Shalmaneser III (Shulanu-asharedu, "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of Assyria (858 BC - 823 BC), and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II.

His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations of Mesopotamia and Syria, as well as Kizzuwadna and Urartu. His armies penetrated to Lake Van and the Taurus Mountains, the Hittites of Carchemish were compelled to pay tribute, and the kingdoms of Hamath and Damascus were subdued.

In 853 BC a league formed by the kingdoms of Hamath, Arvad , the Ammonites, "Ahab of Israel" and other neighboring kings, under the leadership of king Hadadezer of Damascus, fought an indecisive battle against him at Karkar (Qarqar), and other battles followed in 849 and 846 BC.

In 842, Shalmaneser campaigned against Hadadezer's successor Hazael, forcing him to take refuge within the walls of his capital. While Shalmaneser was unable to capture Damascus, he devastated its territory, and Jehu of Israel (whose ambassadors are represented on the Black Obelisk now in the British Museum) with the Phoenician cities prudently sent tribute to him. Babylonia had already been conquered as far as the marshes of the Chaldaeans in the south, and the Babylonian king put to death.

In 836, Shalmaneser made an expedition against the Tibareni (Tabal) which was followed by one against Cappadocia, and in 832 came another the campaign against Urartu. In the following year, age required the king to hand over the command of his armies to the Tartan (commander-in-chief), and six years later Nineveh and other cities revolted against him under his rebel son Assur-danin-pal . Civil war continued for two years; but the rebellion was at last crushed by Shamshi-Adad V, another son of Shalmaneser. Shalmaneser died soon afterwards. He had built a palace at Calah, and the annals of his reign are engraved on an obelisk of black marble which he erected there.

This entry uses text with modifications from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.