THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
of Jehoshaphat of Judah, whose son may have married Ahab's daughter at this time. The battle was lost and Ahab was mortally wounded.
Ahab's reign is of great importance in the religious development of Israel, and is marked by a bitter contest between the throne and the prophets. That Ahab had no intention of apostatizing from Yahweh, the god of his people, is shown by the names he gave his children; but to rule righteously, according to the conception of the prophets, did not suit his policy. He tolerated the calfworship instituted by Jeroboam (I Kings xii. 26- 33), and, influenced by his Phenician wife, introduced into Samaria the worship of the Syrian Baal (Melkarth), for whom he built in his capital a great temple with all the necessary paraphernalia. No doubt certain circles in Israel were shocked by this heathen worship; but the great majority saw in it no inconsistency with the Mosaic religion. It fell to Elijah to rebuke the people for " halting between two opinions "; but his voice, like that of other prophets who protested, had little effect. Jezebel tried to silence them by bloody persecutions; and Elijah complained that he was the only prophet of Yahweh left. It must not be imagined, however, that all so-called prophets of Yahveh had been killed; for Ahab, who still regarded himself as a worshiper of Yahweh, would hardly have permitted such an act. Those who did not oppose the worship of Baal were doubtless left alone; but in the eyes of Elijah they were not much better than the prophets of Baal. After the event on Mount Carmel (I Kings xviii.) Jezebel saw the futility of trying to suppress the opposition to the worship of Baal, and the prophets who had kept in hiding could come and go freely. Ahab and his wife were also denounced by Elijah for the crime committed against Naboth and his family, which led to signs of contrition on the king's part and to a postponement to his son's days of the threatened retribution (I Kings xxi.; cf. II Kings ix. 21-26). Ahab's character and achievements are differently estimated. He was undoubtedly an able man, and desired to promote the welfare of his people; he was a brave warrior, and died manfully. But in the estimation of many these virtues are outweighed by his weakness toward Jezebel, his short-sighted optimism after the victory at Aphek, and his lack of deep religious conviction and earnestness. (W Lotz.)
Bibliography: On the chronology: A. Kamphausen, Chronologie der hebr&ischen Konige, Bonn, 1883; Chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah compared with the Monuments, in Church Quarterly Review, Jan., 1886; E. Mahler, Biblische Chronologie und Zeitrechnung der Hebraer, Vienna, 1887; DB, i. 397-403; EB, i. 773-819; and sections on chronology in the following named works. On the history: H. Ewald, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 7 vols., Gottingen, 1864-68 (Eng. transl., 8 vols., London, 1867-83); M. Duncker, Geschichte des Alterthums, ii., Leips.c, 1878; B. Stade, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 2 vols., Berlin, 1884-89; E. Renan, Histoire du peuple Israel, 5 vols., Paris, 1887-94, Eng. transl., London, 1888-91; R. Kittel, Geschichte der Hebraer, 2 vols., Gotha, 1888- 92, Eng. transl., 2 vols., London, 1895-96; H. Graetz.Geschichte der Juden, 11 vols., Leipsic, 1888-1900, Eng. transl., 6vols., London, 1891; G. Rawlinson, K ings of IsraelandJudah, London, 1889; Smith, OTJC; idem, Prophets; H.Winckler, Geschichte Israels, 2 vols., Leipsic, 1895-1900; C. F. Kent, History of the Hebrew People, 2 vols.. New York, 1896-97;
idem, Students' Old Testament, ii., ib. 1904; J. Wellhausen, Israelitische und jildische Geschichte, Berlin, 1897; idem, Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels, Berlin, 1899 (in Eng., Prolegomena to the History of Israel, -with a reprint of the article ' Israel ' from the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," Edinburgh, 1885); C. H. Cornill, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, Leipsic, 1898, Eng. transl., Chicago, 1898; DB, ii. 506-518; EB, ii. 2217-89; H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, New York, 1903. Further material is to be found in the commentaries on the Books of Kings and Chronicles. On indications from the monuments: Schrader, KB, 6 vols., Berlin, 1889-1901; idem, KAT, 3d ed., by H. Zimmern and H. Winckler, 2 vols., Berlin, 1903, Eng. transl. of 1st ed., London, 1885-88; H. Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, i.-vi., Leipsic, 1893-97 (new series, 3 vols., 1898-1901; 3d series, 2 vols., 1901-05); A. H. Sayce, ' Higher Criticism ' and the Monuments, London, 1894; J. F. McCurdy, History, Prophecy and the Monuments, 2 vols., New York, 1894-1901; W. St. C. Boscawen, The Bible and the Monuments, London, 1895; S. R. Driver, in D. G. Hogarth, Authority and Archceology, London, 1899.
AHASUERUS, a-haz'yu-i'ros: A name given in the Old Testament to two kings. 1. The father of Darius the Mede (Dan. ix. 1). Since Darius is mentioned before Cyrus, he can be no other than Astyages, and Ahasuerus would then be Cyaxares. Phonetically the name is just as little connected as Cyaxares with the name which that king has in the Persian cuneiform inscriptions, and which must probably be read Huvakhshtra. It is also often found that the Median and Persian kings are differently named in the sources, a difference which is to be explained by the fact that after their accession to the throne they took new names. In Tob. xiv. 15 " Asueros " is Astyages, since he is mentioned as the conqueror of Nineveh beside Nebuchadnezzar.
2. A king mentioned in the book of Esther, the Khshayarsha of the Persian inscriptions and the Xerxes of the Greeks, who ruled from 485 to 465 B.C., and was the son of Darius Hystaspes. This is indicated by the identity of the name and the agreement in character as that is given by Herodotus. With this agrees also the mention of Shushan (Susa) as his residence, and the statement in Esther i. that the kingdom extended from India to Ethiopia — a statement which is confirmed by the enumeration of the provinces of the Persian empire in the epitaph of Darius at Nakshi Rustem, which, however, would not suit the time before Darius. With Xerxes, not with Cambyses, the Ahasuerus of Ezra iv. 6 is no doubt identical, to whom the Samaritans presented a bill of indictment against the exiles who returned to Jerusalem.
(B. Lindner.)
Bibliography: T. Benfey, Die persischen Keilinschriften, Leipsic, 1847; F. Spiegel, Eranische Alterthumskunde, 3 vols., ib. 1871-78; Schrader, KAT; A. H. Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments, pp. 543 sqq., London, 1894; W. St. C. Boscawen, The Bible and the Monuments, ib. 1895.
AHAUS, a"hauz', HEINRICH VON (Hendrik van Ahuis) : Founder of the Brethren of the Common Life in Germany; b. in the principality of Ahaus, near Munster, 1370; d. in Miinster 1439. He was descended from a noble family whose ancestors dated back to the ninth century, and who took their name from their territories on the River Aa. In 1396 he took religious orders and, influenced by his aunt, formerly abbess of Vreden in