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Omri
Illustration created for this project.

Related reading

A History of Israel Kings & history A History of Israel John Bright Open ↗ The IVP Atlas of Bible History Bible atlas The IVP Atlas of Bible History Paul Lawrence Open ↗ The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament Whole-Bible overview The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament John H. Walton Open ↗

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Omri

A powerful king of the northern kingdom who founded Samaria as his capital; father of Ahab.

Role: King of Israel
Lived: c. 905 BC – c. 874 BC
Belonged to: Kings of Israel
Born: Samaria

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1 Archaeology — physical evidence · 1
Life, role & deeds
BibleA powerful king of the northern kingdom who bought the hill of Samaria and made it his capital.
1 Kings 16:24
↳ Samaria
Mesha (Moabite) Stele, Louvre AO 5066, discovered 1868 at Dhiban (Dibon) by F. A. Klein, naming Omri king of Israel; Assyrian designation 'Bit-Humri' (House of Omri) in the royal inscriptions of Shalmaneser III and later Neo-Assyrian kings. Mbzt — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) ArchaeologyThe Moabite (Mesha) Stele names Omri king of Israel, and for a century afterwards the Assyrians called Israel 'the house of Omri' (Bit-Humri).
Mesha (Moabite) Stele, Louvre AO 5066, discovered 1868 at Dhiban (Dibon) by F. A. Klein, naming Omri king of Israel; Assyrian designation 'Bit-Humri' (House of Omri) in the royal inscriptions of Shalmaneser III and later Neo-Assyrian kings.

Where in scripture

1 Kings
1 Kings 16:23

Family

OmriAhab

Places in their life

Samaria
Born · Samaria
Photo: Daniel Ventura — CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

In art