Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III | |
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White Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I is located next to it | |
Material | black limestone |
Size | c. 1.98 metres high, 45 cm wide |
Writing | Akkadian |
Created | 827–824 BC |
Discovered | Nimrud, Iraq 36°05′53″N 43°19′44″E / 36.09806°N 43.32889°E |
Present location | British Museum, London |
Registration | ME 118885 |
Location of discovery |
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black
It is one of two complete Neo-Assyrian
Tribute offerings are shown being brought from identifiable regions and peoples. It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a time of civil war, in the central square of Nimrud. It was discovered by archaeologist Sir Austen Henry Layard in 1846 and is now in the British Museum.
Description
It features twenty relief scenes, five on each side. They depict five different subdued kings, bringing tribute and prostrating before the Neo-Assyrian king. From top to bottom they are: (1)
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.
Second register
The second
The identification of "Yahua" as
.The stele describes how Jehu brought or sent his tribute in or around 841 BC.[10] The caption above the scene, written in Assyrian cuneiform, can be translated:[4]
“I received the tribute of Iaua (
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The Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III receives tribute from Sua, king of Gilzanu, The Black Obelisk.
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Part of the gift-bearing Israelite delegation of King Jehu, Black Obelisk, 841-840 BCE.[12]
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Jehu on theBlack Obelisk of Shalmaneser III.[13] This is "the only portrayal we have in ancient Near Eastern art of an Israelite or Judaean monarch".[4]
Casts and replicas
Replicas can be found at the
See also
- Kurkh Monoliths
- List of artifacts significant to the Bible
References
- ^ a b P. Kyle McCarter, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 216 (Dec., 1974), pp. 5–7
- ^ a b Edwin R. Thiele, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 222 (Apr., 1976), pp. 19–23
- ISBN 978-1-4982-8143-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-58465-817-7.
- ^ On the Inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia, 1850
- T. C. Mitchell, page 14
- ^ Studies on the Text and Versions of the Hebrew Bible in Honour of Robert Gordon, edited by Geoffrey Khan, Diana Lipton, p. 159
- ^ "Nimrud Obelisk, Athenaeum, 1251, 1384-85
- ^ Assyrian Eponym Canon, George Smith, 1875, page 190, "There is another supposed Hebrew king in the annals of Shalmaneser, b.c. 842, Extracts VIII. and X., called "Jehu son of Omri," who is generally identified with "Jehu son of Nimshi," the king of Israel. The country ruled by Jehu, son of Omri, is not stated in the inscriptions; and it appears unlikely that Jehu, king of Israel, who exterminated the family of Omri, should call himself son of that king. Without advancing any theory for the identification of the monarch mentioned in the Neo-Assyrian inscriptions, I would urge that the identity of the Jehu of the Bible with the Jehu of the inscriptions is not proved, and that these notices are not enough to force us to alter all our Bible dates."
- ^ Millard, Alan (1997) Discoveries from Bible Times, Oxford, Lion, p121
- ^ Delitzsch, Friedrich; McCormack, Joseph; Carruth, William Herbert; Robinson, Lydia Gillingham (1906). Babel and Bible;. Chicago, The Open court publishing company. p. 78.
- ^ Delitzsch, Friedrich; McCormack, Joseph; Carruth, William Herbert; Robinson, Lydia Gillingham (1906). Babel and Bible;. Chicago, The Open court publishing company. p. 78.
- ISBN 978-1-4982-8143-0.
- ^ Delitzsch, Friedrich; McCormack, Joseph; Carruth, William Herbert; Robinson, Lydia Gillingham (1906). Babel and Bible;. Chicago, The Open court publishing company. p. 78.