ABSTRACT
Two columns engraved on a monolith (large stone stele) found at Kurkh (southeastern Turkey) bearing the image of the king and divine symbols record Shalmaneser’s annals till his sixth regnal year. e inscription provides a detailed record of the 853 bce battle against the coalition of the “twelve” at Qarqar (ii. 89b-102). e account of year 853 bce is the most detailed and propagandistic of all of Shalmaneser’s inscriptions narrating the events of his sixth regnal year (Younger 2007: 250). e text ends suddenly after the narration of the battle of Qarqar. e usual concluding notices related to building activities, blessings, curses and date are missing, which suggests that this inscription was presumably produced shortly after the battle, during the sixth year of Shalmaneser’s reign or shortly after. e circumstances of the erection of the monolith are not recorded (Yamada 2000: 14).
