During years 851 and 850 BC, the Assyrian king Salmānu-ašarēdu III came to Marduk-zâkir-šumi‘s aid (ana nīrārūtišu) and campaigned in concert[nb 1] to force him to flee to the Jasubu mountainous region northeast, area of lower Diyāla.

[4] Salmānu-ašarēdu left an account of these events on his Black Obelisk: In the eighth year of my reign, Marduk-bêl-usâte, the younger brother, revolted against Marduk-zâkir-šumi, king of Karduniaš, and they divided the land in its entirety.

I cut down with the sword Marduk-bêl-usâte and the rebel army officers who were with him.During his campaign, Salmānu-ašarēdu captured the city of Baqani, extracting tribute from Adini of Bit-Dakkuri,[i 10] also from Mušallim-Marduk of the Amukani and the leader of the Yakin tribes, the earliest attestation of these Chaldean groups and made a pilgrimage to Babylon where he recounted "I ascended to Esagila, the palace of the gods, the abode of the king of all …"[nb 2][5] He practiced his religious devotions at other cultic shrines as his Black Obelisk recalls “I went to the great urban centers.

I made sacrifices in Babylon, Borsippa and Kutha.”[nb 3][6] A relief from the front of his throne base[i 11] depicts him gripping Marduk-zâkir-šumi’s hand in a public display of Assyro-Babylonian friendship.

Šamši-Adad V recalled: Where [my brother] Aššur-danin-apli, in the time of Salmānu-ašarēdu, his father, acted wickedly, bringing about sedition, rebellion, and wicked plotting, caused the land to rise in revolt, prepared for war, brought the people of Assyria, north and south, to his side, and made bold speeches, brought the cities into the rebellion and set his face to begin strife and battle… 27 cities, along with their fortifications… revolted against Salmānu-ašarēdu, king of the four regions of the world, my father, and… had gone to the side of Aššur-danin-apli.

[7] The Synchronistic History remains curiously silent on these events, but a treaty[i 12] between Šamši-Adad and Marduk-zâkir-šumi seems to place the Assyrian in an inferior position, indicative of his reliance on and debt to the Babylonian king.

It concludes with a series of curses apparently copied from the Code of Hammurabi[8] and notably omitting the god Aššur: (May Marduk) destroy his country, smite his people [through hunge]r and famine.