KARKAR

also spelled Qarqar, ancient fortress on the Orontes River, northwest of Hamah, in western Syria. It was the site of two ancient battles. Karkar, a strategic outpost of Hamath (modern Hamah), was attacked by Shalmaneser III of Assyria in 853 BC. The city was defended by a coalition of Aramaeans led by Ben-hadad I of Damascus and Irhuleni of Hamath and their allies, including King Ahab of Israel. Although Assyrian records claim that the battle was a victory for Shalmaneser, the further advance of his forces into Syria was halted; thus the battle was probably fought to a stalemate. In 720 BC Arpad, Simirra, Damascus, and Samaria joined Iaubidi, king of Hamath, in battle against Sargon II of Assyria at Karkar. Sargon defeated them, captured and burned Karkar, and made Hamath an Assyrian province.