Three previously unknown Assyrian kings (Edmonds and Frahm 2026)

Overview

In Journal of Cuneiform Studies 78 (2026) Alexander Edmonds and Eckart Frahm argue that three men ruled Assyria briefly but were left out of the Assyrian King List (AKL). No new excavation is involved; the case is built from long-known texts and objects, read together with the Eponym Chronicle.

The three: (1) an Assur-uballit, c. 913-912 BCE, named in a text (VAT 10136) that lists rulers who restored a silver ritual vessel for beer dedicated to the god Ashur; (2) a Tiglath-pileser, c. 763-762 BCE, in whose name a royal land grant (British Museum Rm 75) is dated to 762 BCE, during the years the Eponym Chronicle records 'rebellion in the Inner City (Ashur)'; (3) a Shalmaneser, c. 747-745 BCE, whose name, the authors argue, is the one erased on the Tell Abta stela of the palace herald Bel-Harran-belu-usur and replaced by the name of Tiglath-pileser III.

The Tell Abta stela is the most concrete piece. Its line 9 now reads 'Bel-Harran-belu-usur, the palace herald of Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria', with the royal name cut over an erasure. Since Unger (1917) the erased name has been read as Shalmaneser IV (782-773 BCE). Edmonds and Frahm assign it instead to a later, unlisted Shalmaneser just before Tiglath-pileser III, citing among other things the official's robe, which BAS reports they date to the mid-8th century.

In its own words

me, Bél-harran-bél-usur, the major-domo of Tiglath-pileser (written over Shalmaneser), king of Assyria, who fears the great godsLuckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia I (1926), §824, p. 295 (Tell Abta stela)

What the evidence shows

• Tell Abta stela, Ist 01326, line 9: 'Bel-Harran-belu-usur, the palace herald of Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria'; the signs of the royal name are marked damaged in the ORACC transliteration, and the king's name is cut over an erased Shalmaneser (ORACC RIAo Shalmaneser IV 2; Luckenbill 1926 §824).
• The stela's upper part carries divine symbols and a standing human figure in profile, most likely the herald himself (ORACC RIAo introduction).
• In the stela the herald, not the king, founds the city of Dur-Bel-Harran-belu-usur, builds its temple and grants it freedom from grain and straw taxes and corvée (ORACC translation lines 9-22; Luckenbill §§824-826).
• Eponym Chronicle 763 BCE (Bur-Saggile): 'rebellion in the Inner City; in the month of Simanu an eclipse of the sun took place'; 762 BCE: 'rebellion in the Inner City' (ORACC SAAo Q007771).
• Eponym Chronicle 746 BCE: 'rebellion in Kalhu'; 745 BCE: 'in the month of Ayyaru, [day] 13, Tiglath-pileser took the throne' (ORACC SAAo Q007771).
• Eponym Chronicle 741 BCE lists Bel-Harran-belu-usur, palace herald, as eponym; ORACC notes he had been replaced as herald by 751 and reinstated under Tiglath-pileser III.
• Rm 75 obverse: fragment of a royal land grant dated 762 BCE issued in the name of a Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria (Yale News caption). The authors note the grant 'was likely not made in the name of Adad-nerari III, as the name of that king is written differently in other texts' (Yale News).
• VAT 10136: a text listing rulers who restored a silver beer vessel for Ashur, naming an Assur-uballit with implied royal status (Yale News; BAS).

Open questions

• Whose name was erased on the Tell Abta stela. Unger (1917, as reported by Luckenbill 1926 §824 n.) and the RIMA 3 / ORACC edition (A.0.105.2, filed under Shalmaneser IV, 782-773 BCE) read it as Shalmaneser IV, with Bel-Harran-belu-usur serving him first and Tiglath-pileser III later. Edmonds and Frahm (JCS 78, 2026) read it as an otherwise unknown Shalmaneser of c. 747-745 BCE; BAS reports their evidence includes the figure's 'tartan' robe, which they date to the mid-8th century. The eponym entries (herald removed by 751, reinstated 741) are compatible with either reading; the robe dating is the new element. The JCS text has not been reviewed for this entry.
• Whether a single dated grant makes a king. The Tiglath-pileser of 763-762 rests on Rm 75 plus the Eponym Chronicle's two years of 'rebellion in the Inner City'. The chronicle entries do not name the rebel. The case is cumulative ('textual, chronological, archaeological, and artistic evidence', BAS); what else the authors bring was not seen here.
• The Assur-uballit of c. 913-912 depends on VAT 10136 naming him in a list of restorers of a cult vessel; whether that list implies he was king (BAS: 'implied royal status') or a crown prince is the point to test against the JCS text.

Since 2024

• 2026-06Edmonds and Frahm publish 'Three New Kings of Assyria' in JCS 78: 27-59. [1]
• 2026-07Yale News release (9 July 2026) summarizing the three kings. [2]
• 2026-08Biblical Archaeology Society report (7 Aug 2026) naming VAT 10136, Rm 75 and the Tell Abta stela. [3]

Sources

1. Edmonds, A. J. and Frahm, E. 2026. "Three New Kings of Assyria." Journal of Cuneiform Studies 78: 27-59. doi:10.1086/741239 link editio princeps
2. Prevost, L. 2026. "Watch the Throne: Uncovering three new kings of Assyria." Yale News, 9 July 2026. link study
3. Biblical Archaeology Society. 2026. "Three New Assyrian Kings Discovered." Bible History Daily, 7 Aug 2026. link study
4. Grayson, A. K. 1996. RIMA 3, A.0.105.2 (Tell Abta stela, Ist 01326), as adapted in ORACC RIAo, Shalmaneser IV 2 (Q006688), by J. Novotny and N. Morello (2016). link editio princeps
5. Assyrian Eponym Chronicle, ORACC SAAo edition Q007771 (after Millard 1994, SAAS 2). link translation
6. Luckenbill, D. D. 1926. Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. I. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. §§823-827, pp. 295-296. link translation

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