| Shalmaneser III | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Shalmaneser III, on theThrone Dais of Shalmaneser III at theIraq Museum. | |
| King of theNeo-Assyrian Empire | |
| Reign | 35 regnal years 859–824 BC 858-823 BCE[1] |
| Predecessor | Ashurnasirpal II |
| Successor | Shamshi-Adad V |
| Born | 893–891 BC |
| Died | c. 824 BC |
| Father | Ashurnasirpal II |
| Mother | Mullissu-mukannishat-Ninua (?) |
Shalmaneser III (Šulmānu-ašarēdu, "the godShulmanu is pre-eminent") wasking of theNeo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC.[2]
His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, theBabylonians, the nations ofMesopotamia,Syria, as well asKizzuwadna andUrartu. His armies penetrated toLake Van and theTaurus Mountains; theNeo-Hittites ofCarchemish were compelled to pay tribute, and the kingdoms ofHamath andAram Damascus were subdued. It is in the annals of Shalmaneser III from the 850s BC that theArabs andChaldeans first appear inrecorded history.
On 1 Nisan 859 BC, Ashurnasirpal II entered his final 25th regnal year (April 859/858 BC). During this year, he died and was succeeded by Shalmaneser III who began his accession year (Year 0) and conducted his 1st military campaign. On 1 Nisan 858 BC, theAkītu festival (Assyrian New Year) was held and marked the formal beginning of regnal Year 1.
Shalmaneser began a campaign againstUrartu and reported that in 858 BCE, he destroyed the city ofSugunia, and then in 853 BCE Araškun. Both cities are assumed to have been capitals of Urartu beforeTushpa became a center for the Urartians.[3]
In 853 BC, a coalition was formed by eleven states, mainly byHadadezer, King ofAram-Damascus;Irhuleni, king ofHamath;Ahab, king ofNorthern Israel;Gindibu, king of theArabs; and some other rulers who fought the Assyrian king at theBattle of Qarqar. The result of the battle was not decisive, and Shalmaneser III had to fight his enemies several times again in the coming years, which eventually resulted in the occupation ofthe Levant,Jordan, and theSyrian Desert by the Assyrian Empire.
In 851 BC, following a rebellion in Babylon, Shalmaneser led a campaign against Marduk-bēl-ušate, younger brother of the king,Marduk-zakir-shumi I, who was an ally of Shalmaneser.[4] In the second year of the campaign, Marduk-bēl-ušate was forced to retreat and was killed. A record of these events was made on theBlack Obelisk:
In the eighth year of my reign, Marduk-bêl-usâte, the younger brother, revolted against Marduk-zâkir-šumi, king ofKarduniaš, and they divided the land in its entirety. In order to avenge Marduk-zâkir-šumi, I marched out and captured Mê-Turnat. In the ninth year of my reign, I marched against Akkad a second time. I besieged Ganannate. As for Marduk-bêl-usâte, the terrifying splendor of Assur and Marduk overcame him and he went up into the mountains to save his life. I pursued him. I cut down with the sword Marduk-bêl-usâte and the rebel army officers who were with him.
— Shalmaneser III, Black Obelisk[i 1]
In 841 BC, Shalmaneser campaigned against Hadadezer's successorHazael, forcing him to take refuge within the walls of his capital.[7] While Shalmaneser was unable to capture Damascus, he devastated its territory, andJehu of Israel (whose ambassadors are represented on theBlack Obelisk now in theBritish Museum), together with thePhoenician cities, prudently sent tribute to him in perhaps 841 BC.[8]Babylonia had already been conquered, including the areas occupied by migrantChaldaean,Sutean andAramean tribes, and the Babylonian king had been put to death.[9]
In 836 BC, Shalmaneser sent an expedition against the Tibareni (Tabal) which was followed by one againstCappadocia, and in 832 BC came another campaign againstUrartu.[10] In the following year, age required the king to hand over the command of his armies to theTartan (turtānu commander-in-chief)Dayyan-Assur, and six years later,Nineveh and other cities revolted against him under his rebel sonAssur-danin-pal.Civil war continued for two years; but the rebellion was at last crushed byShamshi-Adad V, another son of Shalmaneser. Shalmaneser died soon afterwards.
Despite the rebellion later in his reign, Shalmanesar had proven capable of expanding the frontiers of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, stabilising its hold over the Khabur and mountainous frontier region of the Zagros, contested withUrartu.
On 1 Nisan 824 BC, Shalmaneser III entered his final 35th regnal year (824/823 BC), during which time he died and was succeeded byShamshi-Adad V. This was the limmu year of "Bêl-bunaya, the palace herald" during which time there was a "revolt". The revolt had begun in Year 32 (827/826 BC) and was not suppressed until Year 3 of Shamshi-Adad V (821/820 BC).
His reign is significant toBiblical studies because two of his monuments name rulers from theHebrew Bible.[11] TheBlack Obelisk namesJehu son ofOmri (although Jehu was misidentified as a son of Omri).[11] TheKurkh Monolith names kingAhab, in reference to theBattle of Qarqar.
He had built a palace atKalhu (BiblicalCalah, modernNimrud), and left several editions of the royalannals recording his military campaigns, the last of which is engraved on theBlack Obelisk from Calah.
The Black Obelisk is a significant artifact from his reign. It is a blacklimestone,bas-reliefsculpture fromNimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northernIraq. It is the most complete Assyrianobelisk yet discovered, and is historically significant because it displays the earliest ancient depiction of anIsraelite. 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 includes the earliest surviving picture of an Israelite: the BiblicalJehu, king ofIsrael.[12]Jehu severedIsrael's alliances withPhoenicia andJudah, and became subject toAssyria. It describes how Jehu brought or sent his tribute in or around 841 BC.[13][11] The caption above the scene, written in Assyrian cuneiform, can be translated:
"The tribute ofJehu, son ofOmri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king [and] spears."[11]
It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a time of civil war. It was discovered by archaeologist SirAusten Henry Layard in 1846.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Shalmaneser".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Media related toShalmaneser III at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by | King of Assyria 859–824 BC | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
