Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim was the King of Judah from 608 to 598. He was first Known as Eliakim but pharaoh Necho II deposed his brother in throne, making Eliakim king in his place. He is known for being a ruthless and not faithful ruler, he is know for burning one of the scroll of prophecies of the prophet Jeremiah. acording to 2 Kings 23:35 Jehoiakim ruled originally as a vassal of the Egyptians, paying a heavy tribute. To raise the money he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments. However, after the defeat of the Egyptian empire by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. Jehoiakim swiftly changed factions to avoid being destroyed and deposed.to be able to be spared by the Babylonians he accepted to pay tribute and gave to the Babylonians some precious artifacts from the temple and handed over some members of the royal family as hostages.Jehoiakim served as a vassal for king Nebuchadnezzar II for three years until one of the campaigns of  Nebuchadnezzar II to conquer Egypt failed, making Jehoiakim optimistic to come back under the Egyptian rule and hoping for the defeat of Babylon. However,  Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege  over Jerusalem for three months. Jehoiakim died short before the siege ended, and it is know that his body was taken out and thrown outside the city walls. in conclusion Jehoakim was not a very good king and all the mistakes he made ended in the destruction of the city and the plunder of the temple.

Nebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar II is without a doubt one of the most famous and well known kings in the Old Testament. he is mentioned in the book of Daniel and he has direct interaction with Daniel -the main character of this book- Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem and alsohe had a special dream where he saw a gigantic image that was made of different materials (gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay). the prophet Daniel told him that the dream was just a prediction of what will happen to his kingdom. However, information about how Nebuchadnezzar II contributed to history is scarce and are limited to some research projects made by a short group of history scholars.

one thing that we can learn about Nebuchadnezzar II is that he was a king under the Neo-Babylonian empire he ruled from 605 BC – 562 BC and the construction of the hanging gardens of Babylon and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem are attributed to him. For that reason, Nebuchadnezzar II was a king that was focused in conquering and developing by constructing important landmarks.

Nebuchadnezzar II was know by conquering Jerusalem and destroying the temple. however this was not the only military campaign that he was involved on. Nebuchadnezzar II is widely known in the Neo-Babylonian history for developing huge campaigns all around the Levant region. Moreover, his hunger of contest made him to get into a campaign to invade Egypt. however, the rebellion in the Canaanite and Judah states made him to withdraw and focusing in stopping the rebellion by destroying Jerusalem and deposing king  Jehoiakim. after he took the control of the region again he focused on siege and taking control Tyre which was the border with Egypt. Unfortunately for Nebuchadnezzar II, the siege lasted for 13 years and ended with the submission of Tyre and accepting the authority of the Babylonians, but was late to continue the campaign to conquer Egypt.

the second thing that made Nebuchadnezzar II famous was that he developed great structures such as the Mede Wall, the Ishtar Gates and the hanging gardens of Babylon. when the father of Nebuchadnezzar II, Nabopolassar was in ruing Babylon he started to rebuilding the city and temples of the previous attacks of Sennacherib and Assurbanipal and some other local rebelions that left the city devastated. Nebuchadnezzar II had the idea to make Babylon one of the greatest wonders of the world. they did not spared in any resource, they used for construction cedar-wood, nor bronze, gold, silver, rare and precious stones. and for work force they brought to Babylon many captives from western Asia.

