Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 27(1): 33–46 The Israelite-Judaean Military Service in the Armies of Assyria Haggai OLSHANETSKY 1 Abstract. The Israelite-Judaean Military Service in the Armies of Assyria has not been fully discussed, and this article is an attempt to offer a fuller picture of this phenomenon. This article is composed of two parts. The first will concentrate and discuss all the evidence we have for Israelite and Judaean units that were absorbed into the Assyrian army, which will be used as a foundation for the second half of the article. All this will attempt to show that the inscription detailing the Assyrian capture of 200 Israeli chariots, rather than 50 as is written in two other inscriptions, is the more accurate one, and then discuss the implications of such a conclusion. The second part is the first attempt to concentrate all the names of possible Assyrian soldiers who are of Israelite and/or Judaean origin. The first and second parts together encompass the first attempt to concentrate all the evidence for Israelite and Judaean service in the Assyrian army in one place. This will prove that Israelites and Judaeans served in the Assyrian army in a continuous manner from at least the fall of Samaria until the fall of the Assyrian Empire. Rezumat. Servicul militar al iudeilo în armatele asiriene nu a fost supus unei discuții exhaustive, iar articolul de față vine să completeze imaginea acestui fenime. Prima parte a articolului va aborda evidența unităților din Israel din armata asiriană. Partea a a doua se concentrează pe numele soldașilor asirieni care ar putea avea o origine idee/israelită. Keywords: Kingdom of Israel, Kingdom of Judea, Assyria, Chariots, Ancient warfare, Battle of Qarqar. Between the tenth and the ninth centuries BCE, in the days of the heirs of King Solomon, the United Monarchy of Israel split into two entities – the Kingdom of Judea, in the southern parts of the land of Israel, and the Kingdom of Israel to the north, which was the larger, stronger and more important of the two. At the end of the eighth century BCE, the Kingdom of Israel (also known as the Kingdom of Samaria, after the name of its capital city) was conquered by the Assyrians. At the time, the Assyrian Empire was the largest empire in the Near East and a major power in developing and utilizing cavalry in war. 2 The Assyrians exiled most of the inhabitants of Samaria and dispersed them across the vast areas of their empire. While doing so, the Assyrians recruited many of the exiles to their army and even integrated entire units of the defeated enemy's army into the Empire’s army. Their service in the armies of the Empire may indicate the reputation of the Israelites and the willingness of Israelites and Judaeans to enlist into a non-Jewish army. 1 Bar Ilan University; haggai 1990@gmail.com 2 About the Assyrian cavalry, see: DEZSŐ 2012b. 33