I carried off captives, his valuables, and his palace possessions. The battle is recorded on the Kurkh Monolith. The most famous example is in the Kurkh Monolith, where an alliance of 11 kings are listed as 12 in the Assyrian document as fighting against Assyrian King Shalmaneser III in the battle of Qarqar. Battle of Qarqar: one of the fights during the Assyrian king Šalmaneser III's campaign against the city states of Syria. This, and the great number of spelling errors, suggest that the stela had to be erected quickly. At this point, the account on the Kurkh Stela breaks off. He left a description of the battle on a stele that was discovered in 1861 at Kurkh, near the Tigris river in Turkey. Battle of Qarqar (by Ancient Warfare Magazine/ Karwansaray Publishers) - Illustration of the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BCE between the Neo-Assyrian Empire led by Shalmaneser III and an alliance of twelve kings who waged war against him. They never directly acknowledge defeats and sometimes claim victories that were actually won by ancestors or predecessors. On one side: The Royal Assyrian Army led by king Shalmaneser III. Not to be confused with Ben Hadad as the Biblical account would claim, as he ruled 50 years later) of Damascus and King Ahab of Israel. Home » Articles » Battle » Qarqar (853 BCE), About Pictures Sources Countries Languages Categories Tags Thanks FAQ Donate Contact Articles Stubs. Assyrian Siege of Lachish (701) Several kingdoms in the Levant ceased to pay taxes. and two massive armies are lined up on an alluvial plain in front of the ancient city of Qarqar, in today’s northern Syria. As he crossed the Euphrates into northern Syria six kings of that area came to pay tribute to him without resisting. At Pitru, the king received envoys from Melidu (Melitene), Gurgum, Kummuhi (Commagene), Karchemiš, and Arpad, who stressed their loyalty. 700 chariots, 700 cavalry, and 10,000 troops of Irhuleni, the Hamathite; 2,000 chariots and 10,000 troops of Ahab, the. If this was indeed the operational aim of the coalition, it is logical to find them in the valley of the Orontes. Reality may have been different. Meaning of Qarqar. [1], Twelve Kings is an Akkadian term meant to symbolize any kind of alliance. The inscription records operations in all parts of the known world, but from the western front, it mentions two campaigns only: Qarqar and the first attack on Damascus. All rights reserved. 53 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically . c. Eponymy of [governor] Daiiān-Aššur: During this period of Assyrian history, each year was named after one of the governors within the Assyrian empire. In the midst of the battle I took away from them chariots, cavalry, and teams of horses. I felled with the sword their extensive troops. According to an inscription later erected by Shalmaneser, he had started his annual campaign, leaving Nineveh on the 14th day of Iyar. I spread out their corpses and I filled the plain. The Battle of Carcar (or Qarqar) was fought in 853 BC when the army of Assyria, led by king Shalmaneser III, encountered an allied army of 12 kings at Karkar led by Hadadezer (also called Adad-idr. He fought against Urartu and marched an army against an alliance of Aramean states headed by Hadadezer of Damascus and including Ahab, king of Israel, at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. This time, the coalition received no support from Arpad and Karchemiš, and it seems that this time, victory was decisive: the two states never returned to the coalition. But we also read that in 849, Šalmaneser had to fight against Karchemiš and Arpad, which had been loyal in 853, and against the coalition. At Karchemish, which was by now called Kar-Šalmaneser, the Assyrian army crossed the Euphrates. Irhuleni was the one most directly concerned. The Battle Of Qarqar Posted on July 14, 2012 by nathanalbright For historians of the ancient Near East, the area we call the Middle East, the Battle of Qarqar is one of the most famous battles in ancient history. This makes sense. But in describing the allied forces, Shalmaneser lists them in the following order: They defeated him in battle, marched to Damascus, pillaged the land, and received tribute from Sidon, Tyre, and Israel. The remaining city states and kingdoms in the west united in a defensive alliance, and seem to have tried to create dissension within the Assyrian realms. Note that some of “Solomon’s” campaigns near the Euphrates appear to have been transferred to the novelistic account of David as military leader. However, the royal inscriptions from this period are notoriously unreliable. In the Kurkh stela, Šalmaneser enumerates his opponents: I razed, destroyed, and burned the city of Qarqar, the royal city. pages 22-23), indicates that Ahab reigned from 904-883 BCE and that the Battle of Qarqar happened in 883 BCE, not 853 BCE. Far from stabilizing the region, it led to an escalation. He climbed to the citadel, sacrificed to Hadad, and proceeded to the southwest, where he invaded Hamath: the first kingdom