Battle of Karkar
Part of the Assyrian conquest of Syria
Map showing the paths of the combatants
Date 853 BCE Location Northern Syria Result Indecisive
Combatants
Assyria	An alliance of 12 Kings
Commanders
Shalmaneser III	Hadadezer
Strength
Assyrian records claim 100,000 troops; modern scholars believe Assyrian forces were smaller	60,000 infantry, 2,450 chariots, 1,900 horsemen, 10,000 camel riders

Kurkh stela of Shalmaneser that reports battle of Karkar

The Battle of Karkar (or Qarqar) was fought in 853 BC when the army of Assyria, led by king Shalmaneser III, encountered an allied army of 12 kings at Karkar led by Hadadezer (Ben Hadad) of Damascus and King Ahab of Israel. This battle is notable for having a larger number of combatants than any previous battle, and for being the first instance some peoples enter recorded history (such as the Arabs). It is recorded on The Kurkh Monolith. Image File history File links Karmap. ... Centuries: 10th century BC - 9th century BC - 8th century BC Decades: 900s BC 890s BC 880s BC 870s BC 860s BC - 850s BC - 840s BC 830s BC 820s BC 810s BC 800s BC Years: 859 BC 858 BC 857 BC 856 BC 855 BC 854 BC 853 BC 852 BC... For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ... Twelve Kings is an Akkadian term meant to symbolize any kind of alliance. ... Shalmaneser III (Å ulmānu-aÅ¡arÄ“du, the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent) was king of Assyria (859 BC-824 BC), and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations of Mesopotamia and Syria... Hadadezer (or Hadad-Ezer or Adad-Idri) was the king of Damascus at the time of The Battle of Qarqar. ... Image File history File links Karkar. ... Image File history File links Karkar. ... Centuries: 10th century BC - 9th century BC - 8th century BC Decades: 900s BC 890s BC 880s BC 870s BC 860s BC - 850s BC - 840s BC 830s BC 820s BC 810s BC 800s BC Years: 859 BC 858 BC 857 BC 856 BC 855 BC 854 BC 853 BC 852 BC... For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ... Shalmaneser III (Å ulmānu-aÅ¡arÄ“du, the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent) was king of Assyria (859 BC-824 BC), and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations of Mesopotamia and Syria... Twelve Kings is an Akkadian term meant to symbolize any kind of alliance. ... Karkar is an archaeological site in northwestern Syria. ... Hadadezer (or Hadad-Ezer or Adad-Idri) was the king of Damascus at the time of The Battle of Qarqar. ... Aram Damascus was an Aramean state centered around Damascus in Syria, from the late 12th century BCE to 734 BCE. Sources for this state come from texts that can be divided into three categories: Assyrian annals, Aramean texts, and the Hebrew Bible. ... Ahab or Achav (Hebrew: אַחְאָב, Standard Tiberian  ; Brother of the father) was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri (1 Kings 16:29-34). ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are an ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ... The Kurkh Monolith is an Assyrian document that contains the Battle of Qarqar at the end. ...

According to an inscription later erected by Shalmaneser, he had started his annual campaign, leaving Nineveh on the 14th day of Aiaru. He crossed both the Tigris and Euphrates without incident, receiving the submission and tribute of several cities along the way, including that of Aleppo. Once past Aleppo, he encountered his first resistance from troops of Iruleni, king of Hamath, whom he defeated; in retribution, he plundered both the palaces and the cities of Iruleni's kingdom. Continuing his march after having sacked Karkar, he encountered the allied forces near the Orontes River. , For other uses, see Nineveh (disambiguation). ... The Tigris River (Arabic: دجلة Dijla, Hebrew: חדקל ḥiddeqel, Kurdish: Dîjle, Pahlavi: Tigr, Old Persian: Tigrā-, Syriac: ܕܩܠܬ Deqlath, Turkish: Dicle, Akkadian: Idiqlat) is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through Iraq (the name Mesopotamia... Bold text For the song River Euphrates by the Pixies, see Surfer Rosa The Euphrates (IPA: /juːˈfreɪtiːz/; Greek: Euphrátēs; Akkadian: Pu-rat-tu; Hebrew: פְּרָת Pĕrāth; Syriac: Prâth; Arabic: الفرات Al-Furāt; Turkish: Fırat; Kurdish: فرهات, Firhat, Ferhat, Azeri: Fərat) is the... Old Town viewed from Aleppo Citadel Aleppo (or Halab Arabic: ‎, ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... Hama is a province of Syria with currently approximately 350,000 inhabitants. ... Karkar is an archaeological site in northwestern Syria. ... The Orontes and the norias of Hama The Orontes or ‘Asi is a river of Lebanon and Syria. ...

