Battle of Zephath
| Battle of the Valley of Zephath | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kingdom of Judah in yellow as indicated in the map | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Kingdom of Judah | Kingdom of Egypt with Kushite contingents | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| King Asa of Judah |
Zerah the Ethiopian (may have actually been the Pharaohs Osorkon I or Osorkon II) | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 580,000 warriors[1] |
1,000,000 warriors, 300 chariots[2] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| unknown | unknown but heavy | ||||||||
The Battle of Zephath, according to the Bible, occurred during the dates of 911-870 BCE, in the reign of King Asa of Judah. It was fought at the Valley of Zephath near Maresha in what is now Israel, between the armies of the Kingdom of Judah under the command of King Asa and that of the Kushites and ancient Egyptians under the command of Zerah the Ethiopian who, given the time frame with Asa's reign, may either be Pharaoh Osorkon II or Osorkon I.[3] The warriors of Judah were victorious in the battle after utterly defeating the Egyptians and Kushites,[4] by divine intervention as written in the Bible[5] and Asa's forces collected a large volume of war spoils.[6] Asa's forces pursued the enemy stragglers as far as the coastal city of Gerar, where they halted due to exhaustion. The result of the battle created peace between Judah and Egypt until the time of Josiah some centuries later, when the latter would again make encroachments in the region.