The three lost kings: An ancient 'Game of Thrones' saw Assyrian rulers wiped from history for nearly 3,000 years, scientists reveal

Scientists have uncovered evidence for three previously unknown kings who briefly ruled one of the world’s most powerful ancient civilisations.Researchers from Yale University have found clues to a series of forgotten rulers from the Assyrian Empire.This realm dominated much of the Middle East before its collapse around 2,500 years ago and has a widely documented royal succession.But the trio never made it into the official history books.According to the researchers, the men appear to have been deliberately omitted from the Assyrian King List, a document that for more than a century has been regarded as the definitive record of the empire's rulers.The findings suggest that political intrigue, rebellions and palace coups may have been far more common than historians once thought.And together, the clues paint a picture of a brutal struggle for power that researchers have likened to the fantasy drama Game of Thrones. Fragment of a cuneiform tablet inscribed with a royal grant from 762 B.C.E., issued in the name of a newly discovered Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria Assyria had a widely documented royal succession, but experts have discovered evidence for three new kings who were never officially documented. Pictured: A carving of King Ashurbanipal - the last great ruler of the Assyrian EmpireThe discoveries were made after experts re-examined ancient clay tablets, inscriptions and a stone monument that had puzzled scholars for decades.One of the newly identified rulers was a rebel king who took the name Tiglath-pileser and is believed to have seized power in 763 BC, shortly after a dramatic solar eclipse that would have been seen as a powerful omen by ancient Assyrians.The would-be monarch appears to have overthrown his nephew, King Ashur-dan III, and briefly occupied the throne in the city of Ashur before being driven out and erased from the official record.A second forgotten king, named Shalmaneser, is thought to have ruled for a little over a year before losing the throne to Tiglath-pileser III, one of Assyria's most famous rulers.The third, a little-known king called Ashur-uballit, may have briefly held power before being deposed by Adad-nirari II.'What we've known about Assyrian history has been based on this one document, the Assyrian King List, and all historians have relied on it relatively uncritically,' said Professor Eckart Frahm of Yale University.'What we have shown is that this list was manipulated.' The discoveries were made after experts re-examined ancient clay tablets (pictured) which bore the names of unknown kings The researchers revised their knowledge of the Assyrian royal succession, adding three kings that were previously excludedFor decades, historians assumed the Assyrian King List faithfully recorded every ruler in chronological order.‘But as we demonstrate in our research, three such rulers have been hiding in the shadows, in some poorly preserved cuneiform documents published some time ago but not properly understood,’ Professor Frahm said.The new research, published in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies, suggests the document may instead have been crafted to present a neat version of history that excluded kings who ruled only briefly, failed militarily or were overthrown by rivals.The Assyrian Empire, which dominated much of the ancient Near East between roughly 900 BC and 600 BC, is often regarded as the world's first great empire.At its height, it stretched from modern-day Iraq across parts of Syria, Turkey, Iran and Egypt.The study suggests that behind Assyria's image of strength and stability was a far messier reality, with rival claimants battling for power and some rulers being wiped from history almost entirely.‘As is now clear, the political history of the Neo-Assyrian period was more complex than has hitherto been thought, and the Assyrian crown more contested throughout the entire era,’ the researchers said.‘If we acknowledge the new [Kings] as Assyrian rulers, then the numbering of the Neo-Assyrian kings that has held in the century since Weidner (1921) and Olmstead (1922; 1923) must be reconsidered.’