s kingdom, and attempted to revive the
sea trade on the Persian gulf which had flourished under Solomon. "He
made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not;
for the ships were broken (wrecked) at Ezion-geber." Ahaziah offered
him sailors--probably Phoenicians--but they were refused.[453]
Apparently Jehoshaphat had close trading relations with the
Chaldaeans, who were encroaching on the territory of the king of
Babylon, and menacing the power of that monarch. Jehoram succeeded
Jehoshaphat and reigned eight years.

After repulsing the Syrian allies at Qarqar on the Orontes in 854
B.C., Shalmaneser III of Assyria found it necessary to invade
Babylonia. Soon after he came to the throne he had formed an alliance
with Nabu-aplu-iddin of that kingdom, and was thus able to operate in
the north-west without fear of complications with the rival claimant
of Mesopotamia. When Nabu-aplu-iddin died, his two sons
Marduk-zakir-shum and Marduk-bel-usate were rivals for the throne. The
former, the rightful heir, appealed for help to Shalmaneser, and that
monarch at once hastened to assert his authority in the southern
kingdom. In 851 B.C. Marduk-bel-usate, who was supported by an Aramaean
army, was defeated and put to death.

Marduk-zakir-shum afterwards reigned over Babylonia as the vassal of
Assyria, and Shalmaneser, his overlord, made offerings to the gods at
Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. The Chaldaeans were afterwards subdued,
and compelled to pay annual tribute.

In the following year Shalmaneser had to lead an expedition into
northern Mesopotamia and suppress a fresh revolt in that troubled
region. But the western allies soon gathered strength again, and in
846 B.C. he found it necessary to return with a great army, but was
not successful in achieving any permanent success, although he put his
enemies to flight. The various western kingdoms, including Damascus,
Israel, and Tyre and Sidon, remained unconquered, and continued to
conspire against him.

The resisting power of the Syrian allies, however, was being greatly
weakened by internal revolts, which may have been stirred up by
Assyrian emissaries. Edom threw off the yoke of Judah and became
independent. Jehoram, who had married Athaliah, a royal princess of
Israel, was dead. His son Ahaziah, who succeeded him, joined forces
with his cousin and overlord, King Joram of Israel, to assist him in
capturing Ramoth-gilead from the king of Damascus. Joram took