Which Assyrian king commissioned the Black Obelisk, depicting Jehu of Israel?

Shalmaneser III commissioned the Black Obelisk, which depicts Jehu of Israel.

The Black Obelisk is a four-sided, black limestone monument discovered at Nimrud, the ancient Assyrian city of Kalhu. It records military campaigns and tribute brought to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, who ruled from 859 to 824 BCE.

One relief shows a figure identified by its inscription as Jehu, king of Israel, bowing before the Assyrian monarch. The scene is widely noted as the earliest known surviving visual representation of an identified figure from the Hebrew Bible, although the monument itself is an Assyrian royal record.

The obelisk should not be confused with Assyrian palace reliefs from Nineveh or with monuments of later kings such as Sargon II. Its inscriptions and images primarily celebrate Shalmaneser III’s campaigns and the submission of neighboring rulers.