About a hundred years later , in the 9th century BCE , the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III names Ahab of Israel among his enemies at the battle of Qarqar ( 853 BCE ) , while in the Mesha stele ( c. 830 BCE ) a king of Moab celebrates his success in throwing off the oppression of the `` House of Omri '' ( i.e. Israel ) . Similarly , the Tel Dan stele tells of the death of a king of Israel , probably Jehoram , at the hands of an Aramaen king about 841 BCE . It had clearly emerged by the middle of the 9th century BCE , when the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III names `` Ahab the Israelite '' among his enemies at the battle of Qarqar ( 853 ) , and the Mesha stele ( c. 830 ) left by a king of Moab celebrates his success in throwing off the oppression of the `` House of Omri '' ( i.e. Israel ) and the Tel Dan stele tells of the death of a king of Israel , probably Jehoram , at the hands of an Aramaen king ( c. 841 ) .