Baliḫu also known as Ba-li-ih and Balaṭ-šarrani is an ancient,

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

town on the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

in northern Syria. According to the Harran Census tablets (SAA XI 122–45), the city was located in the

Balikh River The Balikh River ( ar, نهر البليخ) is a perennial river that originates in the spring of Ain al-Arous near Tell Abyad in the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion. It flows due south and joins the Euphra ...

Basin. The

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of the town are believed by some to be at

Tell Abyad Tell Abyad; ku, گرێ سپی, Girê Spî; hy, Թել Աբյադ; syr, ܬܠ ܐܒܝܕ. is a town in northern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. Located along the Balikh River, it const ...

(Arabic: تل أبيض,) on the

Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey ( ar, الحدود السورية التركية, translit=alhudud alsuwriat alturkia; tr, Suriye–Türkiye sınırı) is about long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea ...

History

The town is mentioned in a

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

of Aššur-uballit II, known as Chronicle 3, which states that the Battle of Nineveh between

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

ian and

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n armies ''in the month Âbu the king of

Akkad Akkad may refer to: *Akkad (city), the capital of the Akkadian Empire *Akkadian Empire, the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia *Akkad SC, Iraqi football club People with the name *Abbas el-Akkad, Egyptian writer *Abdulrahman Akkad, Syrian LGBT act ...

and his army went upstream to Mane,

Sahiri Zahiran also known as Sahiri or Sa-hi-ri, also known as Zahiran was an Iron Age city of the ancient near east. It was a city in what is today Syria. During the Mari, Syria#Mari-Ebla war, Mari-Ebla war (2300 Before Common Era, BC) Zahiran was the s ...

and Bali-hu. He plundered them, sacked them extensively and abducted their gods.'' It may have been a semi independent

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

, though this is controversial and a governor of the city is known for 814 BC.

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campai ...

claims that in 853, he advanced on the city and that the inhabitants fearful of his approach assassinated their ''overlord'' Giammu and surrendered. At some time latter in the rule of Shalamaneser, a general ''Belu-lu-balat'', claimed to be gorvenor of the town.Trevor Bryce, The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia (Taylor & Francis, 2009) p. 785.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baliḫu Populated places in Tell Abyad District Tells (archaeology) 7th century BC Ancient cities of the Middle East