Shalmaneser III
King of Assyria who campaigned almost every year of his reign, most often in Syria. His inscriptions name Ahab of Israel among his opponents at Qarqar in 853 BC and record tribute from Jehu in 841 BC.
Shalmaneser III, son of Ashurnasirpal II, ruled Assyria from Kalhu and spent most of his reign trying to bring the kingdoms west of the Euphrates under tribute. The Bible does not name him, but his inscriptions name two kings of Israel.
His stela from Kurkh lists Ahab among the twelve kings who fought him at Qarqar in his sixth year (Kurkh Monolith ii 89–102); see Ahab at the Battle of Qarqar. In his eighteenth year he defeated Hazael of Damascus and received tribute from Jehu of Israel (Shalmaneser III, Annals RIAo 12, lines 21–30), a scene carved on the Black Obelisk he set up at Kalhu (Black Obelisk caption 2 (RIAo 88)); see Jehu’s Revolt and Tribute to Assyria. Because his years can be fixed from the Assyrian eponym lists, these two notices give the earliest fixed dates in the history of the Hebrew kings.
In the timeline
- 853 BC, firm dateAhab at the Battle of Qarqar
Shalmaneser III of Assyria meets a coalition of Syrian and Palestinian kings at Qarqar on the Orontes. His stela lists Ahab the Israelite among them. The Bible does not mention the battle, which gives the first fixed date in the history of Israel’s kings.
- 841 BC, firm dateJehu’s Revolt and Tribute to Assyria
The army commander Jehu, anointed at Elisha’s word, kills the kings of Israel and Judah, Jezebel and the house of Ahab, and destroys the temple of Baal in Samaria. In the same year Assyrian records show him paying tribute to Shalmaneser III.
Primary sources
The Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III
- Kurkh Monolith ii 89–102oracc.museum.upenn.edu
Annals of Shalmaneser III (Other Copies)
- Shalmaneser III, Annals RIAo 12, lines 21–30oracc.museum.upenn.edu
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
- Black Obelisk caption 2 (RIAo 88)oracc.museum.upenn.edu