Editing Shalmaneser III

{{Short description|King of Assyria}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name         = Shalmaneser III
| title        = {{unbulleted list
   | [[King of Assyria]]
   | [[Glorious King of the Lands]]
   | [[King of the Four Corners of the World]]
   | [[King of All Peoples]]
 }}
| image        = Shalmaneser III (relief detail).jpg
| caption      = Shalmaneser III, on the ''Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III'' at the [[Iraq Museum]].
| reign        = 35 regnal years<br>859–824 BC
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Ashurnasirpal II]]
| successor    = [[Shamshi-Adad V]]
| spouse       = 
| royal house  = 
| father       = [[Ashurnasirpal II]]
| mother       = {{nowrap|[[Mullissu-mukannishat-Ninua]] (?)}}
| birth_date   = 893–891 BC
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = {{Circa|824 BC}}
| death_place  = 
| buried       = 
| succession   = King of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]
}} 

'''Shalmaneser III''' (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god [[Shulmanu]] is pre-eminent") was king of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] from 859 BC to 824 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Assyria/Inscra01.html |title=Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II |publisher=Mcadams.posc.mu.edu |access-date=26 October 2012}}</ref>

His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the [[Babylon]]ians, the nations of [[Mesopotamia]], [[Syria]], as well as [[Kizzuwadna]] and [[Urartu]]. His armies penetrated to [[Lake Van]] and the [[Taurus Mountains]]; the [[Neo-Hittites]] of [[Carchemish]] were compelled to pay tribute, and the kingdoms of [[Hamath]] and [[Aram Damascus]] were subdued. It is in the annals of Shalmaneser III from the 850s BC that the [[Arab people|Arabs]] and [[Chaldea]]ns first appear in [[recorded history]].

==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]].

==In Biblical studies==
His reign is significant to [[Biblical studies]] because two of his monuments name rulers from the [[Hebrew Bible]].<ref name="AC"/> The [[Black Obelisk]] names [[Jehu]] son of [[Omri]] (although Jehu was misidentified as a son of Omri).<ref name="AC"/> The [[Kurkh Monolith]] names king [[Ahab]], in reference to the [[Battle of Qarqar]].

==Construction and the Black Obelisk==
[[File:The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, 9th century BC, from Nimrud, Iraq. The British Museum.jpg|thumb|The [[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]], 9th century BC, from Nimrud, Iraq. The British Museum.]]
{{main|Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III}}
He had built a palace at [[Kalhu]] (Biblical [[Calah]], modern [[Nimrud]]), and left several editions of the royal [[annals]] recording his military campaigns, the last of which is engraved on the [[Black Obelisk]] from Calah.

The Black Obelisk is a significant artifact from his reign.  It is a black [[limestone]], [[bas-relief]] [[sculpture]] from [[Nimrud]] (ancient Kalhu), in northern [[Iraq]]. It is the most complete Assyrian [[obelisk]] yet discovered, and is historically significant because it displays the earliest ancient depiction of an [[Israelite]]. 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 second [[Register (sculpture)|register]] from the top includes the earliest surviving picture of an Israelite: the Biblical [[Jehu]], king of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]].<ref>This is "the only portrayal we have in ancient Near Eastern art of an Israelite or Judaean monarch"in {{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> [[Jehu]] severed [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel's]] alliances with [[Phoenicia]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], and became subject to [[Assyria]]. It describes how Jehu brought or sent his tribute in or around 841 BC.<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><ref name="AC">{{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 |pages=127–128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRKU0YXBWtgC&pg=PA127 |language=en}}</ref> The caption above the scene, written in Assyrian cuneiform, can be translated:

<blockquote>"The tribute of [[Jehu]], son of [[Omri]]: 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."<ref name="AC"/></blockquote>

It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a time of civil war. It was discovered by archaeologist Sir [[Austen Henry Layard]] in 1846.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
King Shalmaneser III Istanbul Museum.JPG|Statue of Shalmaneser III at Istanbul Archaeological Museums
File:Statue of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud, Iraq Museum.jpg|Statue of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud, Iraq Museum
File:Kurba'il Statue of Shalmaneser III from Fort Shalmaneser, Iraq Museum.jpg|Kurba'il Statue of Shalmaneser III from Fort Shalmaneser, Iraq Museum
File:Shalmaneser III, detail of glazed wall panel from Fort Shalmaneser, Iraq Museum.jpg|Shalmaneser III, detail of glazed wall panel from Fort Shalmaneser, Iraq Museum
File:Throne dais of Shalmaneser III from Fort Shalmaneser, Iraq Museum.jpg|Throne dais of Shalmaneser III from Fort Shalmaneser, Iraq Museum
File:Unfinished basalt statue of Shalmaneser III. From Assur, Iraq. 858-824 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.jpg|Unfinished basalt statue of Shalmaneser III, from Assur, Iraq. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul
File:The upper end of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, from Nimrud, Mesopotamia...JPG|The upper end of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, from Nimrud, the British Museum
Image:black-obelisk.jpg|Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, the British Museum
File:Throne dais of Shalmaneser III, Royal reception.jpg|Throne dais of Shalmaneser III, Royal reception
File:Throne dais of Shalmaneser III, procession.jpg|Throne dais of Shalmaneser III, procession
File:Statue of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.jpg|Statue of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad
File:Shalmaneser III, detail, North Face, East End, Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud, Iraq.jpg|Shalmaneser III, detail, North Face, East End, Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud, Iraq
File:Shalmaneser III, detail, south face, west end, Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud, Iraq.jpg|Shalmaneser III, detail, south face, west end, Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud, Iraq
File:Kurba'il Statue of Shalmaneser III at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.jpg|Kurba'il Statue of Shalmaneser III at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad

File:آجرات_الملك_شلمنصر_الثالث.jpg|Shulmano Osser the third , the great king The strong king , king of the world , king of the country Assyria Son of the Ashour Nassir Abli ( the second ) , king of the country Assyria Son of Toklty Ninorta ( the second ) king of the world king of the country Assyria Building a Ziqqurat King of kilkho city ... cuneiform writings on the bricks of King Shalmaneser III  in  '''[[Erbil Civilization Museum]]'''
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of artifacts significant to the Bible]]
*[[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]]
*[[Short chronology timeline]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=i}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{EB1911|wstitle = Shalmaneser|volume=24}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Kirk Grayson |first=A. |url=https://archive.org/details/AssyrianRulersOfTheEarlyFirstMillenniumBc858-754Bc |title=Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC (858-754 BC) |publisher=University of Toronto press |year=1996}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070212033855/http://library.case.edu/ksl/ecoll/books/kinbro00/kinbro00.html Gates of Shalmanser III and Assurnasirpal. Bronze Reliefs from the Gates of Shalmaneser King of Assyria ]
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10887 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III ''Babylonian and Assyrian Literature''.]
* [http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/obelisk.html Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ashurnasirpal II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Assyria]]|years=859&ndash;824 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Shamshi-Adad V]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Assyrian kings}}
{{Neo-Assyrian empire topics}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shalmaneser Iii}}
[[Category:9th-century BC Assyrian kings]]
[[Category:820s BC deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Kings of the Lands]]