Examples of war chariots. Top to bottom: Egyptian, Greek, and Roman.
Archive Photos. Reproduced by permission.
Because Assyria as such had not emerged as a nation in the time of Shamshi-Adad, Ashur-uballit (reigned 1363-1328 B. C.) can be called the founder of the first Assyrian empire. He conquered Mittani and waged war against Babylonia.
Tukulti-Ninurta I (too-COOL-tee ni-NOOR-tah), who reigned from 1243 to 1207 B. C., sacked Babylon in 1225. He also started a practice that would be common among Assyrian conquerors to follow, the deportation or forced removal of defeated peoples. The deportees were relocated to another part of the empire, the idea being that they could not cause as much trouble to the rulers if they were removed from their homeland.
Once again, however, the period of Assyrian power did not last long. Tukulti-Ninurta's son led a revolt against him, and usurped (you-SURPD) or seized the throne. For the next few years, the area was ravaged by a variety of conquering peoples, most notably the Phrygians from what is now Turkey, as well as the Sea Peoples, who also threatened Egypt.
The next great Assyrian king was Tiglath-Pileser I (tig-LAHTH puh-LAY-zur). During his reign, from 1104 to 1076 B. C., he fought a seemingly endless series of wars against the Phrygians, Aramaeans, and Babylonians. At one point he reached the Mediterranean, where he washed his weapons in the water as a way of symbolically saying that his conquests were through. Assyria during this time developed the uses of chariot warfare and iron smelting (another Hittite contribution), and borrowed heavily from Babylonian culture in areas that ranged from literature to religion to its system of
Weights and measures. Indeed, much of Assyrian culture throughout its history was adapted from Babylonian roots.
After Tiglath-Pileser, the pattern of previous years continued as Assyria lost the gains made under his rule. For about a century, Aramaeans dominated, but by 934 b. c. the Assyrians were on the move again.
World History
