Abram and the War of Nine Kings
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Most people know that the Bible is a book about the Jewish and Christian god and his people. But when we read it, we may be surprised to discover that a great deal of the story (at least in the Hebrew scriptures, called by Christians the "Old Testament") centers around the wars between the Jews and the peoples around them.
The first battle story in the text involves Abram, who later became Abraham. He is considered to be the founder of the nation of Israel, that is, the Jews. (His grandson Jacob's name was changed to Israel.)
In the story, five kings from Canaan (the area where Abram lived) have been vassals to four kings of Mesopotamia for twelve years. (One of these latter, called in the Bible Amraphel, is believed by some scholars to be the famous Hammurabi of Babylon, known for creating a code of laws.) The five small Canaanite "kingdoms" lay along the caravan routes between Egypt and Mesopotamia, regions of great sway. They were little more than cities, really, and included two that soon became famous: Sodom and Gomorrah. The more powerful kingdoms needed the cooperation of the five petty Canaanite kings in order to keep the trade moving.
But at last the five kings of Canaan declared their independence, and the four Mesopotamian kings made war on them. This is referred to as the Battle of the Vale of Siddim (near the Dead Sea, where the battle took place), and sometimes the War of Nine Kings.
Abram at that time was the head of a group of former nomads living in Canaan, and nearby lived his nephew, Lot. When the four kings successfully attacked the five, along with the plunder they took they also kidnapped Lot.
When Abram heard this, he took 318 trained men, along with some of his neighbors and their men, and chased after the five kings of Mesopotamia. It is estimated that with only around 1,000 men, Abram, the herder of sheep and goats, launched a daring night attack on the great kings of Mesopotamia and sent them running. When he caught up with them, he took back all they had stolen--including Lot.
Naturally, modern historians doubt the whole account, but some people still believe it's true.