by
Damien F. Mackey
The correct Assyrian succession of kings is, I believe:
Adad-nirari;
Shalmaneser;
Tukulti-Ninurta;
Assur-nadin-apli.
This is the very order of so-called ‘Middle’ Assyrian kings that one finds listed in, for instance, Marc Van de Mieroop’s book, A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC (p. 294):
Adad-nirari I (1305-1274)
Shalmaneser I (1273-44)
Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-07)
Assur-nadin-apli (1206-03)
Van de Mieroop then, typically (i.e., like all conventional historians), lists those very same names again (except that “Assurnasirpal” replaces “Assur-nadin-apli”) - but now in an order different from above - on the next page (p. 295):
Adad-nirari II (911-891)
Tukulti-Ninurta II (890-84)
Assurnasirpal II (883-59)
Shalmaneser III (858-24)
In the first case (p. 294) the order is perfect, so I think, but the dates are hopelessly high.
I have already argued in various articles for the need for so-called ‘Middle’ Assyro-Babylonia to be folded with the ‘Neo’ period. See e.g. my article:
Bringing New Order to Mesopotamian History and Chronology
In the second case (p. 295), the so-called ‘beginning of the Neo-Assyrian period’, the correct order of kings has been scrambled, but the dates are far more reasonable.
Still, even those later dates are well out (too high), by a century or more.
These four kings need to be dragged, kicking and screaming, even further down the time line, commencing at approximately 755 BC (this still being conventional dating, though, and must still be lowered somewhat).
Let us consider these four kings in revised order:
- First King: Adad-nirari
He, as Adad-nirari III (811 BC–783 BC), was a contemporary of the Jehu-ide dynasty of Israel, having taken tribute from either Jehoahaz of Israel or his son, Jehoash.
See e.g. Stephanie Page, “A Stela of Adad-Nirari III and Nergal-Ereš from Tell al Rimah”
- Second King: Shalmaneser
This revision now chronologically demands that Shalmaneser I (and II) be recognised as III -
Shalmaneser III, whom I have previously identified with Tiglath-pileser III/Shalmaneser V:
Shalmaneser III not of the El Amarna [EA] Era
and
Finding new opponents for Assyrians at Qarqar
And in my university thesis, I had also paired off Tiglath-pileser I and III.
- Third King: Tukulti-Ninurta
Now if, as I have surmised in articles such as:
Can Tukulti-Ninurta I be king Sennacherib?
Tukulti-ninurta I - conventionally dated (as we read above) to 1243-1207 BC - was the late Assyria king Sennacherib (c. 705 - 681 BC, conventional dating), then ‘Middle’ Assyrian history needs to undergo a massive shrinkage of more than five centuries, and same named Assyrian kings (they all tended to record the same anyway, like Doctor Who Daleks) be identified as one.
- Fourth King: Assur-nadin-apli
Emmet Sweeney identified Assur-nadin-apli with Ashurnasirpal II, as did I (not sure or not now whether this was done independently of Emmet) on p. 78 of my university thesis.
The names are virtually identical:
Aššūr-nādin-apli, “Ashur is the giver of an heir”.
Aššur-nāṣir-apli, “Ashur is guardian of the heir”.
The comparison becomes apparent here: “Copies of the Assyrian King List record that "Aššūr-nādin or nāṣir-apli … seized the throne (for himself …) …”.
Now Ashurnasirpal (I-II) I have recently identified with Nebuchednezzar ‘the Great’, who, in my revised scheme of things, now follows on directly from Sennacherib. See e.g. my article:
Ashurnasirpal I-II 'King of the World'
Conclusion
Whilst the correct order of the four kings, as determined above, is this:
Adad-nirari;
Shalmaneser;
Tukulti-Ninurta;
Assur-nadin-apli.
these four now require to be greatly enlarged (with alter egos included) to this:
Adad-nirari I-III [contemporary of Jehu-ides];
Shalmaneser I-V = Tiglath-pileser I-III;
Tukulti-Ninurta I-II = Sennacherib (my Sargon II);
Assur-nadin-apli = Ashurnasirpal I-II = Esarhaddon = Ashurbanipal = Nebuchednezzar.
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