Shalmaneser

Shalmaneser was the name of several Assyrian kings, of whom two are relevant to biblical history. Shalmaneser III (reigned 858–824 BC) is not named in the Hebrew Bible but appears in Assyrian records connected with Israelite kings: the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III depicts Jehu of Israel — or his envoy — bowing to pay tribute, the earliest known visual representation of an Israelite king. Shalmaneser V (reigned 727–722 BC), however, is the king most prominently associated with the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel and is directly named in Scripture.

When Hoshea, the last king of Israel, stopped paying tribute to Assyria and sought Egyptian support, Shalmaneser V invaded Palestine, captured Hoshea, and placed him in prison (2 Kings 17:3–4). He then laid siege to the capital Samaria, a siege that lasted three years (2 Kings 17:5). Assyrian annals credit the final capture of Samaria to Sargon II, who may have succeeded to the throne during the siege, but Shalmaneser V's campaign initiated the process that ended the northern kingdom and led to the deportation of the ten tribes — an event of permanent theological significance in the prophetic interpretation of Israel's history and the mystery of the "lost tribes."