section of the
aristocracy emigrated to the colonies across the sea and incited them
to rebellion; had this state of things lasted for any time, the Tyrian
empire would have been doomed. A revolution led to the removal of the
usurper and the restoration of the former dynasty, but did not bring
back to the unfortunate city the tranquillity which it sorely needed.
The three surviving sons of Baalbezer, Methuastarfc, Astarym, and
Phelles followed one another on the throne in rapid succession, the
last-named perishing by the hand of his cousin Ethbaal, after a reign of
eight months. So far, the Israelites had not attempted to take advantage
of these dissensions, but there was always the danger lest one of their
kings, less absorbed than his predecessors in the struggle with Judah,
might be tempted by the wealth of Phoenicia to lay hands on it. Ethbaal,
therefore, eagerly accepted the means of averting this danger by an
alliance with the new dynasty offered to him by Omri.*

* 1 Kings xvi. 31, where the historian has Hebraicised the
Phonician name Ittobaal into "Ethbaal," "Baal is with
him." Izebel or Jezebel seems to be an abbreviated form of
some name like Baalezbel.

The presence of a Phonician princess at Samaria seems to have had
a favourable effect on the city and its inhabitants. The tribes of
Northern and Central Palestine had, so far, resisted the march of
material civilization which, since the days of Solomon, had carried
Judah along with it; they adhered, as a matter of principle, to the rude
and simple customs of their ancestors. Jezebel, who from her cradle had
been accustomed to all the luxuries and refinements of the Phoenician
court, was by no means prepared to dispense with them in her adopted
country. By their contact with her, the Israelites--at any rate, the
upper and middle classes of them--acquired a certain degree of polish;
the royal office assumed a more dignified exterior, and approached more
nearly the splendours of the other Syrian monarchies, such as those of
Damascus, Hamath, Sidon, Tyre, and even Judah.

Unfortunately, the effect of this material progress was marred by a
religious difficulty. Jezebel had been brought up by her father, the
high priest of the Sidonian Astarte, as a rigid believer in his faith,
and she begged Ahab to permit her to celebrate openly the worship of her
national deities. Ere long the Tyrian Baal was installed at Samaria with
his asherah, and his