Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...

. Josiah is credited by most biblical scholars with having established or compiled important Hebrew scriptures during the "

Deuteronomic Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_t ...

reform" which probably occurred during his rule. Josiah became king of the

Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Ce ...

at the age of eight, after the assassination of his father, King

Amon Amon may refer to: Mythology * Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra * Aamon, a Goetic demon People Momonym * Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah Given name * Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American ...

. Josiah reigned for 31 years, from 641/640 to 610/609 BCE. Josiah is known only from biblical texts; no reference to him exists in other surviving texts of the period from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

, and no clear archaeological evidence, such as inscriptions bearing his name, has ever been found. Nevertheless, most scholars believe that he existed historically and that the absence of documents is due to few documents of any sort surviving from this period, and to Jerusalem having been occupied, conquered, and rebuilt over thousands of years.

Biblical narrative

The Bible describes him as a righteous king, a king who "walked in all the way of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left" (; ). He is also one of the kings mentioned in the

genealogy of Jesus The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but ...

in Matthew's gospel, one of the two divergent genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament (cf. Matthew 1:10– 11).

Family

According to the biblical narrative, Josiah was the son of King

and

Jedidah In the Hebrew Bible, Jedidah was the mother of Josiah, the King of Judah. (2 Kings 22:1) She was the wife of king Amon of Judah and a daughter of Adaiah of Boscath, a town in the Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; ...

, the daughter of

Adaiah Adaiah () was the name of eight individuals mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The name means "Yahweh passes by." #Adaiah, the father of Queen Jedidah. He was of Boscath, a town in the Kingdom of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. His grandso ...

Bozkath Bozkath (Hebrew בצקת; ''boṣqaṯ'') is a town in the Kingdom of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The town was located in the lowland hills of Judah, otherwise known as the Shephelah, and its location is unknown. Ancient ...

."Josiah"
''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906). His grandfather

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh ( ...

was one of the kings blamed for turning away from the worship of

. Manasseh adapted the Temple for

idolatrous Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the ...

worship. Josiah's great-grandfather was King Hezekiah, a noted reformer also respected by the biblical writers as having "done what was right in the sight of the LORD, as David had done. Josiah had four sons: Johanan, and

Eliakim Eliakim ( he, אֶלְיָקִים) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Menashe Heights, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The village was established in 1949 as a moshav ...

(born c. 634 BCE), whose mother was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah; and Mattanyahu (c. 618 BCE) and

Shallum Shallum ("retribution") was the name of several people of the Old Testament. Shallum of Israel King of Israel. Alternative name of Jehoahaz King of Judah Son of Tikvah Keeper of the temple-wardrobe in the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22:14) and hu ...

(633/632 BCE), whose mother was Hamutal, the daughter of

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewis ...

of Libnah.

had his name changed by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt to

Jehoiakim Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...

. His youngest son Shallum succeeded Josiah as king of Judah, under the name Jehoahaz. Shallum was succeeded by Eliakim, under the name

, who was succeeded by his own son Jeconiah; then, Jeconiah was succeeded to the throne by his uncle Mattanyahu, under the name

Zedekiah Zedekiah (), was the 20th and last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. His birth name was Mattaniah/Mattanyahu ( he, מַתַּנְיָהוּ, ''Mattanyāhū'', "Gift of God"; el, Μα� ...

. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the kingdom was conquered by

and the people

exiled ''Exiled'' () is a 2006 Hong Kong action drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To, and starring Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Nick Cheung, Josie Ho, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet, with special appearances by Richie Jen and Simon Yam. The ac ...

Religious reform

The Second Book of Chronicles records that Josiah was eight years old when he became king. In the eighth year of his reign, he "began to seek the God of his father David" and in the twelfth year of that reign he began a program of destruction of Baalist altars and images throughout Jerusalem and Judah.

The Chronicler The Chronicler is the author, or group of authors, to whom biblical scholars have attributed the composition of the Books of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra, and the Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temple ...

in Jerusalem, which both accounts say was initiated in the eighteenth year of his reign.

Josiah ordered the

High Priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...

