Close Up of Jehu on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

Could this stone-carved relief be Jehu, the same king who is mentioned in the Bible?

Close up of Jehu doing homage to Shalmaneser III. This is the same Jehu as the Jehu mentioned in Scripture.

This close up of king Jehu doing homage to Shalmaneser III on The Black Obelisk is one of the most important discoveries in Biblical Archaeology. The panel depicts the Hebrew king Jehu, or possibly one of his servants, bringing gifts to Shalmaneser III and kneeling at his feet.

"The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years." 2 Kings 10:36

Detailed Description of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser

Material - Black Limestone Obelisk 
Neo Assyrian
Date: 858-824 BC 
Height: 197.85 cm (77.8937008 inches)
Width: 45.08 cm (17.7480315 inches)
Depth: 
Nimrud (ancient Calah), northern Iraq
Excavated by: Henry Layard 1845-1849
Location: British Museum, London

British Museum Excerpt

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

Neo-Assyrian, 858-824 BC
From Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Iraq

The military achievements of an Assyrian king

The archaeologist Henry Layard discovered this black limestone obelisk in 1846 during his excavations of the site of Kalhu, the ancient Assyrian capital. It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a time of civil war. The relief sculptures glorify the achievements of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858-824 BC) and his chief minister. It lists their military campaigns of thirty-one years and the tribute they exacted from their neighbours: including camels, monkeys, an elephant and a rhinoceros. Assyrian kings often collected exotic animals and plants as an expression of their power.

There are five scenes of tribute, each of which occupies four panels round the face of the obelisk and is identified by a line of cuneiform script above the panel. From top to bottom they are:

Sua of Gilzanu (in north-west Iran)
Jehu of Bit Omri (ancient northern Israel)
An unnamed ruler of Musri (probably Egypt)
Marduk-apil-usur of Suhi (middle Euphrates, Syria and Iraq)
Qalparunda of Patin (Antakya region of Turkey)

The second register from the top includes the earliest surviving picture of an Israelite: the Biblical Jehu, king of Israel, brought or sent his tribute in around 841 BC. Ahab, son of Omri, king of Israel, had lost his life in battle a few years previously, fighting against the king of Damascus at Ramoth-Gilead (I Kings xxii. 29-36). His second son (Joram) was succeeded by Jehu, a usurper, who broke the alliances with Phoenicia and Judah, and submitted to Assyria. The caption above the scene, written in Assyrian cuneiform, can be translated

The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king [and] spears. 

Height: 197.85 cm 
Width: 45.08 cm 

Excavated by A.H. Layard
ANE 118885
Room 6, Assyrian sculpture

Related Pages:

Free Bible - Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

The Discovery of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser

The Black Obelisk in Biblical Archaeology

The Text on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser

Archaeology of Ancient Assyria - Text

The Destruction of Israel - Black Obelisk of Shalmanesar

King Jehu and the Black Obelisk 

Paul Emile Botta

The Jehu Relief

Archaeology of Ancient Assyria - Austen Henry Layard

Archaeology of Ancient Assyria - Ancient Assyria

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Calah

Ancient Sketches