Editing Shalmaneser III (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Karkar.jpg|thumb|left|220px|[[Kurkh Monolith|Kurkh stela]] of Shalmaneser that commemorates the battle of Carcar.]]
[[File:Shalmaneser III greets Marduk-zakir-shumi, detail, front panel, Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III at the Iraq Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Marduk-zakir-shumi I]] (left) greeted by Shalmaneser III (right). Detail, front panel, Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III, [[Iraq Museum]].]]

===Campaigns===
Shalmaneser began a campaign against [[Urartu]] and reported that in 858 BCE, he destroyed the city of [[Sugunia]], and then in 853 BCE Araškun. Both cities are assumed to have been capitals of Urartu before [[Tushpa]] became a center for the Urartians.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom|last=Çiftçi|first=Ali|publisher=Brill|year=2017|isbn=9789004347588|pages=190}}</ref> In 853 BC, a coalition was formed by eleven states, mainly by [[Hadadezer]], King of [[Aram-Damascus]]; [[Irhuleni]], king of [[Hamath]]; [[Ahab]], king of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Northern Israel]]; [[Gindibu]], king of the [[Arabs]]; and some other rulers who fought the Assyrian king at the [[Battle 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 of [[the Levant]], [[Jordan]], and the [[Syrian 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.<ref>Jean Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles, Atlanta 2004,</ref> 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 the [[Black Obelisk]]:

{{ quote|In the eighth year of my reign, Marduk-bêl-usâte, the younger brother, revolted against Marduk-zâkir-šumi, king of [[Karduniaš]], 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<ref group=i>''[[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III|Black Obelisk]]'', BM WAA 118885, crafted {{Circa|827 BC}}, lines 73–84</ref> }}

===Against Israel===
[[File:Jehu-Obelisk-cropped.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Jehu]] bows before Shalmaneser III.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuan |first1=Jeffrey Kah-Jin |title=Neo-Assyrian Historical Inscriptions and Syria-Palestine: Israelite/Judean-Tyrian-Damascene Political and Commercial Relations in the Ninth-Eighth Centuries BCE |date=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-8143-0 |pages=64–66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zMOqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 |language=en}}</ref> This is "the only portrayal we have in ancient Near Eastern art of an Israelite or Judaean monarch".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Ada |last2=Kangas |first2=Steven E. |title=Assyrian Reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II: A Cultural Biography |date=2010 |publisher=UPNE |isbn=978-1-58465-817-7 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRKU0YXBWtgC&pg=PA127 |language=en}}</ref>]]

In 841 BC, Shalmaneser campaigned against Hadadezer's successor [[Hazael]], forcing him to take refuge within the walls of his capital.<ref name="Bryce2014">{{cite book|author=Trevor Bryce|title=Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=41-MAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR14|date=6 March 2014|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-100293-9|page=14}}</ref> While Shalmaneser was unable to capture Damascus, he devastated its territory, and [[Jehu]] of Israel (whose ambassadors are represented on the [[Black Obelisk]] now in the [[British Museum]]), together with the [[Phoenicia]]n cities, prudently sent tribute to him in perhaps 841 BC.<ref name="Lamb2007">On the year that Jehu sent tribute, see {{cite book|author=David T. Lamb|title=Righteous Jehu and His Evil Heirs: The Deuteronomist's Negative Perspective on Dynastic Succession|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0YTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|date=22 November 2007|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-923147-8|page=34}}</ref> [[Babylonia]] had already been conquered, including the areas occupied by migrant [[Chaldaea]]n, [[Sutean]] and [[Aramean]] tribes, and the Babylonian king had been put to death.<ref>Georges Roux - Ancient Iraq</ref>

===Against Tibareni===
In 836 BC, Shalmaneser sent an expedition against the Tibareni ([[Tabal (state)|Tabal]]) which was followed by one against [[Cappadocia]], and in 832 BC came another campaign against [[Urartu]].<ref>"In 836 Shalmaneser made an expedition against the Tibareni (Tabal) which was followed by one against Cappadocia" in {{cite book |last1=Chisholm |first1=Hugh |last2=Garvin |first2=James Louis |title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature & General Information |date=1926 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Company, Limited |page=798 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBFGAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref> In the following year, age required the king to hand over the command of his armies to the [[Turtanu|Tartan]] (''turtānu'' commander-in-chief) [[Dayyan-Assur]], and six years later, [[Nineveh]] and other cities revolted against him under his rebel son [[Assur-danin-pal]]. [[Civil war]] continued for two years; but the rebellion was at last crushed by [[Shamshi-Adad V]], another son of Shalmaneser. Shalmaneser died soon afterwards.

===Later campaigns===
[[File:Expansion of Neo Assyrian Empire under Shalmanesar III.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Campaigns of Shalmaneser III]]
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 with [[Urartu]].