Shalmaneser's inscription describes the forces of his opponent Hadadezer in considerable detail as follows:

1. Hadadezer himself commanded 1,200 chariots, 1,200 horsemen and 20,000 soldiers;
2. Iruleni commanded 700 chariots, 700 horsemen and 10,000 soldiers;
3. King Ahab of Israel sent 2,000 chariots and 10,000 soldiers;
4. The land of Kizzuwadne (Byblos^{[citation needed]}) sent 500 soldiers;
5. The land of Musri sent 1,000 soldiers;
6. King Irqanata sent 10 chariots and 10,000 soldiers;
7. King Matinu-ba'lu of Arwad sent 200 soldiers;
8. King Usannata sent 200 soldiers;
9. King Adunu-ba'lu of Shianu sent 30 chariots and "thousands" of soldiers;
10. King Gindibu of Arabia sent 10,000 camel-riders;
11. King Ba'asa, son of Ruhubi, of the Ammonites sent "hundreds" of soldiers;

The ancient town of Qarqar at which the battle took place has generally been identified with the modern archaeological site of Tell Qarqur. Ahab or Achav (אַחְאָב Brother of the father, Standard Hebrew Aḥʼav, Tiberian Hebrew ʼAḥăʼāḇ, ʼAḫʼāḇ) was King of the province of Samaria in the greater Kingdom of Israel, and the son and successor of Omri (1 Kings 16:29-34). ... The ruins of the Crusader castle in Byblos. ... Musasir (Persian: موساسیر ; also called Musri) was a city of ancient Mannaeans, acquired by Urartian king Ishpuini in ca. ... Harbor in Arwad Arwad viewed from the air Arwad – formerly Arado (Greek: Άραδο), Arados (Greek: Άραδος), Arvad, Arpad, Arphad, Antiochia in Pieria (Greek: Αντιόχεια της Πιερίας), Latin: Aradus, and also transliterated from the Arabic as Ar-Ruad – located in the Mediterranean Sea, is the only island in Syria. ... Gindibu was king of the Arab forces at the battle of Karkar (853 BC), fought against Assyria. ... Species Camelus bactrianus Camelus dromedarius Camelus gigas Camelus hesternus Camelus sivalensis Camels are even-toed ungulates in the genus Camelus. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ruhubi was the father of Baasha ben Ruhubi, who was king of Ammon in the 850s BCE. Whether Ruhubi himself was king of Ammon is unclear, as no Ammonite inscriptions from his reign have been unearthed and he is not mentioned independently in any Assyrian sources. ... For the extinct mollusc see Ammonite. ...

Notes:

1. Musri (Akkadian for "march") is usually translated here as "Egypt"; however, beginning with H. Winckler (Alttestamentliche Untersuchen, Leipzig: 1892), some translators believe this name refers to a northern Syrian territory near Kizzuwadne. Others, given the many spelling errors in the inscription, see in the name a corruption of Simyra (Sumur), the main city between Irqata and Arwad, and the former and future capital of the region.
2. There is no mention of this battle in either Kings or Chronicles.
3. Where the number in the inscription has been damaged, the approximate amount has been listed here.

Shalmaneser boasts that his troops inflicted 14,000 casualties upon the allied army, capturing countless chariots and horses, and describes the damage he inflicted on his opponents in savage detail. However, the inscriptions of kings from this period never acknowledge defeats, and sometimes claim victories won by ancestors or predecessors. If Shalmaneser had won a clear victory at Karkar, it did not immediately enable further Assyrian conquests in Syria. Assyrian records make it clear that he campaigned in the region several more times in the following decade, engaging Hadadezer six times, who was supported by Iruleni of Hamath at least twice. Shalmaneser's opponents held on to their thrones after this battle: Hadadezer was king of Damascus until at least 841 BC, while Ahab was king of Israel until around 850 BC. Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... The Books of Kings (Hebrew: Sefer Melachim ספר מלכים) is a part of Judaisms Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. ... The Book of Chronicles is a book in the Hebrew Bible (also see Old Testament). ... Centuries: 10th century BC - 9th century BC - 8th century BC Decades: 890s BC 880s BC 870s BC 860s BC 850s BC - 840s BC - 830s BC 820s BC 810s BC 800s BC 790s BC Events and Trends 845 BC - Pherecles, King of Athens dies after a reign of 19 years and... Centuries: 10th century BC - 9th century BC - 8th century BC Decades: 900s BC 890s BC 880s BC 870s BC 860s BC - 850s BC - 840s BC 830s BC 820s BC 810s BC 800s BC Years: 859 BC 858 BC 857 BC 856 BC 855 BC 854 BC 853 BC 852 BC...

References