New Study Uncovers Three Overlooked Assyrian Kings, Challenging Traditional King List
Scholars argue that three previously unknown Assyrian monarchs existed, indicating the accepted king list omits key rulers.
In a paper published in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies, researchers Alexander Johannes Edmonds and Eckart Frahm present evidence for three Assyrian rulers absent from the traditional Assyrian King List. The first, a Tiglath-pileser who adopted the name of an earlier king, appears to have ruled alongside his nephew Aššur-dān III around 763-762 BCE and attempted to depose him after a politically significant solar eclipse, as recorded on a clay tablet now in the British Museum.
The second, a Shalmaneser, is inferred from a re-inscribed stela found at Tell ’Abta in Iraq, suggesting he reigned immediately before Tiglath-pileser III’s accession in 745 BCE. The third, Aššur-uballiṭ, is deduced from a cuneiform text linking him to a libation vessel restored by Tukultī-Ninurta II, implying a brief reign in 913-912 BCE that also explains a damaged royal statue from Aššur. Together, these findings propose that the Assyrian King List functioned as a legitimizing canon, periodically revised to omit rival or fleeting kings, thereby reshaping scholars’ view of early Assyrian political dynamics.
Why it matters
It revises the accepted chronology of Assyria, showing how ancient records were shaped by political motives.
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