Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III Part 1

Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Library collection: "World's Greatest Literature"

Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

Published work: "Babylonian and Assyrian Literature"
Translator: Rev. A. H. Sayce, M.A.
Publisher: P. F. Collier & Son, New York
Copyright: Colonial Press, 1901
Notes - (Page 238)
This inscription is engraved on an obelisk of black marble, five feet in height, found by Mr. Layard in the centre of the Mound at Nimroud, and now in the British Museum. Each of its four sides is divided into five compartments of sculpture representing the tribute brought to the Assyrian King by vassal princes, Jehu of Israel being among the number. Shalmaneser, whose annals and conquests are recorded upon it, was the son of Assur-natsir-pal, and died in 823 B.C., after a reign of thirty-five years. A translation of the inscription was one of the first achievements of Assyrian decipherment, and was made by Sir. H. Rawlinson; and Dr. Hincks shortly afterward (in 1851) succeeded in reading the name of Jehu in it. M. Oppert translated the inscription in his "Histoire des Empires de Chaldee et d'Assyrie," and M. Menant has given another rendering of it in his "Annales des Rois d'Assyrie" (1874). A copy of the text will be found in Layard's "Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Character" (1851).

Note: Jehu of Israel is not actually in the text: it is in the Epigraphs accompanying the sculptures as "Yahua son of Khumri".
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
(Pages 238-249)
Face A
[1] Assur, the great Lord, the King of all

[2] the great gods; Anu, King of the spirits of heaven
[3] and the spirits of earth, the god, Lord of the world; Bel
[4] the Supreme, Father of the gods, the Creator;
[5] Hea, King of the deep, determiner of destinies,
[6] the King of crowns, drinking in brilliance;
[7] Rimmon, the crowned hero, Lord of canals; the Sun-god
[8] the Judge of heaven and earth, the urger on of all;
[9] (Merodach), Prince of the gods, Lord of battles; Adar, the terrible,
[10] (Lord) of the spirits of heaven and the spirits of earth, the exceeding strong god; Nergal,
[11] the powerful (god), King of the battle; Nebo, the bearer of the high sceptre,
[12] the god, the Father above; Beltis, the wife of Bel, mother of the (great) gods;
[13] Istar, sovereign of heaven and earth, who the face of heroism perfectest;
[14] the great (gods), determining destinies, making great my kingdom.
[15] (I am) Shalmaneser, King of multitudes of men, prince (and) hero of Assur, the strong King,
[16] King of all the four zones of the Sun (and) of multitudes of men, the marcher over
[17] the whole world; Son of Assur-natsir-pal, the supreme hero, who his heroism over the gods
[18] has made good and has caused all the world to kiss his feet;
Face B

[19] the noble offspring of Tiglath-Adar
[20] who has laid his yoke upon all lands hostile to him, and
[21] has swept (them) like a whirlwind.
[22] At the beginning of my reign, when on the throne
[23] of royalty mightily I had seated myself, the chariots
[24] of my host I collected. Into the lowlands of the country of 'Sime'si
[25] I descended. The city of Aridu, the strong city
[26] of Ninni, I took. In my first year
[27] the Euphrates in its flood I crossed. To the sea of the setting sun
[28] I went. My weapons on the sea I rested. Victims
[29] for my gods I took. To mount Amanus I went up.
[30] Logs of cedar-wood and pine-wood I cut. To
[31] the country of Lallar I ascended. An image of my Royalty in the midst (of it) I erected.
[32] In my second year to the city of Tel-Barsip I approached. The cities
[33] of Akhuni the son of Adin I captured. In his city I shut him up. The Euphrates
[34] in its flood I crossed. The city of Dabigu, a choice city of the Hittites
[35] together with the cities which (were) dependent upon it I captured. In my third year Akhuni
[36] the son of Adin, from the face of my mighty weapons fled, and the city of Tel-Barsip,
Face C

[37] his royal city, he fortified. The Euphrates I crossed.

