Hamath

A city and district located about 201 kilometers (125 miles) north of Damascus, in what is now Syria. It was located on the Orontes River.

At first, the people of Hamath came from the family of Canaan (Genesis 10:18). Later, people from the Semitic peoples (a group that includes Israelites, Arameans, and others) lived there. The Bible sometimes calls the area "the entrance of Hamath"(Numbers 34:7–8; Joshua 13:5). This area marked the northern border of the land promised to Israel. Israel controlled this land during the early kindom of Israel and again during the reign of Jeroboam II, from 793 to 753 BC.

The exact location of the place called "Lebo-hamath" (which means "entrance of Hamath") is not certain. Some scholars think it was a town called Lebweh on the Orontes River, between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains. Others think it was located somewhere else in Syria.

Hamath was first settled during the Neolithic period (the late Stone Age). Around 1750 BC, the city was destroyed (possibly by a group called the Hyksos). Later, the city was rebuilt. The Egyptian king Thutmose III (who ruled from 1502–1448 BC) took control of it. While Egypt ruled this part of Syria, Hamath became a successful city. Before 900 BC, Hamath became the capital of a small Hittite kingdom. People have found Hittite writings (called inscriptions) that tell about this time.

Hamath in the Bible

David fought Hadadezer, King of Zobah, and defeated him. Then Toi, King of Hamath, sent his son to congratulate David (2 Samuel 8:9–10). Solomon built store-cities in the region of Hamath (2 Chronicles 8:4). This may mean that Hamath became a kingdom that paid tribute (a regular gift of goods or money) to Israel.

During the time of King Ahab of Israel, the king of Hamath was named Irhulini. He joined with kings from Damascus, Israel, and 12 other cities to fight against Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria (who ruled from 860 to 825 BC). They stopped him for a time. But around 846 BC, Shalmaneser defeated them, and Hamath came under Assyrian rule.

In 730 BC, Eni-Ilus, the king of Hamath, paid tribute to another Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser III. About 10 years later, in 720 BC, the Assyrian king Sargon II forced 4,300 Assyrians to live in Hamath. He also moved many people from Hamath and other places to Samaria (2 Kings 17:24). Some people from Israel may also have been sent to live in Hamath (Isaiah 11:11). Other Old Testament verses that mention Assyria’s control of Hamath include 2 Kings 18:34, 19:13, Isaiah 10:9, 36:19, 37:13, and Amos 6:2.

Later, Hamath seems to have come under the control of Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23). Some of the prophets predicted that Israel would one day extend its boundaries once again to Hamath (Ezekiel 47:16–17; 48:1; Zechariah 9:2).

During the time of the Maccabees, Jonathan Maccabeus and his army met the army of King Demetrius at Hamath (1 Maccabees 12:25). According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Antiochus Epiphanes changed the cities name to Epiphania (Antiquities 1.4.2). This was the name used by the Greeks and Romans.

Hamath-zobah is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 8:3 as a town that Solomon conquered. Some people think it was the same city as Hamath. Others think it was a different town in the area of Zobah.