Athaliah

Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel who became queen mother of Judah and, uniquely, a reigning queen of Judah for six years. When her son King Ahaziah was killed by Jehu, she seized power by attempting to destroy all the royal heirs—her own grandchildren (2 Kings 11:1). The infant Joash was hidden by Jehosheba in the temple, surviving Athaliah's purge. After six years, the priest Jehoiada organized a coup, crowned Joash in the temple, and had Athaliah executed at the horse gate of the palace (2 Kings 11:4–20; 2 Chronicles 23). She cried 'Treason! Treason!' but was not killed in the temple itself to avoid desecration. Athaliah stands as the only non-Davidic ruler of Judah and a symbol of the catastrophic influence of the house of Ahab on the southern kingdom.