Background
Amon was the son of King Manasseh of Judah and Meshullemeth, a daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. Although the date is unknown, the Hebrew Bible records that he married Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
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Amon Judah
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Career
Amon is most remembered for his idolatrous practices while king, which led to a revolt against him and eventually his assassination in c. 641 British Columbia. Amon began his reign of Judah at the age of 22, and reigned for two years. Biblical scholar and archeologist William F. Albright has dated his reign to 642 – 640, while professor East. R. Thiele offers the dates 643/642 – 641/640.
Thiele"s dates are tied to the reign of Amon"s son Josiah, whose death at the hands of Pharaoh Necho II occurred in the summer of 609.
Josiah"s death, which is independently confirmed in Egyptian history, places the end of Amon"s reign, 31 years earlier, in 641 or 640 and the beginning of his rule in 643 or 642. II Kings states that Amon "did that which was evil in the sight of YAWEH, as did Manasseh his father.
And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them." Similarly, II Chronicles records that "…he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father. And Amon sacrificed unto all the graven images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them." The Talmudic tradition recounts that "Amon burnt the Torah, and allowed spider webs to cover the altar.
Amon sinned very much." Like other textual sources, Flavius Josephus too criticizes the reign of Amon, describing his reign similarly to the Bible.
After Amon"s assassination his murderers became unpopular with the people, and were ultimately killed. Amon"s reign was in the midst of a transitional time for the Levant and the entire Mesopotamian region. To the east of Judah, the Assyrian Empire was beginning to disintegrate while the Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace lieutenant
To the west, Egypt was still recovering under Psamtik I from its Assyrian occupation, transforming from a vassal state to an autonomous ally.
In this power vacuum, many smaller states such as Judah were able to govern themselves without foreign intervention from larger empires.
