The Coups of Hazael and Jehu: Building an Historical Narrative

The Coups of Hazael and Jehu offers a narrative reconstruction of the events surrounding the rise of Hazael to the throne of Aram-Damascus and Jehu to the throne of Israel in the mid-eighth century. These near-simultaneous dynastic changes were parts of a major shift in the political, military, and economic structure of the Levant, which took place as the mighty armies of Assyria pushed into the region. The book argues that Jehu's bloody overthrow of Joram and Hazael's irregular seizure of power after the death of his predecessor were not independent events, but responses to the Assyrian threat.