Salmānu-ašarēd II, inscribed ^mdSILIM''-ma-nu-''MAŠ/SAG, meaning " Being peaceful is foremost," was the king of

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 ...

1030–1019 BC, the 93rd to appear on the ''Khorsabad'' copy''Khorsabad Kinglist'', tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), iv 6-7. of the Assyrian Kinglist, although he has been apparently carelessly omitted altogether on the ''Nassouhi'' copy.''Nassouhi Kinglist'', Istanbul A. 116 (Assur 8836).

Biography

In recent years, there has been a trend towards reading the SILIM in his name as ''sal'' rather than ''šul'' on

philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...

grounds. He succeeded his father, Aššur-nāṣir-apli I and ruled for 12 years according to the Assyrian Kingliest and confirmed by a heavily damaged fragment of an

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

list (pictured). Of the twelve

limmu : Limmu was an Assyrian eponym. At the beginning of the reign of an Assyrian king, the limmu, an appointed royal official, would preside over the New Year festival at the capital. Each year a new limmu would be chosen. Although picked by lot, th ...

officials listed, only the names of the first two have been substantially preserved, that of Salmānu-ašarēd himself, who took the eponymy in his first year, and MU.ŠID''-mu-šab-'' 'ši'' The twelfth entry ''ša ar'' 'ki si''...indicates that the

"which is after" (the previous name) either suggesting that the original from which this list was copied was defective in this place or the gap in the office coincides with a period of turbulence. In the ''Synchronistic Kingliest''''Synchronistic Kingliest'', tablet excavation no. Ass 14616c, first publication KAV 216. he is listed beside his Babylonian counterpart, Eulmaš-šakin-šumi (1004–988 BC) of the Bῑt-Bazi dynasty, an unlikely pairing reflecting perhaps the isolation of the two kingdoms at the time. In all likelihood, he reigned concurrently with Nabû-šuma-libūr (1033–1026 BC) and Simbar-Šipak (1025–1008 BC), whose reigns were characterized by droughts, crop failures and incursions by Arameans, migrating under the pressure from climate change. The later king, Aššur-dān II (935–912 BC), recalled Salmānu-ašarēd's own losses to this tribal group: Another retrospective reference can probably be found in an inscription of Aššur-nāṣir-apli II unless it refers to the earlier king by this name. It relates "I repossessed the cities of Sinabu (and) Tidu—fortresses which Salmānu-ašarēd, king of Assyria, a prince who preceded me, had garrisoned against the land of

Nairi Nairi ( classical hy, Նայիրի, ''Nayiri'', reformed: Նաիրի, ''Nairi''; , also ''Na-'i-ru'') was the Akkadian name for a region inhabited by a particular group (possibly a confederation or league) of tribal principalities in the Armen ...

(and) which the Arameans had captured by force." There are few inscriptions which may be attributed for certainty to him as several may belong to the Salmānu-ašarēd who preceded him, or to one of the three who followed. Of those that can be reliably attributed, a monumental stele (number 14) from Aššur, from the Stelenreihe, "row of stelae," provides his genealogy thus permitting identification but nothing else. It reads: "Salmānu-ašarēd, great king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-nāṣir-apli (I), king of Assyria, son of Šamši-adad (IV), who was also king of Assyria". A temple endowmentTemple endowment, KAV 78. lists quantities of cedar balsam (''dam erêni'') donated by the king to the Aššur temple and its "temples" and includes the provision of a quantity of aromatics to Idiglat, the deified river

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

. There is a long dedication inscription of Salmānu-ašarēd, II or III undetermined, to

Ištar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...

composed for the consecration of a temple.KAR 98. A gold and a silver disk are inscribed with the name "Salmānu-ašarēd" and could possibly represent this king or his predecessor. § 33. He was succeeded by his son, the briefly reigning Aššur-Nērārī IV, and then his brother Aššur-rabi II.

Inscriptions

References

{{Authority control 11th-century BC Assyrian kings 1019 BC deaths Year of birth unknown