Abstract
The main reason for the campaigns, battles and massacres organized by Assyrian kings for conquering Anatolia or at least taking the region under control has been thought to be the raw materials resources in Anatolia and the convenience of sea and land connections through which these raw material resources could be transferred. As of the beginning of 2000 BC, the policy followed by Assyria, which had been started with the commercial relations with Anatolia and in the period of Assyrian Commercial Colonies when mining reserves of Anatolia largely carried to Assyria, continued in a straight line without impeding the trade performed upon the consent of Anatolian kings. Being home to establishments that were politically, economically and socio-culturally different, and losing its civilization level with the increase of mass movements, Anatolia was ruled by small or large kingdoms which tried to exhibit Hittite characteristics in 1000 BC. In this period, Assyria that gradually gained power and tried to expand with the policy of western expansionism turned its face towards Anatolia once again to dominate on the path from being a kingdom to becoming an empire and to make this permanent. Accordingly, Assyrian kings left permanent marks on the lands they conquered during the campaigns to Anatolia. It was aimed in this study to shed light on the triumphal columns left by Assyrian kings in Anatolia after the successful campaigns by means of both philological sources and archeological finds.
Highlights
Relations between Anatolia and Mesopotamia have generally been developed in search of raw materials or in the desire to seize the Anatolian lands and to have the permanent say in the Mediterranean trade
The statement in the Akkadian Sargon text "I divided the Amanos Mountains into two and I had a monument built in there" has been accepted as the first known example of the victory monuments left by the Assyrian kings in Anatolia, which constitute the main head of this work, as the beginning of a tradition
Shalmanesser III/ Šulmānu-ašarēdu (858-824 BC). From his first year on the throne, the third Shalmanesser III had the records about the expeditions that he embarked in Anatolia and its close geography kept with great diligence
Summary
Relations between Anatolia and Mesopotamia have generally been developed in search of raw materials or in the desire to seize the Anatolian lands and to have the permanent say in the Mediterranean trade. From his first year on the throne, the third Shalmanesser III had the records about the expeditions that he embarked in Anatolia and its close geography kept with great diligence. The Kenk Boğazı/ Kenk Gorge rock relief is another inscribed victory monument of the Shalmanesser III, which was reached from a region close to the north east of modern Gaziantep province This rock relief, dated between 857-856 BC, had an important place in shedding light on the third Shalmanesser's campaigns throughout the Euphrates. The Shalmanesser III mentioned the rebellion of King Ahuni of the Bīt-Adini kingdom in Kenk Gorge and how he forced this king to submit This rock relief mentions the lands and the achievements of Shalmanesser, and today's Eastern Anatolia (Turkey) geography was defined as Nairi and Urartu regions (Taşyürek 1979). This is the border...” The last lines of the stela were inscribed to protect the stela: "The great gods of Assur, Aššur, Adad and Ber, Sin who has a temple in Harran, will not hear the prayers of those who make alterations on this stela."
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