The bīt X Formula in Assyrian Documentation and Aramaean Social Structure

This article analyzes the historical and social context of first-millennium Syrian or »Aramaean« polities as they are depicted in Assyrian documents of the Iron Age II, in order to apply these insights to the Tel Dan Stela and to the biblical »House of David (bêt Dāwîd).« It is difficult to analyze the potential early configuration of the House of David using the Bible alone, yet the bīt X (»House of X«) terminology is also applied with regularity to early first-millennium political groups in ancient Syria. The Assyrians utilize this terminology during their campaigns westward as a way of defining polities on the fringe of their control. The House of David is therefore not an isolated phenomenon, and it is this external evidence that provides some historical context for understanding the political development of the House of David.