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 historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

town on the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

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

Balikh River The Balikh River () 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 Euphrates at the modern cit ...

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 (Arabic: تل أبيض,) on the

Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey (; ) is long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east. It runs across Upper Mesopotamia for some , crossing the Euphrates and ...

History

The town is mentioned in a

chronicle A chronicle (, 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 local events ...

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

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

ian and

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n armies ''in the month Âbu the king of Akkad and his army went upstream to Mane, Sahiri and Bali-hu. He plundered them, sacked them extensively and abducted their gods.'' It may have been a semi independent kingdom, 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 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

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