[38] The city unto Assyria I restored. I took it. (The town) which (is) on the further side
[39] of the Euphrates which (is) upon the river 'Sagurri, which the Kings
[40] of the Hittites call the city of Pitru,
[41] for myself I took. At my return
[42] into the lowlands of the country of Alzi I descended. The country of Alzi I conquered.
[43] The countries of Dayaeni (and) Elam, (and) the city of Arzascunu, the royal city
[44] of Arame of the country of the Armenians, the country of Gozan (and) the country of Khupuscia.
[45] During the eponymy of Dayan-Assur from the city of Nineveh I departed. The Euphrates
[46] in its upper part I crossed. After Akhuni the son of Adin I went.
[47] The heights on the banks of the Euphrates as his stronghold he made.
[48] The mountains I attacked, I captured. Akhuni with his gods, his chariots,
[49] his horses, his sons (and) his daughters I carried away. To my city Assur
[50] I brought (them). In that same year the country of Kullar I crossed. To the country of Zamua
[51] of Bit-Ani I went down. The cities of Nigdiara of the city of the Idians
[52] (and) Nigdima I captured. In my fifth year to the country of Kasyari I ascended.
[53] The strongholds I captured. Elkhitti of the Serurians (in) his city I shut up. His tribute
[54] to a large amount I received. In my sixth year to the cities on the banks of the river Balikhi
Face D

[55] I approached. Gi'ammu, their Governor, I smote.
[56] To the city of Tel-abil-akhi I descended.
[57] The Euphrates in its upper part I crossed.
[58] The tribute of the Kings of the Hittites
[59] all of them I received. In those days Rimmon-idri
[60] of Damascus, Irkhulina of Hamath,. and the Kings
[61] of the Hittites and of the sea-coasts to the forces of each other
[62] trusted, and to make war and battle
[63] against me came. By the command of Assur, the great Lord, my Lord,
[64] with them I fought. A destruction of them I made.
[65] Their chariots, their war-carriages, their war-material I took from them.
[66] 20,500 of their fighting men with arrows I slew.
[67] In my seventh year to the cities of Khabini of the city of Tel-Abni I went.
[68] The City of Tel-Abni, his stronghold, together with the cities which (were) dependent on it I captured.
[69] To the head of the river, the springs of the Tigris, the place where the waters rise, I went.
[70] The weapons of Assur in the midst (of it) I rested. Sacrifices for my gods I took. Feasts and rejoicing
[71] I made. An image of my Royalty of large size I constructed. The laws of Assur my Lord, the records
[72] of my victories, whatsoever in the world I had done, in the midst of it I wrote. In the middle (of the country) I set (it) up.
Face A, base

[73] In my eighth year, Merodach-suma-iddin King of Gan-Dunias

[74] did Merodach-bila-yu'sate his foster-brother against him rebel;
[75] strongly had he fortified (the land). To exact punishment
[76] against Merodach-suma-iddin I went. The city of the waters of the Dhurnat I took.
[77] In my ninth campaign a second time to the land of Accad I went.
[78] The city of Gana-nate I besieged. Merodach-bila-yu'sate exceeding fear
[79] of Assur (and) Merodach overwhelmed, and to save his life to
[80] the mountains he ascended. After him I rode. Merodach-bila-yu'sate (and) the officers
[81] the rebels who (were) with him (with) arrows I slew. To the great fortresses
[82] I went. Sacrifices in Babylon, Borsippa, (and) Cuthah I made.
[83] Thanksgivings to the great gods I offered up. To the country of Kaldu I descended. Their cities I captured.
[84] The tribute of the Kings of the country of Kaldu I received. The greatness of my arms as far as the sea overwhelmed.

A Phoenician head

[85] In my tenth year for the eighth time the Euphrates I crossed. The cities of 'Sangara of the city of the Carchemishians I captured.
[86] To the cities of Arame I approached. Arne his royal city with 100 of his (other) towns I captured.
[87] In my eleventh year for the ninth time the Euphrates I crossed. Cities to a countless number I captured. To the cities of the Hittites
[88] of the land of the Hamathites I went down. Eighty-nine cities I took. Rimmon-idri of Damascus (and) twelve of the Kings of the Hittites
[89] with one another's forces strengthened themselves. A destruction of them I made. In my twelfth campaign for the tenth time the Euphrates I crossed.
[90] To the land of Pagar-khubuna I went. Their spoil I carried away. In my thirteenth year to the country of Yaeti I ascended.
[91] Their spoil I carried away. In my fourteenth year the country I assembled; the Euphrates I crossed. Twelve Kings against me had come.
[92] I fought. A destruction of them I made. In my fifteenth year among the sources of the Tigris (and) the Euphrates I went. An image
[93] of my Majesty in their hollows I erected. In my sixteenth year the waters of the Zab I crossed. To the country of Zimri
[94] I went. Merodach-mudammik King of the land of Zimru to save his life (the mountains) ascended. His treasure
[95] his army (and) his gods to Assyria I brought. Yan'su son of Khanban to the kingdom over them I raised.
Face B, base

