Athaliah

Athaliah (

Accounts of Athaliah’s life are found in

After Jehoram's death, Ahaziah became king of Judah, and Athaliah became the queen mother, or gebirah. One year after taking the throne (2 Kings 8:26), Ahaziah and Jordan of Israel were killed by Jehu, a general in Joram’s army. Afterwards, Jehu killed Jezebel and the rest of Athaliah’s extended family. Ahab was already killed in battle before Jehu’s massacre.

Upon hearing Ahaziah’s death, Athaliah seized the throne of Judah and killed all possible claimants to the throne,^[6][7] which included Ahaziah's sons and his relatives^[8] and, possibly, Jehoram's children from his other wife.^[9] Some believe that the killings were to prevent David's descendants from outliving Athaliah's kin, most of whom were already killed by Jehu. Others believe that they were divine judgment against Jehoshaphat's decision to marry his son to Athaliah. ^[9]

However, Jehosheba, Ahaziah's sister, managed to rescue an infant from the purge: Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah and his wife, Zibiah. Jehoash was raised in secret by Jehosheba's husband, a priest named Jehoiada.

As "usurper queen",^[10] Athaliah used her power to establish the Baalist cult in Judah. Six years later, Athaliah was surprised when Jehoiada crowned Jehoash as king in Solomon's Temple. She rushed to stop the rebellion but, under Jehoiada’s orders, was killed by the captains outside the Temple, since her blood “would defile it”.^[11][12][13]

Dating of reigns

William F. Albright has dated her reign to 842–837 BCE, while Edwin R. Thiele in the third edition of his magnum opus dates her reign from 842/841 to 836/835 BCE.^[14]: 104 However, a starting date of 842/841 for Athaliah is one year before the date of 841/840 that Thiele gave for the death of her son, Ahaziah,^[14]: 101 a conflict which Thiele never resolved.

In literature

Athaliah is discussed in Boccaccio's De Mulieribus Claris ("On Famous Women"), as well as The Book of the City of Ladies, by Christine de Pizan.

In 1691, French tragedian Jean Racine wrote a play about this biblical queen, entitled Athalie. The German composer Felix Mendelssohn, among others, wrote incidental music (his op. 74) to Racine's play, first performed in Berlin in 1845. One of the most frequently heard excerpts from the Mendelssohn music is titled "War March of the Priests" ("Kriegsmarsch der Priester").^[15]

In 1733, the musician and composer