War with Iran?

[GMDino]

(06-17-2019, 04:57 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: That was back when Ahab was in God's good graces, before Jezebel. Funny, I was just thinking about old Ahab earlier today.

Ahab was actually a very capable leader. He defeated the Syrians (a.k.a. Aram) led by Ben Haddad in the battle just after this section. But Israel and the Syrians had bigger problems. The Assyrians in Turkey were rising again and on the warpath. And they had a much bigger army. Ahab then did something you don't hear very much about: he went to the Syrians and other small kingdoms in the area and put together an 11-nation (including Phoenicians, Arabs, etc.) coalition to oppose the Assyrians. It was probably the first multi-national coalition. The army was jointly led by Ahab and Ben Haddad and they met the Assyrians at the Battle of Qarqar. This is all documented on the Kurkh Monolith at Tell Qarqar built by the Assyrians later. The battle was the largest battle up to that time. Israel alone produced a massive corp of 2,000 chariots.

The results are debatable. The Assyrians under Shalmaneser III claimed victory. But they ALWAYS claimed victory. What appears to have happened is that the Assyrians held the field, but also lost so many troops that their campaign into Syria and Israel was delayed for years. When they came back, however, the former coalition had fallen apart.

So this was all before he went after the white whale?