194 SHAWn ZeLIG ASTeR and short hiatuses, throughout much of the eighth century; however, Judah’s first recorded encounters with Assyria, like those of the Philistine kingdoms, took place only after 745 BCe 67. For Judah, Assyria was a new challenge, something of a shock and surprise, and passages such as Isa 5,26-29 reflect this. Israel, in con- trast, had been dealing with Assyria fairly consistently for nearly a hundred years by 745. And this highlights that Isaiah of Jerusalem was not the first Hebrew prophet to interact intellectually with Assyrian royal ideology. This is particularly relevant for studies of Hosea. A well-founded scholarly consensus has emerged that situates Hosea’s activity in the middle of the eighth century, beginning in the period of Jeroboam II 68. Hosea frequently refers to Assyria (5,13; 7,11-12; 8,9-10; 9,3; 10,6; 67 no real evidence exists that Judah maintained any direct contact with As- syria prior to the submission of Ahaz in 734, contra S. DALLey, “Recent evidence from Assyrian Sources for Judean History from Uzziah to Manasseh”, JSOT 28 (2004) 387-401, here 389, and J.J.M. RoBeRTS, “The old Testament’s Contribution to Messianic expectations”, The Messiah: Developments in Earliest Judaism and Christianity (ed. J. CHARLeSWoRTH) (Minneapolis, Mn 1992) 39-51, republished as The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Collected Essays (Winona Lake, In 2002) 376-392, here 381-382. It is generally accepted that the Azriyau mentioned in the annals of Tiglath-Pileser III in connection with anti-Assyrian activities in the year 738 BCe (TADMoR, The Inscriptions of Tiglath Pileser III, Annal no 19*) was not Azariah-Uzziah of Judah. Initially, Tadmor had proposed such an identification (TADMoR, “The Campaigns of Sargon II of Assur”, 77-100), but this view was re- jected by n. nA’AMAn, “Sennacherib’s ‘Letter to God’ on his Campaign to Judah”, BASOR 214 (1974) 25-39. For a discussion of his reasons, see M. CoGAn, The Raging Torrent. Historical Inscriptions from Assyria and Babylonia Related to Ancient Israel (Jerusalem 2008) 48-49. Cogan and Tadmor (II Kings, 166) suggest a different identification for the Azriyau in the inscription. 68 Andersen and Freedman restrict Hosea’s activity to the years 750-740: F.I. Andersen – D.n. FReeDMAn, Hosea: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB; Garden City, ny 1980) 34-37. Wolff argues that the picture of destruction in 2,18-25 reflects the deportations of 733-732: H. WoLFF, Hosea (Hermeneia; Philadelphia, PA 1974) 48. Sweeney argues that the book as a whole “was written largely in the period following the death of Jeroboam and prior to the Assyrian assault in 735-732, in an effort to convince Israel to abandon its al- liance with Assyria”: M.A. SWeeney, The Twelve Prophets (Brit olam; Col- legeville, Mn 2000) 3. More recently, many scholars have argued for a post-exilic date for Hosea. For references, see J. DAy, “Hosea and the Baal Cult”, Prophecy and Prophets in Ancient Israel. Proceedings of the oxford old Testament Seminar (ed. J. DAy) (LHBoTS 531; London 2010) 202-224, who rejects these views: “So much that we find in Hosea is inconsistent with a post-exilic origin, but makes eminently good sense against a pre-722 BCe background” (p. 202).