Bible Synapse
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
relief · c. 827–824 BC · Israel and Judah · also called Black Obelisk, Jehu relief
See it on the map and timeline
- Date
- c. 827–824 BC (the obelisk’s carving)
- Found
- Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), Iraq, 1846. Found by Austen Henry Layard in 1846 during his excavations at Nimrud, and registered at the British Museum in 1848.
- Now
- British Museum, London (ME 118885 (reg. 1848,1104.1))
- Passages
- 2 Kings 9:1–3, 2 Kings 10:32–36
What it is
A black limestone pillar about two metres tall, carved on all four sides with rows of relief scenes and a long account of Shalmaneser III’s campaigns up to his 31st year. Each row shows a different ruler’s tribute being brought to the king. In the second row a man bows to the ground before Shalmaneser, and the caption records the tribute of Jehu of the house of Omri: silver, gold, golden vessels, tin, staffs for the king and spears.
How it connects to the Bible
Jehu took the throne of Israel in a bloody revolt and reigned 28 years in Samaria (2 Kings 9–10). The Assyrian records place his tribute in Shalmaneser’s 18th year, 841 BC, an event the Bible does not mention. The Assyrians went on calling Israel the house of Omri even after Jehu wiped out Omri’s family, and the scene is often described as the only surviving picture of an Israelite or Judean king.
What scholars debate
Most scholars accept the reading Jehu; a few have argued that the name stands for Jehoram, the king Jehu overthrew.