SHAMSHIADAD V

(reigned 823–811 B.C.)

Assyrian king. He fought for four years to sustain his succession after the death of his father, Shalmaneser III. He was perhaps even helped in this by the king of Babylon, Marduk-zakir-shumi. When there were problems in Babylon after the death of his ally, Shamshi-Adad responded in a particularly brutal way: he invaded Babylonia and ravaged the countryside, having taken the new king Marduk-balassu-iqbi to Nineveh, where he was flayed.