Omri

Omri was the sixth king of the northern kingdom of Israel (c. 885–874 BC), founder of the Omride dynasty that produced Ahab, Ahaziah, and Joram. He came to power by defeating his rival Tibni in a civil war following the assassination of Zimri, who had himself killed Elah (1 Kings 16:15–22). Omri's political and military accomplishments were significant: he purchased the hill of Samaria and built a new capital city there (1 Kings 16:24), securing a strategic and politically neutral site for the northern monarchy, and he subdued Moab — attested on the Mesha Stele, where Israel is called the land of Omri.

In Assyrian records the northern kingdom was referred to as Bit-Humri (House of Omri) for more than a century after his dynasty ended, testifying to his regional impact. Despite his political achievement, the biblical narrative judges him the worst king yet in Israel: he did worse than all who were before him and walked in the sins of Jeroboam (1 Kings 16:25–26). Micah 6:16 cites the statutes of Omri as a paradigm of social injustice and apostasy.