Neo-Assyrian Empire (1180-609)

Captives being impaled by Sennacherib's army

This period can be divided into two sub-periods: the Proto-Empire (1180-912) and the New Empire (912-609). One of the reasons for the Assyrian's wars of conquest, aside from the economic reasons, was to spread the worship of their sun god Ashur. They had some limited success, but really only succeeded in adding Ashur to the ever growing local pantheons.

Ashur-Dan I (1180-1134)-Son of Ninurta-Apal-Ekur. He fought the Babylonians.
Ninurta-Tukulti-Ashur (1133-1132)-Son of Ashur-Dan. He was overthrown by his brother and exiled to Babylon.
Matakkil-Nusku (1133-1132)-Brother of Ninurta-Tukulti-Ashur. He seized the throne from his brother.
Ashur-Resh-Ishi I (1132-1116)-Son of Matakkil-Nusku. He fought the Babylonians, along with the Mushki (the later Phrygians). He was given the title "the Avenger of Assyria".

Tiglath-Pileser I (Tukulti-Apil-Esharra) (1116-1077)-Son of Ashur-Resh-Ishi. His actual name was Tukulti-Apil-Esharra. He checked the growing power of the Aramean tribes in a series of campaigns, and then forced the Syrian states and Phoenicia to pay tribute, including Palmyra. His raiding armies reached the Mediterranean, where he boasted of killing a Narwhal. He crushed a Mushki invasion and then invaded Armenia north of Lake Van. He was able to sack Babylon. He restored Assyrian power but the Empire shrank after his rule. Palace intrigue led to his murder.
The Arameans swept back over Assyrian territory and all the Assyrian Kings from Tiglath-Pileser I to Adad-Nirari II had to fight them.
Asharid-Apal-Ekur (1074-1074)-Son of Tiglath-Pileser.
Ashur-Bel-Kala (1074-1057)-Brother of Asharid-Apal-Ekur.
Eriba-Adad II (1057-1055)-Son of Ashur-Bel-Kala. He was overthrown by his uncle.
Shamshi-Adad IV (1055-1050)-Son of Tiglath-Pileser I. He returned from exile and seized the throne.
Ashurnasirpal I (Ashur-Nasir-Apli) (1050-1032)-Son of Shamshi-Adad. His actual name was Ashur-Nasir-Apli.
Successors-Territory shrank to core area around Ashur, scarcely more than 75 miles on a side. The Arameans practically pitched their tents outside the walls of Ashur. Culture and commerce where secondary to farming and herding.
Shalmaneser II (Shulanu-Asharedu) (1032-1020)-Son of Ashurnasirpal. His actual name was Shulanu-Asharedu.
Ashur-Nirari IV (1020-1016)-Son of Shalmaneser.
Ashur-Rabi II (1016-973)-Son of Ashurnasirpal I.
Ashur-Resh-Ishi II (973-967)-Son of Ashur-Rabi.
Tiglath-Pileser II (Tukulti-Apil-Esharra) (967-935)-Son of Ashur-Resh-Ishi. His actual name was Tukulti-Apli-Esharra.
Ashur-Dan II (935-912)-Son of Tiglath-Pileser.
Adad-Nirari II (912-891)-Son of Ashur-Dan. He drove the Arameans out of The Tigris valley and the Kashiari mountains, from which they were threatening Nineveh. In the campaign against the Arameans he occupied several towns to the west. In his eyes, it was a war of national liberation. To the north he slaughtered the tribes and pushed them into the mountains. He invaded northern Babylonia and conquered Hit and Zanqu. He signed a treaty with Nabu-Shuma-Ukin of Babylon which guaranteed peace for 80 years. He is called the Father of Assyrian Imperial Administration. Assyria was the first empire in history in the sense that they had an imperial administration. Subjugated territories were organized as provinces with Assyrian governors. It did have the previous system underneath though, i.e. local kings and princelings ruling as servants of the Assyrian Crown.
Tukulti-Ninurta II (891-883)-Son of Adad-Nirari. He rebuilt the walls of Nineveh. He campaigned against the Arameans and enlarged the realm.
Ashurnasirpal II (Ashur-Nasir-Apli) (883-859)-Son of Tukulti-Ninurta. His actual name was Ashur-Nasir-Apli. He created an empire that corresponded to that of Tiglath-Pileser I's , making himself the first great monarch of the New Empire. His armies were the first in history to use cavalry and he was the cruelest of all Assyrian Kings. He engaged in the impalement of whole communities and mass executions. Rebels were flayed alive and their skins spread over their city walls. He also burned alive captives or cut off their noses, ears and/or fingers. He beheaded enemies and either tied the heads to trees or stacked them up in mounds. He rebuilt Kalhu (biblical Calah) from an uninhabited ruin, made it the new capital and populated it with deportees. The city was dedicated to the war god Ninurta. Upon ascension he immediately attacked the hill countries to the north all the way to Kutmuhu in the upper Tigris valley. The city of Supu in Armenia revolted and he sacked the city and killed every rebel. He also crushed uprisings in the Kashiari mountains and Zamua (near modern Suleimaniyah). He invaded Syria and captured Kaprabi, an Aramean stronghold in 878. His great campaign began in 877-Ashurnasirpal conquered Karkimesh, Aleppo and the coast of Lebanon. He ritualistically cleaned his weapons in the Mediterranean and made offerings to the gods. All of Phoenicia paid tribute. This was not an actual conquest-he restored local rule to Karkimesh and Aleppo, but a campaign to gain tribute.
