Ben-Hadad I
Ben-Hadad I, son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, was king of Aram-Damascus between 885 BC and 865 BC. A figure known only from the Old Testament, Ben-Hadad I was reportedly a contemporary of king Baasha and Ahab of the Kingdom of Israel and Asa of the Kingdom of Judah.
According to the biblical book of Kings, Asa called on Ben-Hadad I to aid him in attacking northern Israel while Baasha restricted access to Jerusalem through border fortifications. Ben-Hadad took the towns of "Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali". This acquisition gave Aram-Damascus control of the trade route to southern Phoenicia. By the time of the reign of Ahab, the area was back in Israelite hands.
