co-existing with other states in the region, such as Carchemish. The most significant of all the Aramaean states was Damascus, which became the leader of a federation of Aramaic states, of which Hamath was a member. Gradually Aramaic became the most widely used language of the Near East.
When the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (BC 858-824) conquered the north of Syria he reached Hamath (Assyrian: Amat or Hamata in 835 BC; this marks the beginning of Assyrian inscriptions relating to the kingdom. Irhuleni of Hamath and Im-idri of Aram (biblical Bar-Hadad) led a coalition of Syrian cities against the encroaching Assyrian armies. According to Assyrian sources, they were confronted by 4,000 chariots, 2,000 horsemen, 62,000 foot-soldiers and 1,000 Arab camel-riders in the Battle of Qarqar. The Assyrian victory seems to have been more of a draw, although Shalmaneser III continued on to the shore and even took a ship to open sea. In the following years, Shalmaneser III failed to conquer Hamath or Aram. After the death of Shalmaneser III, the former allies Hamath and Aram fell out, and Aram seems to have taken over some of Hamath's territory
