Arpad (Syria)

Arpad (modern Tell Rif'at, Syria) was an ancient Aramaean city located in north-western Syria. In 743 BC, the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III led a military expedition to Syria, defeating there the Uraratian army. But the city of Arpad, which had formed an alliance with Urartu, did not surrender easily. It took Tiglath-pileser three years of siege to conquer Arpad, whereupon he massacred its inhabitants and destroyed the city.

The city is mentioned in the Bible several times:

• 2 Kings 18. 34; 19. 13
• Isaiah 10. 9; 36. 19; 37. 13
• Jeremiah 49. 23;