Dominic Rudman, «A Note on the Personal Name Amon (2 Kings 21,19-26 || 2 Chr 33,21-25)», Vol. 81 (2000) 403-405

Manasseh’s son Amon (Heb. Nwm)) has what appears to be an Egyptian name. This article argues that Manasseh, who fought alongside Ashurbanipal on his first campaign in Egypt in 667 BCE, named the son born to him during Ashurbanipal’s second campaign in 663 BCE as a flattering commemoration of his overlord’s capture of the rebel capital Thebes (Heb. Nwm) )n) in that year.

The reign of Amon (2 Kgs 21,19-26 || 2 Chr 33,21-25) has attracted a significant degree of interest from biblical historians over the years, mainly because of its laconic description of the young king’s assassination which leaves us completely in the dark as to the precise circumstances of this event and the situation that provoked it¹. Amon is also remarkable in that he appears to have an Egyptian name². We are not, however, offered any biographical information about him other than that he was 22 years old when he ascended the throne and that his mother, Meshullemeth, came from Jotbah (probably at-Taba, 30 km north of Aqaba)³. Amon’s succession is usually dated to 642/641 BCE: Assuming the chronology and the given age of Amon as 22 years to be correct, this would mean that he was born in 664/663 BCE⁴.

        Amon’s father Manasseh, in contrast to Hezekiah, is generally reckoned to have been a loyal Assyrian vassal⁵. Indeed, Manasseh probably had very