The Dreamer Pharaoh

The story contained in genesis 37-50 has a very rich depiction of how important and powerful the Egyptian civilization was. Furthermore, their importance in commerce with the Levant region. in this period of  the history a seventeen years old kid son of Jacob and Rachel, was thrown into an empty cistern by his 11 brothers and later sold to Egyptian merchants. this moment in history developed a great story that it is believed for many people as one of the greatest moments of the Old Testament. Joseph was the name of the one who faced the betrayal of his brothers and the uncertain future that he will face in Egypt.
we all are familiar with Joseph story and how he develop his career from being a servant to  become something like a prime minister for the Egyptian civilization. In the other hand,  we know so little about who the Pharaoh was, his name is not mentioned in Genesis, and he is always mentioned as Pharaoh. For that reason I turned to different researches and findings of archaeology scholars. Many modern-day scholars believe the historicity of the events in the Joseph narrative cannot be demonstrated. however, the event of the 7 years drought its something concrete that we can track back in time. David Rohl an English Archaeologist and Egyptologist has found evidence of a 7 years drought in a piece of rock named "the Famine Stela" this rock located on an island in the Nile shows that Egypt was affected by a severe drought that lasted for seven years. However, It is thought that the stela was inscribed during the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled 332–31 BC, which is long time after the events of the drought that affected Egypt and Canaan. Furthermore, recent researches have shown that the term 7 years famine is more a myth that a reality due to many civilizations around the Levant region also used the term 7 years famine. Such as the Mesopotamians, the Hebrews and the Egyptians.
Another theory who tries to link the biblical events with Egyptian history is the one by the French scientist Joseph Davidovits who says that Joseph might be Amenhotep-Huy, Vizier of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. this information even though is not conclusive can give us some insight of how Egypt was so important economically for Canaanites to went there and buy food from them.

Esau Father of Edom

Even thou Esau is never mentioned a s a king in the bible, he was indeed the father of the Edomite nation. The name Edom in Hebrew means "red" it is because Esau born red all over like if he were wearing a red garment. Additionally, Edom is not only mentioned in the bible but also in list of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I and in the battle chronicles of Ramses III. This nation was established at the south of the dead sea.

Esau selling his birthright to Jacob

As we all know Jacob bought the birthright of Esau for a bowl of lentil stew. which made that all the promises of Abraham where now in Jacob hands. Furthermore, Rebekah Instructed Jacob to take advantage of Issac blindness and wear a coat to emulate the hairy skin of his brother. after receiving the blessing of his father Esau was furious and vowed to kill Jacob. for that reason Jacob fled to dwell with his uncle Laban. after several years Esau and Jacob reunited again they reconciled and in cosequence conclude that bitter conflict.

Esau married to a Canaanite woman Named Judith and to Bashemath that was also Canaanite, this decision grieved his parents. for that reason he decides to go to his uncle Ismael house and marry one of his cousins Aholibamah. however, even those actions did not were able to make him the bearer of Abraham blessings.

Esau is know for being the Father of the Edomite nation. the information about the Edomites is scarce, but there are some information that mention that they were wealthy merchants who controlled the market between Egypt and the Levant, south Arabia and Mesopotamia. their economic abilities where exceptional. one reason could be that in the entire Edomite nation water and good land to settle crops were almost nonexistent. However, his location in the kings Highway made them extremely good for commerce.

Due to his richness the Edomites were also target of attacks and loots. in consequence the Edomites developed stronghold cities like the capital Sela, which was a city surrounded by mountains and accesible for only specific ways. the city was also know as "the rock". Moreover, Petra was a city within the Edomite nation but was developed about one thousand years later. but with the same pattern. a city with a narrow access and with big warehouses. that testify of the talent and skill of the Edomites.

Abimelech of Gerar

Abimelech is a King Mentioned in one of the three wife-sister narratives. as happened before in Egypt Abram faced the same trouble that when he moved to dwell in pharaohs land. in this case God came into Abimelech in a dream to warn him that Sarah was not Abram sister but his wife.

