Assyrian Kings
In 745 a new dynasty sat upon the Assyrian throne in Nineveh. It commenced with Tiglath-pileser III. This dynasty existed to the collapse of Assyria in 612. It is correctly dated in all modern history books. The original account of it is found in the Babylonian Chronicle and confirmed by Ptolemy's Canon of Babylonian kings.
Tiglath-pileser III came to power in April of 745. The "limmu" lists designate this as his accession year, but he claimed it as his first year. Altogether he reigned 19 years. He is listed below with his successors.
Dynasty of Tiglath- pileser III at Nineveh | Lengths of Reign | Dates |
| Tiglath-pileser (III) |
19
| 745-726 |
| Shalmaneser (V) |
5
| 726-721 |
| Sargon |
17
| 721-704 |
| Sennacherib |
23
| 704-681 |
| Essarhaddon |
13
| 681-668 |
| Assur-banipal |
42
| 668-626 |
| Assur-etililani |
4
| 626-622 |
| Sin-sarra-ishkun |
10
| 622-612 |
| Assur-uballit (II) -- reigned in Haran after fall of Nineveh, in 612, then disappears from history. |
4
| 612-608 |
Shalmaneser
Almost everyone has assumed that Shalmaneser V, whose inconsequential reign extended from 726-721, is the Shalmaneser of the Bible who besieged Samaria. But how, one might ask, could Shalmaneser V, who died late in 722 (in the last year of his reign), execute a three-year siege of Samaria in 721-718 after he was dead? And then wage war against Tyre, including a five-year siege of the famous emporium, as Josephus records? ("Antiquities", book IX, chap. 14.) Shalmaneser V accomplished neither of these two deeds! But the Assyrian records do reveal a Shalmaneser who did accomplish bothSurprising though it may appear, the Shalmaneser of the Biblical record -- and of Josephus -- is Shalmaneser "the Great" or the III. Ever since archaeology became a fad -- as well as a science -- scholars have assumed that Shalmaneser "the Great" was a contemporary of Israel's king Ahab and of king Jehu. They had no proof of it. They merely wanted to believe it
The dates in the Assyrian annals were 40 years too low for the reign of Ahab (914-892) It was impossible to reconcile the Assyrian records as understood by the critics with the Bible. It was much easier to strip away about 40 years from the Biblical record and make it conform to the assumed date of Shalmaneser III. Thus the end of Solomon's reign was changed from 971 to about 930 by historians.
But, ask the critics, did not Shalmaneser III refer to an Ahab of Israel and to a Jehu son of Omri in his monuments? Indeed he did! But once again the historians have had recourse to deception. The Jehu of the Bible is "the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi" (II Kings 9:2). The Jehu of the Assyrian records is another person -- the son of Omri! Two different people. How did the scholars resolve this dilemma? They concluded the Assyrians did not know what they were writing about!
Ahab In the Assyrian account this king of Israel is allied with the Arameans against the Assyrians. He contributed a contingent of troops to fight against Shalmaneser III at Karkar near the Euphrates. The Arameans and their allies were routed. Shalmaneser, follows up the victory by the conquest of Syria and Phoenicia and neighboring nations. (See Shalmaneser's annals in Pritchard's "Ancient Near Eastern Texts"
Ahab of Scripture fought many battles with the Arameans, none with the Assyrians. Aram (Syria), in Ahab's day, was a powerful confederation. There is not the slightest Biblical indication that any Aramean king was the least concerned over Assyrian expansion. Nor is there any shred of evidence that Ahab, the son of Omri, ever sent troops to Aram to defend the eastern Mediterranean lands against Assyrian incursions at the time of his death.
853 -- the supposed year of the battle of Karkar. In the Biblical history Ahab died fighting the Arameans, not as an ally of the Arameans at Karkar against the Assyrians!
Shalmaneser receives tribute from "Jehu, son of Omri." The three intervening years (721-718) were those of the siege. When the war was over, the Assyrian reorganized Palestine into an Assyrian province and appointed Jehu, son of Omri, to administer Assyrian affairs temporarily in the land of Israel! Nebuchadnezzar treated the Jews in similar fashion when he appointed Gedaliah temporarily to supervise Babylonian affairs in Judah after the fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 40:5)
Calah Dynasty of Assyrian kings from the reign of Shalmaneser "the Great" to the revolt at Calah in 622-621. Calah, a suburb of Nineveh, was one of the three capitals of the late Assyrian Empire. It was also called Nimrud. (See page 53 of "Chronicles of Chaldean Kings", by D. J. Wiseman.)
Names of Assyrian Kings at Calah | Lengths of Reign | Dates |
| Shalmaneser "the Great" (III) |
35
| 735-700 |
| Shamshi-Adad (V), whose queen Semiramis (III), exercised great authority for 42 years -- 699-657 |
13
| 700-687 |
| Adad-nirari (III) |
28
| 687-659 |
| Shalmaneser (IV) |
10
| 659-649 |
| Assurdan (III) |
18
| 649-631 |
| Assur-nerari (V) |
10
| 631-621 |
Predecessors of Shalmaneser III
In the Assyrian Canon are listed 20 predecessors of Shalmaneser III who reigned altogether 323 years. These kings are usually dated about 124 years too early in most books because the dynasty is made to end about 745 instead of 621!
The following chart lists these 20 kings from the beginning of the dynasty through the reign of Shalmaneser III. (The cumbersome spelling of "Ashshur" is reduced to the simple Assur in this list.)
Names of Kings of The Calah Line | Lengths of Reign | Dates |
| Ninurta-apil-Ekur, son of Ilu-ihadda, seized the throne |
3
| 1058-1055 |
| Assur-dan (I) |
46
| 1055-1009 |
| Ninurta-tukulti-Assur | reigned for a "bab tuppisu", that is, for part of the remaining official year | calendar year 1010-1009 |
| Mutakkil-Nusku, his brother, fought with him, held the throne, then died. |
1009
| |
| Assur-resh-isshi (II) |
18
| 1009-991 |
| Tukulti-apil-Esarra (Tiglath-pileser I) |
39
| 991-952 |
| Asarid-apil-Ekur |
2
| 952-950 |
| Assur-bel-kala |
18
| 950-932 |
| Eriba-Adad (II) |
2
| 932-930 |
| Shamshi-Adad (IV), son of Tiglath-pileser (I), deposed Eriba-Adad, seized throne |
4
| 930-926 |
| Assur-nasir-apli (I) |
19
| 926-907 |
| Shulmanu-asarid (Shalmaneser II) |
12
| 907-895 |
| Assur-nirari (IV) |
6
| 895-889 |
| Assur-rabi (II) |
41
| 889-848 |
| Assur-resh-ishi (II) |
5
| 848-843 |
| Tukulti-apil-Esharra (Tiglath-pileser II) |
32
| 843-811 |
| Assur-dan (II) |
23
| 811-788 |
| Adad-nirari (II) |
21
| 788-767 |
| Tukulti-Ninurta (II) |
7
| 767-760 |
| Assur-nasir-apli (II) |
25
| 760-735 |
| Shulmanu-asarid (Shalmaneser III -- "the Great") |
35
| 735-700 |
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