Ashurnasirpal’s son, Shalmaneser III (ruled c. 858—824 BCE), was as ruthless as Ashurnasirpal and continued his expansionist policies. Shalmaneser crossed the Euphrates 25 times to do battle against the Aramaeans, conducting 32 campaigns in 35 years. However, not all his campaigns were successful. Although Shalmaneser managed to conquer northern Syria, he was unable to subdue
This bronze bowl, made in the eighth century BCE, is believed to be of Phoenician origin, even though it was found at Nimrud. Archaeologists believe that the bowl was brought back to Assyria as war booty.
Damascus, even though his army besieged the city in 841 BCE. Shalmaneser also campaigned against a new kingdom in the north, Urartu, which was threatening Assyria.
Shalmaneser completed the construction of Nimrud begun by his father and built many other temples and palaces throughout the empire. He commissioned sculptors and artists to produce statues and stelae, including the famous Black Obelisk (see box, page 107), which shows the kings of Israel paying tribute to Assyria. The reliefs in hammered bronze, called the Bronze Gates of Balawat, which once decorated the temple doors in the town of Balawat, northeast of Nimrud, depicted Shalmaneser’s victories over the Phoenicians as well as other subjugated territories. The bronze reliefs also showed the rulers of both Tyre and Sidon bringing tribute.
Under Shalmaneser’s immediate successors, Assyria entered a period of decline. There was increasing civil unrest, and in the provinces, some of the nobles who held vast territories acted as if they were independent rulers. Over the generations, thousands of Aramaeans who had been transported to Assyria to work on building projects had been assimilated into Assyrian society, and many of them rose to high positions in the civil service. As a result, the Assyrian language was gradually replaced by Aramaic in common usage.
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