal and Ashtaroth, the worship of whom had been introduced into Israel by Jezebel his mother. The Moabites, who had been always obedient to the kings of the ten tribes, ever since their separation from the kingdom of Judah, revolted after the death of Ahab, and refused to pay the ordinary tribute. Ahaziah had not leisure or power to reduce them, 2 Kings i, 1, 2, &c, for, about the same time, having fallen through a lattice from the top of his house, he was considerably injured, and sent messengers to Ekron to consult Baalzebub, the god of that place, whether he should recover, 2 Kings i, 1–17. Elijah met the messengers, and informed them he should certainly die; and he died accordingly....

AHENOBARBUS, the name of a plebeian Roman family of the gens Domitia, which rose in the course of time to considerable distinction. The name was derived from the red beard and hair by which many of the family were distinguished. The emperor Nero was of this family.

the prophet of the Lord, who dwelt in Shiloh. He is thought to be the person who spoke twice to Solomon from God, once while he was building the temple, 1 Kings vi, 11, at which time he promised him the divine protection; and again, 1 Kings xi, 11, after his falling into his irregularities, with great threatenings and reproaches. Ahijah was one of those who wrote the history or annals of this prince, 2 Chron. ix, 29. The same prophet declared to Jeroboam, that he would usurp the kingdom, 1 Kings xi, 29, &c; and, about the end of Jeroboam’s reign, he also predicted the death of Abijah, the only pious son of that prince, as is recorded 1 Kings xiv, 2, &c. Ahijah, in all probability, did not long survive the delivery of this last prophecy; but we are not informed of the time and manner of his death.

the son of Shaphan, and father of Gedaliah. He was sent by Josiah, king of Judah, to Huldah the prophetess, 2 Kings xxii, 12, to consult her concerning the book of the law, which had been found in the temple.