Shalmaneser III, Kurkh Monolith

In the eponymate of Dayan-Ashur, on the 14th of Aiaru (Iyyar), I set out from Nineveh . . .

I set out from the Euphrates and approached Aleppo. They (i.e., the inhabitants of Aleppo) were afraid of battle and seized my feet. I received their tribute, silver and gold, and offered sacrifices to the god Adad of Aleppo.

I set out from Aleppo and…

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This inscription of Shalmaneser III (king of Assyria, 859–824 BCE) records his defeat, in 853 BCE, of several Levantine kings who had joined in an alliance against him. The kings include Ahab, king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom), whose forces included the largest chariot contingent in the coalition. The battle is dated by the Assyrian “eponym” system in which years were not numbered but, instead, named for a high government official.

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