[96] In my seventeenth year the Euphrates I crossed. To the land of Amanus I ascended. Logs
[97] of cedar I cut. In my eighteenth year for the sixteenth time the Euphrates I crossed. Hazael
[98] of Damascus to battle came. 1,221 of his chariots, 470 of his war-carriages with
[99] his camp I took from him. In my nineteenth campaign for the eighteenth time the Euphrates I crossed. To the land of Amanus
[100] I ascended. Logs of cedar I cut. In my 20th year for the 20th time the Euphrates
To be continued

Twenty Sixth Egyptian Dynasty 664 - 525 BCE, Psamtik III

This dynasty traced its origins to 24th dynasty. Psamtik I was probably a descendant of Bakenrenef, and following the Assyrians' invasions during the reigns of Taharqa and Tantamani, he was recognized as sole king over all of Egypt. With the sack of Nineveh in 612 BC and the fall of the Assyrian Empire, both Psamtik and his successors attempted to reassert Egyptian power in the Near East, but were driven back by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II. With the help of Greek mercenaries, Apries was able to hold back Babylonian attempts to conquer Egypt, but it was the Persians who conquered Egypt, and their king Cambyses II carried Psamtik III to Susa in chains.

Twenty Sixth Egyptian Dynasty 664 - 525 BCE

Psamtik III Relief

Psamtik I/Wahibre 664 - 610 BCE.
Necho II/Wehemibre 610 - 595 BCE.
Psamtik II/Neferibre 595 - 589 BCE.
Apries/Haaibre 589 - 570 BCE.
Amasis II/Khnemibre 570 - 526 BCE.
Psamtik III/Ankhkeanre 526 - 525 BCE.

Psamtik III (also spelled Psammetichus or Psammeticus) was the last Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt from 526 BC to 525 BC. Most of what is known about his reign and life was documented by the Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century.

Herodotus states that Psamtik had ruled Egypt for only six months before he was confronted by a Persian invasion of his country led by King Cambyses II of Persia. Psammetichus was subsequently defeated at Pelusium, and fled to Memphis where he was captured. The deposed pharaoh was carried off to Susa in chains, and later executed.

Psamtik III was the son of the pharaoh Amasis II and one of his wives, Queen Tentkheta. He succeeded his father as pharaoh in 526 BC, when Amasis died after a long and prosperous reign of some 44 years. According to Herodotus, he had a son named Amasis and a wife and daughter, both unnamed in historical documents. Psamtik ruled Egypt for no more than six months. A few days after his coronation, rain fell at Thebes, which was a rare event that frightened some Egyptians, who interpreted this as a bad omen.

The young and inexperienced pharaoh was no match for the invading Persians. After the Persians under Cambyses had crossed the Sinai desert with the aid of the Arabs, a bitter battle was fought near Pelusium, a city on Egypt's eastern frontier, in the spring of 525 BC. The Egyptians were defeated at Pelusium and Psamtik was betrayed by one of his allies, Phanes of Halicarnas. Consequently, Psamtik and his army were compelled to withdraw to Memphis. The Persians captured the city after a long siege, and captured Psamtik after its fall. Shortly thereafter, Cambyses ordered the public execution of two thousand of the principal citizens, including (it is said) a son of the fallen king.

