In the second half of the thirteenth century BCE she joined forces with a newly expansionist Elam to bring Kassite-Babylonia to its knees. A dual invasion of Babylonia led to the Assyrians installing their own governors as rulers of Babylon BCE , but Assyria immediately entered a period of political instability, with a series of palace coups.
The Babylonians very soon revolted and restored their independence. Just over a century later an able Assyrian king, Tiglathpileser I BCE campaigned far and wide, reaching as far west as the Mediterranean Sea and inflicting defeat after defeat on the Aramaeans, a desert people who now posed a threat to the civilized areas of all Mesopotamia.
Tiglathpileser finally brought Babylon again under Assyrian domination. The borders of the Assyria were relentlessly pushed back by the Aramaeans, who settled in newly formed kingdoms in Syria and northern Mesopotamia. Meanwhile, Babylonia fell into complete chaos, with Aramaean tribes and other peoples settling the land at will.
One of these peoples were the Kuldu, known to history as the Chaldeans. Towards the end of the 10 th century, Assyria was at its lowest ebb. Its territory was just a narrow strip of land along Tigris. It was, however, still a compact nation, with an army trained by years of constant warfare, and under king Adad-nirari II BCE and his son Tukulti-Ninurta II BCE , the Assyrians loosened the grip of their enemies, in wars which they clearly viewed as wars of national liberation.
The Aramaeans were driven from the Tigris Valley, and other campaigns pushed the mountain tribes back. By the end of these two reigns Assyrian territory once again covered all of northern Mesopotamia. By this time, great changes were affecting societies throughout the Middle East.
Iron was coming into wide use, both for weapons of war and for farming implements; and alphabet scripts were replacing older forms of writing, such as the cuneiform system used in Mesopotamia. Both these changes would affect the Assyrians see more on iron and the alphabet. He spent the first years of reign putting down rebellions and consolidating the kingdom, extending Assyrian territory somewhat, building and garrisoning some border fortresses and receiving the submission of neighboring mountain tribes.
Then, in , Ashurnasirpal carried out a major military expedition through Syria, as far as the Mediterranean. This was not a war of conquest, but, being the first of its kind since the days of Tiglathpileser I, it announced the revival of Assyrian power in no uncertain terms. The entire Middle East trembled with fear. He also had a passion for building — the mark of all great Mesopotamian monarchs, and he built himself a new capital at Nimrud.
The next monarch, Shalmaneser III BCE , surpassed his father in the number and scope of his military campaigns — 31 out of of 35 years as king were spent in warfare. Under him, the Assyrian army went further abroad than ever before — to Armenia, Cilicia, Palestine, into the Taurus and Zagros mountains, and as far as the Gulf. However, his reign marked the high point of this phase, in which Assyrian armies conducted great long-distance raids across the Middle East.
Under Ashurnasirpal, and more so under Shalmaneser, the wars were increasingly raids for booty, wealth and prestige. Almost every spring, the king mustered his troops and led them to war. At this time, his opponents or perhaps more accurately, prey were the rulers of small kingdoms and tribes, spread over an expanding area of the Middle East — in Syria , Palestine including Israel , Anatolia and Iran.
Some princes opposed him bravely, though rarely successfully; others fled to the desert or the mountains; others submitted to the Assyrian monarch, bringing him presents and promising to pay tribute. But woe to those who failed to keep their promise! In another campaign, a storm swept over their country; the rebel leaders were tortured and killed, the population massacred and enslaved, the towns and villages set on fire, the crops burned. Terror-stricken, the neighboring rulers hastened to offer gifts and swear allegiance.
Annual tribute would be imposed or re-impose on all. Then, loaded with spoil, trailing behind its human captives, flocks and herds, the Assyrian army returned home and disbanded. A well-deserved reputation for cruelty preceded Assyrian armies and greatly aided them in their campaigns — many of their enemies were half defeated even before encountering them on the field of battle. Within this a growing number of terrified peoples professed obedience to the king of Assyria and paid him tribute.
The one region which received different treatment was Babylonia. Indeed, the problems had not really gone away: large numbers of Aramaean peoples remained, especially in the south, in the old Sumerian heartland. They represented a continual threat to the rulers of Babylon, who often controlled very little territory effectively.
This was especially so when the different Aramaean groups acted together under one charismatic leader. He had the support of the chief cities of Assyria, Ashur and Nineveh, and 27 other cities.
This revolt seems to have boon linked to resentments by the old nobility, whose power was centered on the old capitals and who were more or less excluded from the levers of power at the royal court in the new capital, Nimrud. The rebellion took five long years to put down, by which time the old king was dead and his younger son, Shamshi-Adad IV BCE , sat on the throne.
On his death, his young son, Adad-nirari III BCE was dominated by the queen, Sammuramas, about whom very little is known but about whom legends later gathered the Greeks knew her by the name Semiramis. Assyria would need leadership of a high order to lift her out of the mire. Fortunately, in Tiglathpileser III, she would have just such a leader. Relief panel. Openwork furniture plaque with two sphinxes. Figure of a man with an oryx, a monkey, and a leopard skin.
Cylinder seal with cultic scene. Horse blinker carved in relief with a seated sphinx. Furniture plaque carved in high relief with two Egyptianizing figures flanking a volute tree.
Reade, Julian E. Assyrian Sculpture. London: British Museum Press, The Akkadian Period ca. Early Dynastic Sculpture, — B. Ebla in the Third Millennium B. Anatolia and the Caucasus, — B. The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, B. The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, — B. Photograph by Heritage Images. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. Neo-Babylonian Empire. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.
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