King
Jehu Bowing Before Shalmanesar III
This
close up of the second panel reveals Israelites led by king Jehu of
Israel paying tribute and bowing to the dust before king Shalmaneser
III, who is making a libation to his god. We know it is Jehu because of
the cuneiform text on the obelisk "Jehu the son of Omri". It
also mentions his gifts of gold, silver, lead and spear shafts.
2
Kings 10:31
But
Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all
his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made
Israel sin.
King
Jehu Bowing Before Shalmanesar III
(Close
Up)
2
Kings 10:36
"And
the period that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight
years."
Close up of Jehu doing homage to
Shalmaneser III - The Black Obelisk is one of the most important
discoveries in Biblical Archaeology because of this panel which depicts
the Hebrew king Jehu, or possibly one of his servants, bringing gifts to
Shalmaneser III and kneeling at his feet.
"The time that Jehu reigned over
Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years." 2 Kings 10:36
Material - Black Limestone Obelisk
Neo Assyrian
Date: 858-824 BC
Height: 197.85 cm (77.8937008 inches)
Width: 45.08 cm (17.7480315 inches)
Depth:
Nimrud (ancient Calah), northern Iraq
Excavated by: Henry Layard 1845-1849
Location: British Museum, London
British Museum Excerpt
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Neo-Assyrian, 858-824 BC
From Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Iraq
The military achievements of an Assyrian king
The archaeologist Henry Layard discovered this black limestone obelisk
in 1846 during his excavations of the site of Kalhu, the ancient
Assyrian capital. It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a
time of civil war. The relief sculptures glorify the achievements of
King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858-824 BC) and his chief minister. It
lists their military campaigns of thirty-one years and the tribute they
exacted from their neighbours: including camels, monkeys, an elephant
and a rhinoceros. Assyrian kings often collected exotic animals and
plants as an expression of their power.
There are five scenes of tribute, each of which occupies four panels
round the face of the obelisk and is identified by a line of cuneiform
script above the panel. From top to bottom they are:
Sua of Gilzanu (in north-west Iran)
Jehu of Bit Omri (ancient northern Israel)
An unnamed ruler of Musri (probably Egypt)
Marduk-apil-usur of Suhi (middle Euphrates, Syria and Iraq)
Qalparunda of Patin (Antakya region of Turkey)
The second register from the top includes the earliest surviving picture
of an Israelite: the Biblical Jehu, king of Israel, brought or sent his
tribute in around 841 BC. Ahab, son of Omri, king of Israel, had lost
his life in battle a few years previously, fighting against the king of
Damascus at Ramoth-Gilead (I Kings xxii. 29-36). His second son (Joram)
was succeeded by Jehu, a usurper, who broke the alliances with Phoenicia
and Judah, and submitted to Assyria. The caption above the scene,
written in Assyrian cuneiform, can be translated
The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a
golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden
buckets, tin, a staff for a king [and] spears.
Height: 197.85 cm
Width: 45.08 cm
Excavated by A.H. Layard
ANE 118885
Room 6, Assyrian sculpture
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