According to book III of The History by Herodotus, Psamtik's daughter was enslaved, his son given a death sentence, and a male companion was turned into a beggar. They were all brought before him to test his reaction, and he only became upset over seeing the state of the beggar. Psamtik III was spared but his son was cut to pieces. The deposed pharaoh was imprisoned and taken to Susa in chains where he was initially treated relatively well. After a while, however,

Psamtik reportedly plotted a rebellion against Cambyses and was executed for his involvement in this conspiracy by being forced to drink bull's blood thereby causing his death.
Relief depicting Psamtik III from a chapel in Karnak

Twenty Sixth Egyptian Dynasty 664 - 525 BCE, Amasis

Twenty Sixth Egyptian Dynasty 664 - 525 BCE, Psamtik I, Necho II
This dynasty traced its origins to 24th dynasty. Psamtik I was probably a descendant of Bakenrenef, and following the Assyrians' invasions during the reigns of Taharqa and Tantamani, he was recognized as sole king over all of Egypt. With the sack of Nineveh in 612 BC and the fall of the Assyrian Empire, both Psamtik and his successors attempted to reassert Egyptian power in the Near East, but were driven back by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II. With the help of Greek mercenaries, Apries was able to hold back Babylonian attempts to conquer Egypt, but it was the Persians who conquered Egypt, and their king Cambyses II carried Psamtik III to Susa in chains.

Amasis II/Khnemibre

Twenty Sixth Egyptian Dynasty 664 - 525 BCE
Psamtik I/Wahibre 664 - 610 BCE.
Necho II/Wehemibre 610 - 595 BCE.
Psamtik II/Neferibre 595 - 589 BCE.
Apries/Haaibre 589 - 570 BCE.
Amasis II/Khnemibre 570 - 526 BCE.
Psamtik III/Ankhkeanre 526 - 525 BCE.

Amasis II or Ahmose II was a pharaoh (570 B.C.E. - 526 B.C.E.) of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest. Most of our information about him is derived from Herodotus (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence.

According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins A revolt which broke out among native Egyptian soldiers gave him his opportunity to seize the throne. These troops, returning home from a disastrous military expedition to Cyrene in Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that Apries, the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greek mercenaries; many Egyptians fully sympathized with them.

General Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels instead, and Apries, who had now to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated. Apries was either taken prisoner in the ensuing conflict at Memphis before being eventually strangled and buried in his ancestral tomb at Sais, or fled to the Babylonians and was killed mounting an invasion of his native homeland in 567 B.C.E. with the aid of a Babylonian army. An inscription confirms the struggle between the native Egyptian and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the third year of Amasis (c.567 B.C.E.).

Amasis then married Chedebnitjerbone II, one of the daughters of his predecessor Apries, in order to legitimize his kingship. Some information is known about the family origins of Amasis: his mother was a certain Tashereniset as a bust statue of this lady, which is today located in the British Museum, shows. A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother - Tashereniset's mother - was a certain Tjenmutetj Herodotus describes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies.

According to Herodotus, Amasis, was asked by Cambyses II or Cyrus the Great for an Egyptian ophthalmologist on good terms. Amasis seems to have complied by forcing an Egyptian physician into mandatory labor causing him to leave his family behind in Egypt and move to Persia in forced exile. In an attempt to exact revenge for his forced exile, the physician would grow very close with Cambyses and would suggest that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians. Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage.

Amasis II/Khnemibre

Amasis worrying that his daughter would be a concubine to the Persian king refused to give up his offspring; Amasis also was not willing to take on the Persian empire so he concocted a trickery in which he forced the daughter of the ex-pharaoh Apries, whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring.

This daughter of Apries, was none other than Nitetis, who was as per Herodotus's account, "tall and beautiful." Nitetis naturally, betrayed Amasis and upon being greeted by the Persian king explained Amasis' trickery and her true origins. This infuriated Cambyses and he vowed to take revenge for it. Amasis would die before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III would be defeated by the Persians.

Although Amasis thus appears first as champion of the disparaged native, he had the good sense to cultivate the friendship of the Greek world, and brought Egypt into closer touch with it than ever before. Herodotus relates that under his prudent administration, Egypt reached a new level of wealth; Amasis adorned the temples of Lower Egypt especially with splendid monolithic shrines and other monuments (his activity here is proved by existing remains). Amasis assigned the commercial colony of Naucratis on the Canopic branch of the Nile to the Greeks, and when the temple of Delphi was burnt, he contributed 1,000 talents to the rebuilding.

