Qualla: Battle of Qarqar https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Qarqar https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar Battle of Qarqar: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar/ Somewhere in the inscriptions that Assyrian king Shalmaneser III carved to celebrate his conquests, the story quietly falls apart. He claims a total, annihilating victory at Qarqar in 853 BC -- corpses blocking the Orontes River like a causeway, blood filling the wadis, a field too small to hold the fallen. And yet, in the years that followed, he marched back to fight the same enemies in the same region six more times. Every one of his opponents kept their throne. The Battle of Qarqar may be the most consequential engagement in ancient Near Eastern history that its own victor could not convincingly win.

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]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/y/3/g/battle-of-qarqar-wp/sy3g-battle-of-qarqar-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Qarqar: Where Eleven Kings Stood Together https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar/ The ancient town of Qarqar, identified with the modern archaeological site of Tell Qarqur in Syria's Hama Governorate, lay along the Orontes River in northwestern Syria -- the corridor through which any Assyrian army marching west toward the Mediterranean had to pass. Shalmaneser...

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]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/y/3/g/battle-of-qarqar-wp/sy3g-battle-of-qarqar-where-eleven-kings-stood-together.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Qarqar: The Coalition's Roll Call https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar/ The inscription on the Kurkh Monoliths reads like a census of the ancient Levant. Hadadezer of Damascus led the alliance with 1,200 chariots, 1,200 horsemen, and 20,000 soldiers. Irhuleni of Hamath contributed 700 chariots and 10,000 troops. King Ahab of Israel reportedly sent 2,...

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]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/y/3/g/battle-of-qarqar-wp/sy3g-battle-of-qarqar-the-coalitions-roll-call.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Qarqar: The Emperor's Account https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar/ Shalmaneser's own record of the battle is vivid and grandiose. He claims to have felled 14,000 enemy soldiers, filled the plain with corpses, and blocked the Orontes with the dead. "Like Adad, I rained down upon them a devastating flood," his inscription reads. Royal Assyrian ins...

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]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/y/3/g/battle-of-qarqar-wp/sy3g-battle-of-qarqar-the-emperors-account.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Qarqar: What the Victors Actually Won https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar/ Hadadezer remained king of Damascus until at least 841 BC. Irhuleni continued to challenge Assyrian power from Hamath. Ahab of Israel died shortly after Qarqar, but in an unrelated battle at Ramoth-Gilead against Damascus -- the coalition that had united against Assyria was alrea...

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]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/y/3/g/battle-of-qarqar-wp/sy3g-battle-of-qarqar-what-the-victors-actually-won.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Qarqar: Stones That Remember https://qualla.com/battle-of-qarqar/ The Kurkh Monoliths that record the battle now reside in the British Museum, far from the Orontes valley where the fighting took place. At Tell Qarqur itself, archaeological work has confirmed the site's identification with ancient Qarqar, though the landscape has changed beyond ...

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]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/y/3/g/battle-of-qarqar-wp/sy3g-battle-of-qarqar-stones-that-remember.mp3 0:06 6 full