In this case it is hard to locate Abimelech in history due to his meeting with Abram and Issac respectively. Acording to the Haggadah an ancient Jewish text, mentions that the Abimelech of Abram and Isaac are diferent people, but both were kings of Gerar. in this case Abimelech more than a personal name was a title that means "My father is a King". if this information is right. then what was the name of this king?
an ancient correspondence letter known as the Amarna letters, gives us more information about Abimelech. first of all, this letters were made of clay and were used as diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian kingdom and they representatives in Canaan. Furthermore, this letters mention some correspondence between the pharaoh and a Egyptian governor known as Abimilku. this character is believe to be the biblical Abimelech.
in this case information of Abimilku can be traced on the Amarna letters where he appears to rule the city of Tyre and some other surrounding cities. His interaction with pharaoh started when Abimelech advised the pharaoh that the new political updates that he sent to Abimilku to apply on Tyre and surrounding cities have failed. Thus, creating a division of the interest of the cities that seemed  capable of start a war against the Egyptian dominion. for that reason  Abimelech updated Egypt of his condition and the needs of his city for fresh water and wood.
in conclusion Abimelech or Abimilku was a king that had a hard time dealing with political conflicts. the Bible show us just a little bit of information about who he was, but today with all the informative technology we can find more information about who we was and how he contributed in the history of the world.

The first biblical pharaoh

While I was reading Genesis 12 I realized that Abram also had met other kings. Moreover, he had one experience with the Egypt Pharaoh even before the he clashed Chedorlaomer and his army. This even is know as the first event in the wife-sister narratives. In this case Abram fled Canaan because of a severe famine that desolated Canaan, and consequently sojourn in the southwest country of Egypt. In this case Abram wife Sarai, was a beautiful woman. For that reason, Abram was worried of his security. It was common that in those days that if someone liked someones wife. he will kill the husband to take the wife for himself. Abram was aware of that practice and asked Sarai to say that she was his sister rather that his wife.

After they settle in Egypt, Egyptians started noticing the beauty of Sarai. Furthermore, the princes of pharaoh also knew of her and commented that before pharaoh. For that reason Abram and Sarai were invited to pharaoh's house, where pharaoh decided to take her for wife and reward Abram with cattle and servants. However, Yahweh did not approved such union and punished pharaoh by sending plagues over him and his house. According to the Jewish encyclopedia the punishment over the pharaohs house was to protect the covenant between Abram and Yahweh.

Information that lead to identify which Pharaoh was this is extremely scarce and almost nonexistent. There exist some theories that relate this Pharaoh with Khufu the pharaoh who ordered the construction of the pyramid of However, there are no one scientific proof that can validate that theory, for that reason it will be necessary to do more research in order to find out who this pharaoh was.

Tidal "King of Nations"

 Before the campaign against Sodom, Gomorrah and the other cities of the plains. The Elamite king Chedorlaomer allied with other three Mesopotamian kings Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal. However, the historic impact of this even has been somehow minimized. As a result of this event, it can be highlighted the advancements in social, politic, and military advancements. In this case, Tidal was a king who ruled Goyim. according to the Jewish Tradition the translation of Goyim is “king of nations”. Which means, that he probably ruled over several nomadic tribes. Unfortunately, information about Tidal is scarce. Nevertheless, Peake's Commentary on the bible, which is a one-volume commentary with special emphasis in archaeological evidence, gives some insight about who this king of nations was.

First of all, Tidal was one of the four kings that battled against the kingdoms Sodom, Gomorrah and the cities of the plain. according to Peake's, Tidal can be considered as the equivalent of Tudhaliya a Hittite King, contemporary to Hammurabi, in the 17^th century BC. The interesting fact about Tidal is that he was a Hittite king that expanded the Hittite empire to the land of Assuwa. Which is believed to be the origin of Asia. Furthermore, by defeating the Asuwwa league he was able to claim also the adjacent territories of Taruisa and Wilusiya. that are generally referred to the mythic city of Troy.

The Hittite empire originated approximately 2,000 years BC. with the migration of ancient Anatolian people who moved from the Armenian highlands to found the city of Hatussa which was the capital of their empire. However, the information about Tudhaliya is confusing the main reason is because there are three consecutive king Tudhaliya wich make hard to settle which one was the one who accompany Chedorlaomer into the battle of Siddim.

Despite the fact that information about Tidal is scarce. We can infer that he was also a mighty king that contributed to the ferocious expansion of the Hittite empire. Furthermore, it also reflects the political bilateral relations that existed between empires.