Hamath: Fortress, the capital of one of the kingdoms of Upper Syria of the
same name, on the Orontes, in the valley of Lebanon, at the northern
boundary of Palestine
(Numbers 13:21; 34:8) at the foot of Hermon
(Joshua 13:5)
towards Damascus
(Zechariah 9:2; Jeremiah 49:23) It is called "Hamath the great"
in
(Amos 6:2) and "Hamath-zobah" in
(2 Chronicles 8:3) Hamath, now Hamah, had an
Aramaean population, but Hittite monuments discovered there show that
it must have been at one time occupied by the Hittites. It was among
the conquests of the Pharaoh Thothmes III. Its king, Tou or Toi, made
alliance with David
(2 Samuel 8:10) and in B.C. 740 Azariah formed a
league with it against Assyria. It was, however, conquered by the
Assyrians, and its nineteen districts placed under Assyrian
governors. In B.C. 720 it revolted under a certain Yahu-bihdi, whose
name, compounded with that of the God of Israel (Yahu), perhaps shows
that he was of Jewish origin. But the revolt was suppressed, and the
people of Hamath were transported to Samaria
(2 Kings 17:24,30) where
they continued to worship their god Ashima. Hamah is beautifully
situated on the Orontes, 32 miles north of Emesa, and 36 south of the
ruins of Assamea. The kingdom of Hamath comprehended the great plain
lying on both banks of the Orontes from the fountain near Riblah to
Assamea on the north, and from Lebanon on the west to the desert on
the east. The "entrance of Hamath"
(Numbers 34:8) which was the north
boundary of Palestine, led from the west between the north end of
Lebanon and the Nusairiyeh mountains.
