Ashur-bel-kala King of Assyria, King of Assyria

Ashur-bel-kalaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Aššūr-bēl-kala, inscribed maš-šur-EN-ka-la and meaning “Aššur is lord of all,”[1] was the king of Assyria 1074/3–1056 BC, the 89th to appear on the Assyrian Kinglist. He was the son of Tukultī-apil-Ešarra I, succeeded his brother Ašarēd-apil-Ekur who had briefly preceded him, and he ruled for 18 years[i 1] whilst mounting a series of ineffectual campaigns against the migrating Aramean hordes who were pressing in on his land. He is perhaps best known for his zoological collection.

Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 The Broken Obelisk 1.2 Building works and zoo 1.3 Relations with Babylonia 2 Inscriptions 3 References

[edit] BiographyHis reign marks the point at which the tide turned against the middle Assyrian empire and substantial territory was captured by the invading Arameans. Aššūr-bēl-kala was the last of the monarchs of the second millennium for whom there are any significant surviving inscriptions. His annals are recorded on numerous fragments from Aššur and Nineveh.[2]

[edit] The Broken ObeliskThe Broken Obelisk,[i 2] an unfinished part of a monumental inscription, is usually attributed to him following the arguments made by Weidner, Jaritz and Borger, despite its apparent imitation of the campaigns of Tukultī-apil-Ešarra I and his hunting of a nāḫiru (a “sea-horse”) in the Mediterranean (the “upper sea of the land of Amurru”). These arguments include the introduction of Babylonian month names, its discovery with a limestone statue of a naked Ištar inscribed with his name, the designation of the Arameans as living in KUR a-re-me, and their evident progress into traditional Assyrian lands. It was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in mid-August 1853 at a "locality about half-way between Sennacherib's palace and that of Assurbanipal" and depicts the (enlarged) king towering over bound, supplicant prisoners under five symbols of the gods. Any reconstruction of the events of his reign consequently depends heavily on whether this object is correctly assigned.

In his first year, he campaigned in the north against Urarṭu, delaying his adoption of the eponym office until the following year. In his second, he turned his attention to the countries Himme, Ḫabḫu, and Mari, the latter of which was under the authority of Tukulti-Mer, a pretender to the Assyrian throne. Thereafter his attention was largely absorbed with endless counter attacks against the hordes of Arameans pressing on his borders, whom he even pursued: “[...in] rafts (of inflated) goatskins I crossed the Euphrates.”[i 3] He fought them as far as Carchemish, which he plundered, and in the Ḫārbūr valley, the Broken Obelisk referencing at least 15 campaigns. Texts recovered from Giricano, ancient Dunnu-ša-Uzibi, mostly dated to the eponym year of Ili-iddina (1069/68) his 5th or 6th year, include one that recalls the fighting the preceding year, the eponymy of Aššur-rem-nišešu, in Dunnu-ša-Liṣur-ṣala-Aššur in the district of Šinamu, when territory was lost. Sometime later the entire region fell to the invaders.[3]

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