| Summary: | Though the regnal period of king Jeroboam II (786-746 BCE) covers almost half of the "great 8th century," surprisingly enough nothing of its details has been preserved in the biblical records. Moreover, the perspective of the attestations of this king (2 Kgs 14: 23-29 and the book of Amos) are strikingly different. Using social-scientific paradigms this dissertation analyzes the literary, inscriptional and archaeological data relevant to the period of Jeroboam II and concludes that the monarchy of Jeroboam II shows the characteristic features of an "aristocratic monarchy." The archaeological discoveries and the extra biblical documents and inscriptions which testify the temporary power vacuum of the neighboring countries point to the fact that Israel was quite powerful to achieve the territorial expansions that the historian attributed to Jeroboam II. However, these military victories and the captured control of the trade routes have changed the society drastically. Prophet Amos paints a picture of that society in which many preferential distinctions were observed and in which a comprehensive solidarity was replaced by a system of social violence that ran from top to bottom. The artifacts discovered from the acropolis of Samaria, Shechem, Bethel, Dan, Hazor, and Megiddo during this period depicts the growing affluence of a section of the society. The elite class exploited the poor and defenseless by monopolizing the productive land and lived off the peasant's labor, which led the poor peasant free holders to debt and eventually to debt-slavery. The latifundialization of the subsistence plots forced the peasants in to the market place where they were cheated with adultered grain and dishonest weights and measures. The poor and underprivileged were continually the victims of the local judiciary, who victimized them at the very place where justice should have been dispensed, and as a result it adversely affected the 'honor' of the peasants frequently.
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