Qarqar

Qarqar is a locality in Hama Governorate, Syria, identified in historical sources as the region near the site of the Battle of Qarqar. The battle, dated to 853 BCE, is one of the best-documented conflicts of the early Neo-Assyrian period.

There are limited visible monumental remains at the modern site; the primary significance of Qarqar is historical and textual, tied to Assyrian inscriptions that record the battle and the names of the combatant polities. The site is of interest mainly to historians and archaeologists studying Assyrian campaigns and Levantine polities.

In 853 BCE the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III engaged a coalition of Levantine and Mesopotamian rulers at Qarqar; the event is recorded in Assyrian annals and inscriptions that list the allies and their contributions to the coalition. The battle figure prominently in studies of early first-millennium Levantine politics.

Qarqar lies within Hama Governorate in western Syria, in the general area recorded by near-contemporary Assyrian sources as the battlefield and its environs.

• Battle of Qarqar: The site is historically known for the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BCE, recorded in Assyrian inscriptions that name a broad coalition of Levantine rulers opposing Shalmaneser III.