of the anti-Assyrian coalition. In 857, he reached the Amanus Mountains and the Mediterranean shores, and in the next year, he settled Assyrians in this land. This time, the Assyrians seem to have met an isolated king Hazael of Damascus, because the coalition is not mentioned. Assyrian power in Syria was to last for two centuries. Ten years later, Šalmaneser for the third time ordered the composition of his Annals ("Recension C"). Lawrence Mykytiuk reveals the surprising number—from Israelite kings to Mesopotamian monarchs—and some lesser figures as well. Oct 13 Blog. Qarqar is described as the royal residence of Irhuleni. I made their blood flow in the wadis. Sennacherib set out to again subjugate them. A possible solution is to assume that the final item is in fact a reference to two states: Ba'asa may have been king of Ammon and Beth-Rehob, although these two territories were separated by Damascus. If left unchecked, Shalmaneser III would turn south and quickly overrun every kingdom in his way. Illustration of the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BCE between the Neo-Assyrian Empire led by Shalmaneser III and an alliance of twelve kings who waged war against him. The town belonged to Sam'al, which had already surrendered, but Šalmaneser presents its surrender as something special. In 833, Šalmaneser ordered his statue to be erected near one of the gates of Aššur. It has been said that this battle between Assyria and a coalition of Canaanite and Syrian kingdoms consisted of the largest number of combatants of any battle to date, so why is it not mentioned? Coordinates: 35°44′34″N 36°19′50″E / 35.742646°N 36.330543°E / 35.742646; 36.330543. Battle of Qarqar (Karkar) revisited Part One: Re-stating the Assyrian problem by Damien F. Mackey The problem is that, according to the revised system that I follow, the long reign of Shalmaneser III, conventionally situated as it is in the mid-C9th BC, must coincide with the revised El Amarna period of Egyptian history of pharaohs Amenhotep III, Akhnaton, (Smenkhkare) and Tutankhamun. If Shalmaneser had won a clear victory at Qarqar, it did not immediately lead to further Assyrian conquests in Syria. What does Qarqar mean? We are not certain about this, but the Kurkh Stela, our main source for Šalmaneser's western campaigns, refers to a rebel named Giammu in the valley of the river Balik. Next year, the Assyrians again had to fight against Karchemiš, Arpad, and Hamath; a third battle against the coalition forces ended in the inevitable Assyrian victory. The Assyrian king Šalmaneser III was a remarkable warrior, who often fought against the city states in the west. Shortly after the Battle of Qarqar, king Ahab is killed in battle at Ramoth-gilead, after the covenant between him and his Aramaen counterpart broke down (1 Kings 22). Bunnens, Guy; Hawkins, J.D. 1,200 chariots, 1,200 cavalry, and 20,000 troops of Hadad-Ezer ("Arad-idri") of. Proceeding to the west, the Assyrian army reached Halman, or Aleppo, as we know it. It also documents the battle of Qarqar in 853 BC, year 6 of Shalmaneser’s reign warred against Ben-Hadad II and his coalition of 12 kings, one of whom was Ahab. The coalition had been broken, and Assyrian power in Syria was to last for two centuries. After leaving Nineveh with his army in early May, 853 B.C., Shalmaneser stopped in the Upper Euphrates River Valley long enough to subjugate one town. The Battle of Qarqar (or Ḳarḳar) was fought in 853 BC, when the army of Assyria led by king Shalmaneser III encountered an allied army of eleven kings at Qarqar, led by Hadadezer (also called Adad-idr and possibly to be identified with Benhadad II) of Damascus and King Ahab of Israel. The main source is the Kurkh Stela, which has become famous because it mentions king Ahab of Israel. The most likely solution is that the number twelve is just symbolic. If Hamath had been the aim of Šalmaneser's invasion, this is illogical, and we may assume that the king had another reason to go in this direction: because he knew that the army of his enemies was - or would be arriving - here. Shalmaneser III was the first Assyrian king to seize territory west of the Euphrates, and the battle of Qarqar in 853 BCE against the South Syrian League is notable in that respect. Šalmaneser describes the fight in highly stereotypical phrases: With the supreme forces which Aššur, my lord, had given me and with the mighty weapons which the divine standard, which goes before me, had granted me, I fought with them. (2006). "Recension D" of Šalmaneser's Annals, which is inscribed on two monumental bulls found in Kalhu (Nimrud), refers to another campaign, in 841. This was the greatest battle the world had ever seen up to this date. The Battle of Qarqar (or Ḳarḳar) was fought in 853 BC when the army of Assyria led by king Shalmaneser III encountered an allied army of twelve kings at Qarqar led by Hadadezer (also called Adad-idr and possibly to be identified with Benhadad II) of Damascus and King Ahab of Israel. 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