Omri

Omri rose through military success to claim Israel's throne, extended the northern kingdom through force, and founded Samaria as his new capital. He established a royal dynasty - the House of Omri - that would produce Ahab, Ahaziah, Joram, and Athaliah. While Scripture records almost nothing of his reign beyond a blanket condemnation, Assyrian records and the Mesha Stele preserve his name prominently: the Black Obelisk and other sources refer to Israel as "the land of Omri" long after his death. His tribal origin is unrecorded, and whether his name was Amorite, Arabic, or Hebrew remains uncertain. Some modern scholars argue he founded the first true state in the Land of Israel, making the Kingdom of Judah's statehood secondary - and call him the first genuinely historical figure in the Bible, though that claim stays contested.