Bible Synapse
Nimrud Tablet K.3751
Inscription · c. 729 BC · Israel and Judah · also called Summary Inscription 7 of Tiglath-pileser III
See it on the map and timeline- Date
- c. 729 BC (the tablet’s writing)
- Found
- Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), Iraq. Its number belongs to the British Museum’s Kuyunjik (Nineveh) collection, but a note written on it by the excavators gives its find-spot as the South-East Palace at Nimrud.
- Now
- British Museum, London (K.3751)
- Passages
- 2 Kings 16:7–10, 2 Chronicles 28:16, 2 Chronicles 28:20–21
What it is
The surviving half, in two large pieces, of a clay tablet with a long summary of Tiglath-pileser III’s reign, written in or soon after 729 BC, probably as a draft or archive copy of a palace inscription. Its last section describes his building work at Kalhu, the one such account of his to survive complete. Its list of western rulers who brought tribute includes the kings of Ammon, Moab, Ashkelon and Edom, Hanunu of Gaza, and “Jehoahaz of the land of Judah”.
How it connects to the Bible
Jehoahaz is the full form of the name of King Ahaz of Judah. 2 Kings 16:7–10 says that Ahaz sent silver and gold to Tiglath-pileser, called himself his servant and went to meet him at Damascus; the tablet places him among Assyria’s tribute-paying vassals.