Adad-nirari III (also Adad-narari) was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nirari III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym list the ascension year would be 810 BC.

Family

Adad-nirari was a son and successor of king

Shamshi-Adad V Shamshi-Adad V ( akk, Šamši-Adad) was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC. He was named after the god Adad, who is also known as Hadad. Family Shamshi-Adad was a son and successor of King Shalmaneser III, the husband of Queen Shammuramat (by ...

, and was apparently quite young at the time of his accession, because for the first five years of his reign, his mother

Shammuramat Shammuramat (Akkadian: ''Sammu-rāmat'' or ''Sammu-ramāt''), also known as Sammuramat or Shamiram, was a powerful queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Beginning her career as the primary consort of the king Shamshi-Adad V (824–811 BC), Shammura ...

was highly influential, which has given rise to the legend of

Semiramis ''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dr ...

. It is widely rejected that his mother acted as regent, but she was surprisingly influential for the time period.''Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture'' by William H. Stiebing Jr. He was the father of kings Ashur-nirari V,

Shalmaneser IV Shalmaneser IV ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Salmānu is foremost") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 783 BC to his death in 773 BC. Shalmaneser was the son and successor of his predecessor, Adad-nirari III, and ruled during a pe ...

, and

Ashur-dan III Ashur-dan III ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning " Ashur is strong") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 773 BC to his death in 755 BC. Ashur-dan was a son of Adad-nirari III (811–783 BC) and succeeded his brother Shalmaneser IV as kin ...

Tiglath-Pileser III Tiglath-Pileser III ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, T ...

described himself as a son of Adad-nirari in his inscriptions, but it is uncertain if this is true.

Biography

Agate beads with the name Adad-nārārī I Mannean period from Khojali

Adad-nirari's youth, and the struggles his father had faced early in his reign, caused a serious weakening of Assyrian rulership over

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

, and made way for the ambitions of officers, governors, and local rulers. According to Adad-nirari's inscriptions, he led several military campaigns with the purpose of regaining the strength Assyria enjoyed in the times of his grandfather Shalmaneser III. According to the eponym canon, he campaigned in all directions until the last of his 28 years of reign (783 BC), and he was the builder of the temple of Nabu at Nineveh. Among his actions was a siege of Damascus in the time of

Ben-Hadad III Bar-Hadad III ( Aram.) (ܒܪ ܚܕܕ) or Ben-Hadad III ( Heb.) (בֶּן-הֲדַד) was king of Aram Damascus, the son and successor of Hazael. His succession is mentioned in 2 Kings (, ). He is thought to have ruled from 796 BC to 792 BC, althoug ...

in 796 BC, which led to the eclipse of the Aramaean Kingdom of Damascus and allowed the recovery of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

under Jehoash (who paid the Assyrian king tribute at this time) and

Jeroboam II Jeroboam II ( he, יָרָבְעָם, ''Yāroḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ; la, Hieroboam/Jeroboam) was the son and successor of Jehoash (alternatively spelled Joash) and the thirteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, over which ...

. Despite Adad-nirari's vigour, Assyria entered a several-decades-long period of weakness following his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adad-Nirari Iii 9th-century BC births Year of birth unknown 783 BC deaths 9th-century BC Assyrian kings 8th-century BC Assyrian kings Ancient child rulers Kings of the Universe

Family

Biography

See also

References