Hilkiah Hilkiah ( ''Ḥīlqīyyā'', "my portion is Yah") was a Hebrew priest ("Kohen") at the time of King Josiah (reigned c. 641-609 BCE). His name is mentioned in II Kings. He was the High Priest and is known for finding a lost copy of the Book o ...

to use the tax money which had been collected over the years to renovate the temple. While Hilkiah was clearing the treasure room of the Temple he discovered a scroll described in 2 Kings as "the book of the Law", and in 2 Chronicles as "the book of the Law of the LORD given by

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

". The phrase ''sefer ha-torah'' (ספר התורה) in is identical to the phrase used in and to describe the sacred writings that Joshua had received from Moses. The book is not identified in the text as the Torah and many scholars believe this was either a copy of the

Book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

or a text that became a part of Deuteronomy. SolomonsTemple

However it has been noted that the story of the repairs to the Temple is based on those ordered by an earlier Judean king, Joash (who ruled c. 836 – 796 BCE) in . Hilkiah brought this scroll to Josiah's attention. Josiah consulted the prophetess

Huldah Huldah ( he, חֻלְדָּה ''Ḥuldā'') was a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in and . According to the Bible, she was a prophetess. After the discovery of a book of the Law during renovations at Solomon's Temple, on the order of King ...

, who assured him that the evil foretold in the document for non-observance of its instructions, would come, but not in his day; "because", she said, "thine heart was tender and thou didst humble thyself before the Lord". An assembly of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem and of all the people was called, and Josiah then encouraged the exclusive worship of Yahweh, forbidding all other forms of worship. The instruments and emblems of the worship of Baal and " the host of heaven" were removed from the Jerusalem Temple. Local sanctuaries, or High Places, were destroyed, from Beer-sheba in the south to Beth-el and the cities of Samaria in the north. Josiah had pagan priests executed and even had the bones of the dead priests of Bethel exhumed from their graves and burned on their altars. Josiah also reinstituted the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or ...

celebrations.

According to an unnamed "man of God" (sometimes identified as Iddo) had prophesied to King

Jeroboam Jeroboam I (; Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ, Hieroboám) was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern ...

of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), approximately three hundred years earlier, that "a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David" and that he would destroy the altar at Bethel. And the only exception to this destruction was for the grave of an unnamed prophet he found in Bethel (), who had foretold that these religious sites

erected would one day be destroyed (see ). Josiah ordered the double grave of the "man of God" and of the Bethel prophet to be left alone as these prophecies had come true. Josiah's reforms are described in two biblical accounts, 2 Kings 22–23, and 2 Chronicles 34–35. They began with the ending of ancient Israelite religious practices, and the astral cults that had become popular in the 8th century, and led to centralisation of worship in Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple at Bethel. According to the later account in

2 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

, Josiah destroyed altars and images of pagan deities in cities of the tribes of

, Ephraim, "and

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew ( Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated as Shimon. In Greek it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Symeon. Meaning The name is derived from Simeon, s ...

, as far as Naphtali" (), which were outside of his kingdom, Judah, and returned the Ark of the Covenant to the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temple ...

Book of the Law

The

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

found a "Book of the Law" in the temple during the early stages of Josiah's temple renovation. Hilkiah then gave the scroll to his secretary

Shaphan Shaphan ( he, שפן, which means "hyrax"), son of Azaliah, is the name of a scribe or court secretary mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible (2 Kings and ; and parallels in 2 Chronicles ; see also Jeremiah 26:24; ; 39:14; and following; an ...

, who took it to King Josiah. According to the Bible, King Josiah then changed his form of leadership entirely, entering into a new form of covenant with the Lord. He wiped out all of the pagan cults that had formed within his land. He, along with his people, then entered into this new covenant with the Lord to keep the commandments of the Lord. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was agreed among biblical scholars that this "Book of the Law" was an early version of the

, but recent biblical scholarship sees it as a largely legendary narrative about one of the earliest stages of the creation of

Deuteronomist The Deuteronomist, abbreviated as either Dtr or simply D, may refer either to the source document underlying the core chapters (12–26) of the Book of Deuteronomy, or to the broader "school" that produced all of Deuteronomy as well as the Deutero ...

ic work. That is, historical-critical biblical scholars generally believe that the "Book of the Law"—an early predecessor of the Torah—was invented by Josiah's priests, who were driven by ideological interests to centralize power under Josiah in the Temple in Jerusalem. William G. Dever, for example, argues that the Book of the Law was actually composed by orthodox Yahwist priests, who attributed it to the legendary figure of

and then hid it in the Temple, where it would be dramatically discovered; in this way, a "miraculous new Word from Yaweh" would seem to have appeared, giving Judah a chance to redeem itself and save itself from the advance of the

Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and bein ...

. Many scholars see the whole core narrative, from Joshua to 2 Kings, as comprising a

Deuteronomistic History The Deuteronomist, abbreviated as either Dtr or simply D, may refer either to the source document underlying the core chapters (12–26) of the Book of Deuteronomy, or to the broader "school" that produced all of Deuteronomy as well as the Deutero ...

(DtrH) written during Josiah's reign. In fact, some recent European theologians even go so far as to posit that most of the Torah and Deuteronomistic History was composed and finalized several centuries later, during the Persian period. However, most biblical scholars are coming to believe that the

was composed using other earlier sources, including a brief chronicle of king's names, age at the beginning of their reign, and their mother's names.

