14 Iyar 2908 – April 28 853 BCE
Karkar
Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria, crossed the Tigris on a campaign of conquest, following in the footsteps of his father, Ashurnasipal II. Shalmaneser main foes were the Urartian and Aramite kingdoms, west and south of the Euphrates. His early battles are recorded on his Kurkh Monolith, culminating in his victory at Karkar, in northwest Syria, in which he defeated a coalition of twelve kings from the area including Aram, Amon, Arabia, Byblos or Que and Hamath. The stele also mentions Ahab – one of the first references to an Israelite king outside the Bible.