850s BC
| Millennium: | 1st millennium BC |
| Centuries: | 10th century BC – 9th century BC – 8th century BC |
| Decades: | 880s BC 870s BC 860s BC – 850s BC – 840s BC 830s BC 820s BC |
| Years: | 859 BC 858 BC 857 BC 856 BC 855 BC 854 BC 853 BC 852 BC 851 BC 850 BC |
| Categories: | – Deaths |
Events and trends
- 859 BC—Assurnasirpal II dies.
- 859 BC—Shalmaneser attacks Syria and Palestine.
- 858 BC—Aramu becomes king of Urartu.
- 858 BC—Shalmaneser III succeeds Assurnasirpal II as king of Assyria.
- 854 BC or 853 BC—Shalmaneser III battles a Syrian coalition (including king Ahab of Kingdom of Israel and Hadadezer) in the battle of Karkar.
- 850 BC—Takelot II succeeds Osorkon II as King of Egypt.
- c. 850 BC—Homer composes the Iliad and Odyssey.
- c. 850 BC—Assurnasirpal II killing lions, from the palace complex of Assurnasirpal II in Kalhu (modern Nimrud, Iraq) is made. It is now in The British Museum, London. (Wikipedia entry dated 883 BC states that this lamassu is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.) citation needed.
- c. 850 BC—Mesha erects the Mesha Stele, the Moabite Stone; the story is 34 lines, nearly complete and reveals the name 'Israel', a story of Mesha's revolt against the Kingdom of ancient Israel.
- Nazarites and Rechabites establish early temperance movement.