Prophets and King Josiah

According to rabbinic interpretation,

said to the messengers of King Josiah, "Tell the man that sent you to me ..." (), indicating by her unceremonious language that for her Josiah was like any other man. The king addressed her, and not Jeremiah, because he thought that women are more easily stirred to pity than men, and that therefore the prophetess would be more likely than Jeremiah to intercede with God in his behalf. Huldah was a relative of Jeremiah, both being descendants of Rahab by her marriage with Joshua. While Jeremiah admonished and preached repentance to the men, she did the same to the women. Huldah was not only a prophetess, but taught publicly in the school, according to some teaching especially the oral doctrine. It is doubtful whether "the Gate of Huldah" in the

Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherite ...

(Middot 1:3) has any connection with the prophetess Huldah; it may have meant "Cat's Gate"; some scholars, however, associate the gate with Huldah's schoolhouse (Rashi to Kings l.c.).E. C. L. G. The prophetic activity of Jeremiah began in the reign of Josiah; he was a contemporary of his relative the prophetess Hulda and of his teacher Zephaniah. These three prophets divided their activity: Hulda spoke to the women and Jeremiah to the men in the street, while Zephaniah preached in the synagogue. When Josiah restored the true worship, Jeremiah went to the exiled ten tribes, whom he brought to Israel under the rule of the pious king. Although Josiah went to war with Egypt against the prophet's advice, Jeremiah knew that this was an error by the otherwise pious king; and later he bitterly laments the king's death: the fourth chapter of Lamentations beginning with a dirge on Josiah. King Josiah, who foresaw the impending national catastrophe, concealed the Ark and its contents (including Aaron's rod, the vial of

manna Manna ( he, מָן, mān, ; ar, اَلْمَنُّ; sometimes or archaically spelled mana) is, according to the Bible, an edible substance which God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert during the 40-year period follow ...

and the anointing oil) within a hidden chamber which had been built by

King Solomon King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

] (Tosefta, Sotah, 13a); cf.

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cent ...

(''Kereithot'' 5b) and their whereabouts will remain unknown until, in the Messianic age, the prophet Elijah shall reveal them (Mekhilta l.c.).

Foreign relations

When Josiah became king of Judah in about 641/640 BCE, the international situation was in flux. The

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n Empire was beginning to disintegrate, the

had not yet risen to replace it, and

to the west was still recovering from Assyrian rule. In this power vacuum, Jerusalem was able to govern itself for the time being without foreign intervention. In the spring of 609 BCE, Pharaoh Necho II led a sizable army up to the Euphrates River to aid the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which was collapsing under the attacks of the Medes and the

. Taking the coast route Via Maris into Syria at the head of a large army, consisting mainly of mercenaries; and supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore, Necho passed the low tracts of

Philistia Philistia (; Koine Greek ( LXX): Γῆ τῶν Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''gê tôn Phulistieìm''), also known as the Philistine Pentapolis, was a confederation of cities in the Southwest Levant, which included the cities of Ashdod, As ...

and Sharon. However, the passage over the ridge of hills which shuts in on the south of the great

Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...

was blocked by the Judean army led by Josiah. The reason for Josiah attempting to halt the Egyptian campaign is not known, but he may have considered that the Assyrians and Egyptians were weakened by the death of pharaoh

Psamtik I Wahibre Psamtik I ( Ancient Egyptian: ) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664–610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire ...

only a year earlier (610 BCE): Psamtik having been appointed and confirmed by Assyrian kings

Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning "Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his ...

and Ashurbanipal. According to the Biblical

Books of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

, Necho had not intended to do battle with the Judeans and was confused by Josiah's decision to attack him, supposedly sending a letter saying "what have we done to each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day." Josiah attempted to block the advance at Megiddo, where a fierce

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

was fought and Josiah was killed. Necho then joined forces with the Assyrian Ashur-uballit II and crossed the Euphrates to lay siege to

Harran Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border c ...

. The combined forces failed to capture the city, and Necho retreated to northern Syria.

