| Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III | |
|---|---|
 Black Obelisk ofShalmaneser III in the British Museum. TheWhite Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I is located next to it | |
| Material | blacklimestone |
| Size | c. 1.98 metres high, 45 cm wide |
| Writing | Akkadian |
| Created | 827–824 BC |
| Discovered | Nimrud,Ottoman Iraq 36°05′53″N43°19′44″E / 36.09806°N 43.32889°E /36.09806; 43.32889 |
| Present location | British Museum,London |
| Registration | ME 118885 |
| Location | |
Location of discovery | |
TheBlack Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a blacklimestoneNeo-Assyrian sculpture with many scenes inbas-relief and inscriptions. It comes fromNimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northernIraq, and commemorates the deeds of KingShalmaneser III (reigned 858–824 BC). It is on display at theBritish Museum in London, and several other museums have cast replicas.
It is one of two complete Neo-Assyrianobelisks yet discovered, the other one being the much earlierWhite Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I, and is historically significant because it is thought to display the earliest ancient depiction of a biblical figure –Jehu, King ofIsrael. The traditional identification of "Yaw" as Jehu has been questioned by some scholars, who proposed that the inscription refers to another king,Jehoram of Israel.[1][2] Its reference toParsua is also the first known reference to the Persians.
Tribute offerings are shown being brought from identifiable regions and peoples. It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a time of civil war, in the central square of Nimrud. It was discovered by archaeologist SirAusten Henry Layard in 1846 and is now in theBritish Museum.
It features twenty relief scenes, five on each side. They depict five different subdued kings, bringing tribute and prostrating before the Neo-Assyrian king. From top to bottom they are: (1)Sua of Gilzanu (in north-westIran), (2) "Yaua of BitOmri" (Jehu of theHouse of Omri), (3) an unnamed ruler ofMusri (in northern Iraq), (4) Marduk-apil-usur of Suhi (middleEuphrates), and (5) Qalparunda of Patin (Antakya region ofTurkey). Each scene occupies four panels around the monument and is described by acuneiform script above them.
On the top and the bottom of the reliefs there is a long cuneiform inscription recording the annals of Shalmaneser III. It lists the military campaigns which the king and his commander-in-chief headed every year, until the thirty-first year of reign. Some features might suggest that the work had been commissioned by the commander-in-chief, Dayyan-Assur.
The secondregister from the top is thought to include the earliest surviving picture of a biblical figure. The name appears asmIa-ú-a marmHu-um-ri-i.Rawlinson's original translation in 1850 seminal work "On the Inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia" stated: "The second line of offerings are said to have been sent by Yahua, son of Hubiri, a prince of whom there is no mention in the annals, and of whose native country, therefore, I am ignorant"[5][6] Over a year later, a connection with the bible was made by ReverendEdward Hincks, who wrote in his diary on 21 August 1851: "Thought of an identification of one of the obelisk captives — with Jehu, king of Israel, and satisfying myself on the point wrote a letter to the Athenaeum announcing it".[7] Hincks' letter was published byAthenaeum on the same day, entitled "Nimrud Obelisk".[8] Hincks' identification is now the commonly held position by biblical archaeologists.
The identification of "Yahua" asJehu was questioned by contemporary scholars such asGeorge Smith[9] as well as in more recent times by P. Kyle McCarter andEdwin R. Thiele,[1][2] based on the fact that Jehu was not an Omride, as well as transliteration and chronology issues. However, the name read as "Yaw, son of Omri (Bit-Khumri", seeHouse of Omri), is generally accepted to follow Hincks as the BiblicalJehu, king ofIsrael.
The stele describes how Jehu brought or sent his tribute in or around 841 BC.[10] The caption above the scene, written in Assyrian cuneiform, can be translated:[4]
"I received the tribute of Iaua (Jehu) son of (the people of the land of)Omri (Akkadian:𒅀𒌑𒀀 𒈥 𒄷𒌝𒊑𒄿): silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king [and] spears."[4]
![The four illustrated faces of the Black Obelisk. The second row of reliefs illustrates the Israelite delegation of King Jehu.[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBlack_Obelisk%2c_four_faces.jpg)
![Part of the gift-bearing Israelite delegation of King Jehu, Black Obelisk, 841–840 BCE.[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBlack_Obelisk_side_4_Jewish_delegation.jpg)
![Jehu on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III.[13] This is "the only portrayal we have in ancient Near Eastern art of an Israelite or Judaean monarch".[4]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aJehu_on_the_Black_Obelisk_of_Shalmaneser_III.jpg)
Replicas can be found at theOriental Institute inChicago, Illinois; Harvard'sMuseum of the Ancient Near East inCambridge, Massachusetts; the ICOR Library in the Semitic Department atThe Catholic University of America inWashington, D.C.;Corban University'sPrewitt–Allen Archaeological Museum in Salem, Oregon; theSiegfried H. Horn Museum atAndrews University inBerrien Springs, MI; Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology in Pittsburgh, PA; Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand; theMuseum of Ancient Art at Aarhaus University in Denmark, and in the library of theTheological University of the Reformed Churches inKampen, the Netherlands.
