Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the bas-reliefs on the
Black Obelisk.
Ben-hadad had called together, to give him a fitting reception, the whole of the forces at his disposal: 1200 chariots, 1200 horse, 20,000 foot-soldiers from Damascus alone; 700 chariots, 700 horse and 10,000 foot from Hamath; 2000 chariots and 10,000 foot belonging to Ahab, 500 soldiers from Kuî, 1000 mountaineers from the Taurus,* 10 chariots and 10,000 foot from Irk and 200 from Arvad, 200 from Usanata, 30 chariots and 10,000 foot from Shianu, 1000 camels from Gindibu the Arab, and 1000 Ammonites.
* The people of the Muzri next enumerated have long been
considered as Egyptians; the juxtaposition of their name
with that of Kuî shows that it refers here to the Muzri of
the Taurus.
The battle was long and bloody, and the issue uncertain; Shalmaneser drove back one wing of the confederate army to the Orontes, and forcing the other wing and the centre to retire from Qarqar to Kirzau, claimed the victory, though the losses on both sides were equally great. It would seem as if the battle were indecisive—the Assyrians, at any rate, gained nothing by it; they beat a retreat immediately after their pretended victory, and returned to their own land without prisoners and almost without booty. On the whole, this first conflict had not been unfavourable to Damascus: it had demonstrated the power of that state in the eyes of the most incredulous, and proved how easy resistance would be, if only the various princes of Syria would lay aside their differences and all unite under the command of a single chief. The effect of the battle in Northern Syria and among the recently annexed Aïamoan tribes was very great; they began to doubt the omnipotence of Assyria, and their loyalty was shaken. Sangar of Carchemish and the Khâti refused to pay their tribute, and the Emirs of Tul-Abnî and Mount Kashiari broke out into open revolt. Shalmaneser spent a whole year in suppressing the insurrection; complications, moreover, arose at Babylon which obliged him to concentrate his attention and energy on Chaldæan affairs. Nabu-baliddin had always maintained peaceful and friendly relations with Assyria, but he had been overthrown, or perhaps assassinated, and his son Marduk-nadin-shumu had succeeded him on the throne, to the dissatisfaction of a section of his subjects. Another son of Nabu-baliddin, Marduk-belusâtê, claimed the sovereign power, and soon won over so much of the country that Marduk-nâdin-shumu had fears for the safety of Babylon itself. He then probably remembered the pretensions to Kharduniash, which his Assyrian neighbours had for a long time maintained, and applied to Shalmaneser to support his tottering fortunes. The Assyrian monarch must have been disposed to lend a favourable ear to a request which allowed him to intervene as suzerain in the quarrels of the rival kingdom: he mobilised his forces, offered sacrifices in honour of Bammân at Zabân, and crossed the frontier in 853 B.C.*
The war dragged on during the next two years. The scene of hostilities was at the outset on the left bank of the Tigris, which for ten centuries had served as the battle-field for the warriors of both countries. Shalmaneser, who had invested Me-Turnat at the fords of the Lower Dîyalah, at length captured that fortress, and after having thus isolated the rebels of Babylonia proper, turned his steps towards G-ananatê.**
* The town of Zabân is situated on the Lesser Zab, but it is
impossible to fix the exact site.
** Mè-Turnat, Mê-Turni, “the water of the Turnat,” stood
upon the Dîyalah, probably near the site of Bakuba, where
the most frequented route crosses the river; perhaps we may
identify it with the Artemita of classical authors. Gananatê
must be sought higher up near the mountains, as the context
points out; I am inclined to place it near the site of
Khanekin, whose gardens are still celebrated, and the
strategic importance of which is considerable.
Marduk-belusâtê, “a vacillating king, incapable of directing his own affairs,” came out to meet him, but although repulsed and driven within the town, he defended his position with such spirit that Shalmaneser was at length obliged to draw off his troops after having cut down all the young compelled the fruit trees, disorganised the whole system of irrigation,—in short, after having effected all the damage he could. He returned in the following spring by the most direct route; Lakhiru fell into his hands,* but Marduk-belusâtê, having no heart to contend with him for the possession of a district ravaged by the struggle of the preceding summer, fell back on the mountains of Yasubi and concentrated his forces round Armân.**
* Lakhiru comes before Gananate on the direct road from
Assyria, to the south of the Lower Zab, as we learn from the
account of the campaign itself: wo shall not do wrong in
placing this town either at Kifri, or in its neighbourhood
on the present caravan route.
** Mount Yasubi is the mountainous district which separates
Khanekin from Holwân.