“And Ben Haddad listened to king Asa, and he sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and he struck Ijon and Dan and Abel-Beth Maachah and all Kinereth with all the land of Naftali” (1 Kings 15:20)
We saw last time how King Jeroboam of Northern Israel set up a temple and alter dedicated to a Golden Calf at Dan, ultimately causing the destruction of Northern Israel as the people slid into idol worship. His son was overthrown by Basha, who decimated the house of Jeroboam.
Subsequently, he went to war with Asa, the King of Judah. Basha took over Ramah, a city in Judah and was building a fortified tower that would have strangled trade in Jerusalem. Asa sent a bribe to Ben-Haddad, King of Aram, to attack Basha’s cities (which he did) destroying Dan (see 1 Kings: 15) and causing Basha to withdraw from Judah’s territory.
Under the infamous King Ahab the city was rebuilt, reaching its zenith with elaborate construction projects that tourists still walk through today. Indeed, most of the well-preserved ruins we saw are from this exact time period.