Death

There are two accounts of Josiah's death in the Bible. The Second Book of Kings merely states that Necho II met Josiah at Megiddo and killed him (), whereas the second book of Chronicles () gives a lengthier account and states that Josiah was fatally wounded by Egyptian archers and was brought back to Jerusalem to die. His death in the latter account was attributed to him "not listening to what Necho had said at God's command..." when Necho stated: "What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, so that he will not destroy you." According to ,

wrote a lament for Josiah's death. The account in Chronicles is considered unreliable by some scholars, as it is based on the description of the death of a different king, Ahab, in 1 Kings, and it meets the Chronicler's religious agenda to attribute the death of a righteous king to some form of sin. Some researchers have concluded from the account in Kings that Josiah did not meet Necho in battle but was summoned by Necho as a vassal, investigated, and beheaded for failing to pay the correct tribute or tax to Egypt. Rabbinic Literature remarks on Josiah's piety and his father Amon: "The fact that Amon was the most sinful of all the wicked kings of Judah (II Chron. xxxiii. 23) is brought out in the Talmud (Sanh. 103b) as follows:(Sanh. 104a) Ahaz suspended the sacrificial worship, Manasseh tore down the altar, Amon made it a place of desolation overed it with cobwebs Ahaz sealed up the scrolls of the Law (Isa. viii. 16), Manasseh cut out the sacred name, Amon burnt the scrolls altogether ompare Seder Olam, R. xxiv. This is derived from the story of the finding of the Book of the Law, II Kings, xxii. 8 Ahab permitted incest, Manasseh committed it himself, Amon acted as Nero was said to have done toward his mother Agrippina. And yet, out of respect for his son Josiah, Amon's name was not placed on the list of the kings excluded from the world to come." also that Josiah's death was brought about because despite his sincere religious reform, he had in fact been deceived; thus he refused to heed the Prophet Jeremiah, thinking that no sword would pass through the Land of Israel. He was struck by 300 darts; he made no complaint except to acknowledge "The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against His commandment.

Succession

After the setback in Harran, the Pharaoh Necho left a sizeable force behind, and returned to

. On his return march, Necho found that Jehoahaz had succeeded his father Josiah. () Necho deposed Jehoahaz, who had been king for only three months, and replaced him with his older brother,

. Necho imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver (about 3 tons or about 3.4 metric tons) and a talent of gold (about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms). Necho then took Jehoahaz back to Egypt as his prisoner. The defeat of Josiah at Megiddo essentially represents the end of the rule of the

Davidic line The Davidic line or House of David () refers to the lineage of the Israelite king David through texts in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and through the succeeding centuries. According to the Bible, David, of the Tribe of Judah, was t ...

, since not only were Josiah's successors short-lived, but also Judah's relative independence had crumbled in the face of a resurgent Egypt bent on regaining its traditional control of the region, and the imminent rise of the Babylonian empire which also sought control. Necho had left Egypt in 609 BCE to relieve the

under Babylonian siege. Josiah's actions may have provided aid to the Babylonians by engaging the Egyptian army.

Sources

The only textual sources of information for Josiah's reign are from the Bible, notably and . No archaeological evidence for Josiah as a person exists. However, a signet ring has been found in the City of David in Jerusalem featuring the name of one of King Josiah's officials,

Nathan-melech Nathan-melech is described as one of Josiah's officials in 2 Kings 23:11 of the Hebrew Bible. He lived near the entrance to the temple, close to the courtyard where King Solomon had kept chariot-horses used to worship the Moabite sun-god Chemosh ...

, mentioned in . The inscription of the ring says, "(belonging) to Nathan-Melech, Servant of the King". Although it may not directly mention King Josiah by name, it does appear to be from the same time period in which he would have lived. Seals and seal impressions from the period show a transition from those of an earlier period which bear images of stars and the moon, to seals that carry only names, a possible indication of Josiah's enforcement of monotheism. No other archaeological evidence of Josiah's religious reforms has been discovered. The date of Josiah's death can be established fairly accurately. The

Babylonian Chronicles The Babylonian Chronicles are a series of tablets recording major events in Babylonian history. They are thus one of the first steps in the development of ancient historiography. The Babylonian Chronicles were written in Babylonian cuneiform, fr ...

date the battle at

between the Assyrians and their Egyptian allies against the Babylonians from

Tammuz Dumuzid or Tammuz ( sux, , ''Dumuzid''; akk, Duʾūzu, Dûzu; he, תַּמּוּז, Tammûz),; ar, تمّوز ' known to the Sumerians as Dumuzid the Shepherd ( sux, , ''Dumuzid sipad''), is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with shep ...

(July–August) to

Elul Elul ( he, אֱלוּל, Standard ''ʾElūl'', Tiberian ''ʾĔlūl'') is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August� ...

(August–September) 609 BCE. On that basis, Josiah was killed in the month of Tammuz (July–August) 609 BCE, when the Egyptians were on their way to Harran.Thiele, ''Mysterious Numbers'' 182, 184–185.

Notes

References

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia: Josiah

Genealogy of the House of David- Josiah, King of Judah
{{Authority control 640s BC births 609 BC deaths 7th-century BC Kings of Judah Ancient child rulers Deaths by arrow wounds Military personnel killed in action Monarchs killed in action