22 Facts About Shalmaneser V

Shalmaneser V was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Tiglath-Pileser III in 727 BC to his deposition and death in 722 BC.

Shalmaneser V is known to have campaigned extensively in the lands west of the Assyrian heartland, warring not only against the Israelites, but against the Phoenician city-states and against kingdoms in Anatolia.

Shalmaneser V is known under the name Ululayu, possibly his birth name, which is used instead of his regnal name Shalmaneser in some non-contemporary sources.

The name Shalmaneser V, rendered by contemporaries as in Assyria and in Babylonia, was only ever borne by Assyrian monarchs and never given to anyone other than the king.

Shalmaneser V is unlikely to have taken the regnal name due to its actual etymological meaning, but rather due to its association with his glorious ancestors and distant predecessors Shalmaneser I and Shalmaneser III, well-known for their conquests in the lands west of the Assyrian heartland.

The Hebrew rendition has its own meaning, not the same one as the original Assyrian version: 'Shalmaneser V' is derived from the words and, effectively meaning something akin to "peace in chains" or "covenant of recompense".

Shalmaneser V is known by the name Ululayu, meaning "one who in the month Ululu".

Nevertheless, Shalmaneser V was evidently remembered by later generations by the name Ululayu, which, going by the context in which it was used, might have been his birth name.

Shalmaneser V was the son and heir of Tiglath-Pileser III.

The Assyriologists Keiko Yamada and Shigeo Yamada suggested in 2017 that Shalmaneser V's letters were sent at a time when Tiglath-Pileser was away on campaign and the crown prince was residing at Nimrud as regent.

Shalmaneser V appears to have become king of both Assyria and Babylonia upon his father's death without challenges.

Babylonian chronicles state that Shalmaneser V became king on the 25th day of the month Tebeth, following Tiglath-Pileser's death, and that he died in the month of Tebeth in his fifth year as king, with his successor Sargon II becoming king on the 12th day of that month.

The lion-shaped weights preserved with inscriptions by Shalmaneser V contain the phrase "mina of the land", possibly meaning "mina of the land ", which would suggest an attempt at establishing a unified national standard of weights.

Shalmaneser V deviated from this custom, holding the office in his fourth regnal year.

The kings of the Sargonid dynasty that succeeded Shalmaneser V took the office of eponym at different points in their reigns, or not at all, which implies that Shalmaneser V issued some administrative reforms that were continued and respected by succeeding kings.

In 1925, the Assyriologist Daniel David Luckenbill identified a fragmentary Babylonian inscription as belonging to Shalmaneser V, by identifying the last sign in the king's name in the inscription as representing, the last portion of Shalmaneser's name.

Shalmaneser V is known to have warred against the kingdom of Tabal in Anatolia, as Sargon mentions in his inscriptions that his "predecessor" defeated and deported the Tabalian king Hulli to Assyria.

Shalmaneser V was deposed in 722 BC and replaced as king by Sargon II.

Shalmaneser V, who did not fear the king of the world, whose hands have brought sacrilege in this city [Assur], put on his people, he imposed the compulsory work and a heavy corvee, paid them like a working class.

Shalmaneser V raised my head; let me take hold of the scepter, the throne and the tiara.

Unless Shalmaneser V somehow fled Assyria and took refuge in one of the surrounding enemy states, it can be assumed that he was killed upon his deposition.

The commonly accepted hypothesis that Sargon II was not the legitimate heir of Shalmaneser V implies the existence of more legitimate heirs.