He also married a Greek princess named Ladice daughter of King Battus III and made alliances with Polycrates of Samos and Croesus of Lydia. His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the First Cataract, but to this he added Cyprus, and his influence was great in Cyrene. In his fourth year (c.567 B.C.E.), Amasis was able to defeat an invasion of Egypt by the Babylonians under Nebuchadrezzar II; henceforth, the Babylonians experienced sufficient difficulties controlling their empire that they were forced to abandon future attacks against Amasis.

However, Amasis was later faced with a more formidable enemy with the rise of Persia under Cyrus who ascended to the throne in 559 B.C.E.; his final years were preoccupied by the threat of the impending Persian onslaught against Egypt.
Amasis II died in 526 BC.

Twenty Sixth Egyptian Dynasty 664 - 525 BCE, Apries

This dynasty traced its origins to 24th dynasty. Psamtik I was probably a descendant of Bakenrenef, and following the Assyrians' invasions during the reigns of Taharqa and Tantamani, he was recognized as sole king over all of Egypt. With the sack of Nineveh in 612 BC and the fall of the Assyrian Empire, both Psamtik and his successors attempted to reassert Egyptian power in the Near East, but were driven back by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II. With the help of Greek mercenaries, Apries was able to hold back Babylonian attempts to conquer Egypt, but it was the Persians who conquered Egypt, and their king Cambyses II carried Psamtik III to Susa in chains.
Twenty Sixth Egyptian Dynasty 664 - 525 BCE

Psamtik I/Wahibre 664 - 610 BCE.

Apries

Necho II/Wehemibre 610 - 595 BCE.
Psamtik II/Neferibre 595 - 589 BCE.
Apries/Haaibre 589 - 570 BCE.
Amasis II/Khnemibre 570 - 526 BCE.
Psamtik III/Ankhkeanre 526 - 525 BCE.

Apries is the name by which Herodotus (ii. 161) and Diodorus (i. 68) designate Wahibre Haaibre, (Pharaoh-Hophra), a pharaoh of Egypt (589 BC - 570 BC), the fourth king (counting from Psamtik I) of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years. Apries is also called Hophra in Jeremiah 44:30. Apries inherited the throne from his father, pharaoh Psamtik II, in February 589 BC and his reign continued his father's history of foreign intrigue in Palestinian affairs. Apries was an active builder who constructed "additions to the temples at Athribis (Tell Atrib), Bahariya Oasis, Memphis and Sais."

In Year 4 of his reign, Apries' sister Ankhnesneferibre was adopted as the new God's Wife of Amun at Thebes. However, Apries' reign was also fraught with internal problems. In 588 BC, Apries dispatched a force to Jerusalem to protect it from Babylonian forces sent by Nebuchadrezzar II. His forces were quickly crushed and Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. His unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the politics of the Kingdom of Judah was followed by a mutiny of soldiers from the strategically important Aswan garrison.

While the mutiny was contained, Apries later attempted to protect Libya from incursions by Dorian Greek invaders but his efforts here backfired spectacularly as his forces were mauled by the Greek invaders. When the defeated army returned home, a civil war broke out between the indigenous Egyptian army troops and foreign mercenaries in the Egyptian army. At this time of crisis, the Egyptians turned in support towards a victorious general, Amasis II who had led Egyptian forces in a highly successful invasion of Nubia in 592 BC under pharaoh Psamtik II, Apries' father. Amasis quickly declared himself pharaoh in 570 BC and Apries fled Egypt and sought refuge in another foreign country.

When Apries marched back to Egypt in 567 BC with the aid of a Babylonian army to reclaim the throne of Egypt, he was likely killed in battle with Amasis' forces. Amasis thus secured his kingship over Egypt and was now the unchallenged ruler of Egypt. Amasis, however, reportedly treated Apries' mortal remains with respect and observed the proper funerary rituals by having Apries' body carried to Sais and buried there with "full military honours."

Amasis, the former general who had declared himself pharaoh also married Apries' daughter Chedebnitjerbone II to legitimise his accession to power. While Herodotus claimed that the wife of Apries was called Nitetis in (Greek), "there are no contemporary references naming her" in Egyptian records.Eusebius placed the eclipse of Thales in 585 BC in the eighth or twelfth year of Apries' reign.