General Notes

She was an evil woman who corrupted the nation. She inherited hermother's cruelty and ruthles sness. She influenced her husband, the king,and their son, Ahaziah, to reintroduce Baal worsh ip. Under her prodding,even parts of the Temple were dismantled to build a shrine to Baal. Af terthe deaths of her husband and son, she took control, turning Judah into apolice state an d ordering the massacre of all her grandchildren. Joashalone was saved from this bloodbath, a nd was raised in secret. The HighPriest Jehoiada engineered a  carefully planned coup which c rowned Joashand killed Athaliah.   (Everyone in the Bible, by William P. Barker,1966)  Athaliah was the daughter of Jezebel and Ahab, king of Israel (thenorth half of today's Is rael).  The family agreed that it rankled, rulinga country so teeny, so her parents commence d match-making.  Teen Athaliahsoon hooked Jehoram, the king of Judah, the southern half of th e HolyLand.  In Old Testament style, it wasn't long before Athaliah had sonsand grandsons, al l of whom got names beginning with A or J.  When son onebecame king, he went to war, leavin g Athaliah to run things as queen.Small-world department: He was killed in battle by Jehu - - the sameIsraelite leader who made hush-puppies out of Jezebel, Athaliah's mother!Did Athali ah give a flying Phoenician?  Heck no -- she was busy seizingthe throne and murdering her gra ndsons to have a carefree solo reign. The next 7 years were swell: As queen of Jerusalem, she romped around,rubbing out anyone w ith DNA from the House of David, and bringing Baalworship back into style.  One small grandso n got overlooked in thecarnage, however, and eventually got crowned by his dead daddy'sfollow ers, who put the skids to dear old grandma at the same time.  QueenAthaliah really was a clas s-A rotter, but look who ended up with theflaming rep -- her mom.  (Uppity Women of Ancient T imes, by Vicki Leon,1995)  1  NOTE daughter of Ahab, King of Northern Israel