Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ADAD-NIRARI

(Akk. Adad-nirari)

1. Adad-nirari I (1307-1275 b.c.) was successful in expanding Assyria west across the Euphrates River. He conquered the Mitanni protectorate of Hanigalbat.

2. Adad-nirari II (911-891) consolidated the holdings of his predecessors and campaigned against the Arameans west of the ³abur River. He also fought on the Babylonian frontier, an action that resulted in a peaceful coexistence between the two states for the remainder of the 9th century.

3. Adad-nirari III (810-783), son of the legendary Semiramus, inherited a state weakened by civil war. Nevertheless, he had some moderate success in Babylonia and claims in his annals to have destroyed a coalition centered at Damascus, which he captured. Among those listed as his vassal kings are Joash of Israel (Akk. Ia-a-su māt Sa-me-ri-na-a), who had not been part of the Damascene coalition. Adad-nirari III may have been the “deliverer” of Israel mentioned in 2 Kgs. 13:5. Another enemy of the Syrian coalition, Zakkur of Hamath, claims to have repelled a siege from Ben-hadad of Damascus, probably benefiting from Adad-nirari III’s presence in the region.

Bibliography. A. K. Grayson, Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium B.C. (1114-859 B.C.) (Toronto, 1991); A. R. Millard and H. Tadmor, “Adad-Nirari III in Syria,” Iraq 25 (1973): 57-64.

Mark W. Chavalas