Editing Omri (section)

== Archaeological sources ==
[[File:Louvre 042010 01.jpg|thumb|upright|The Mesha Stele]]
[[File:Omri.melek.israel.gif|thumb|{{Script/Hebrew|עמרי מלך ישראל}} (''‘mry mlk yšr’l'') – "Omri king of Israel" as mentioned in the [[Moabite inscription]]]]
The fortress at [[Jezreel (city)|Jezreel]] was situated on one of the main east–west routes through the kingdom. Hugh Williamson believes it served not only a military function, but also a political one; a very visible example of grandiose public works used as a means of social control and to assert claims of legitimacy.<ref>Williamson, Hugh G.M., "Tel Jezreel and the Dynasty of Omri", ''Palestine Exploration Quarterly'' 128: p. 49, (1996)</ref>

The Moabite [[Mesha stele]] (on display in the [[Louvre]]) indicates that Omri expanded his holdings to include northern [[Moab]] east of the [[Jordan River]]. It makes reference to the oppression of [[Moab]] by "Omri King of Israel". Israel would later become identified in sources as the "[[House of Omri]]" (''Bit-Humria''),<ref name="JBP">[[James B. Pritchard]], ed., ''[[Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament]]'' (3rd ed.; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969) 283. {{ISBN|0-691-03503-2}}</ref> with the term "Israel" being used less and less as history progressed (the other defining term for "Israel" is "Samaria", beginning in the reign of [[Jehoash of Israel|Joash]]).{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}.


The Assyrian [[Black Obelisk]] in the [[British Museum]] has been interpreted as referring to [[Jehu]] "son of Omri", though that interpretation has been questioned, in favor of the reading "[[Omride]]".<ref name=McCarter>McCarter, P. Kyle "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1356327 'Yaw, Son of Omri': A Philological Note on Israelite Chronology]." ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', No. 216 (Dec. 1974), pp. 5–7.</ref><ref name=Thiele>{{cite web| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/1356296| title = Edwin R. Thiele, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 222 (Apr., 1976), pp. 19–23| jstor = 1356296}}</ref>