Shalmaneser III (Shulanu-Asharedu) (859-824)-Son of Ashurnasirpal. His actual name was Shulanu-Asharedu. He was constantly on the battlefield, and in fact was only able to spend the last four years of his life at Calah. Upon ascending the throne he began a long campaign to pacify Syria and exact tribute. After three failed campaigns, he was able to finally defeat the Amorite state of Bit-Adini and establish a bridgehead over the Euphrates (856). From here he raided into Cilicia, Syria and even Urartu, where he pillaged north of lake Van. In 853 he entered the plains of Syria and was met by a coalition army led by Iruhuleni of Hama and Adad-Idri (Ben-Hadad II) of Damascus. They were supported by twelve kings, including the Phoenicians and Israel. They fought at the battle of Qarqar, where the Assyrians claimed victory. In reality it was a resounding Syrian victory because all the Assyrians succeeded in doing was pillaging a few villages and small towns before they retreated. The brother of King Marduk-Zakir-Shumi of Babylon launched a rebellion with the support of the Arameans in 850. The king called on his powerful neighbor to the north for assistance. Shalmaneser defeated the rebels, entered Babylon and made offerings to Marduk in his temple. He then chased the rebels into Sumer and all the way to the Gulf. In the process he temporarily established Babylon as a vassal. Shalmaneser launched campaigns against the Syrians in 849, 848 and 841 with about the same results as in 853. The attack on Damascus in 841 did crush the army of Hazael, but he fled to the city and all Shalmaneser could do was pillage the country-side. After this victory, he moved to the coast and received tribute from Phoenicia and Israel. Another attempt to conquer Damascus in 838 failed and he never again returned to Syria. In essence he admitted the futility of the wars. A large and very serious revolt erupted in 827. It was led by Shalmaneser's son Ashur-Dan-Aplu and included the rural nobility, the free citizenry and 27 cities, including Nineveh, Ashur and Erbil. The cause of the revolt was the actions of the insolent provincial governors and the high officials of the government who were exerting a disproportionate amount of power. What the rebels wanted was a king who would actually govern and a more even distribution of power among the subordinates. The king appointed his crown prince, Shamshi-Adad to put down the uprising. It was still being waged when Shalmaneser died.
Shamshi-Adad V (824-810)-Son of Shalmaneser. Even with the help of the Babylonians, it took until 823 before the revolution was crushed. He spent the remainder of his reign trying to re- establish vassalage on Babylon and the princelings to the north and east. He was able to hold off a large Median invasion, but only with Babylonian help. Later, in retaliation for the Babylonians "arrogance" because of their assistance to him, he invaded Babylonia twice and deposed both Marduk-Balassu-Iqbi (813) and Baba-Aha-Iddina (811).
Sammuramat (Semiramis) (810-806)-Wife of Shamshi-Adad and mother of Adad-Nirari. She is called Semiramis in Greek legends and was probably a Babylonian princess. There is no verifiable historical proof that she acted as regent, but even if she did not, she did exert an enormous amount of influence. In fact she had her name inscribed next to her son's even after his ascension to power.
Adad-Nirari III (810-783)-Son of Shamshi-Adad and Sammuramat. In the first year of his actual reign (806) he invaded Syria and imposed tributary status on the Neo-Hittite, Aramean, Phoenician and Philistine states, along with Israel and Edom. He captured Damascus and made Ben-Hadad III a vassal. He also raided Urartu, the Medes and the Chaldeans in southern Mesopotamia. His premature death marked the beginning of a decline.
Shalmaneser IV (Shulanu-Asharedu) (783-772)-Son of Adad-Nirari. His actual name was Shulanu-Asharedu. His actual authority was limited and the real power was in the hands of his subordinates.
Ashur-Dan III (772-755)-Brother of Shalmaneser. He waged unsuccessful campaigns in Syria and Babylon. He also had to contend with plague and revolt in Ashur, Arrapha and Guzana.
Ashur-Nirari V (755-745)-Brother of Ashur-Dan. He hardly left his palace out of fear. A revolt led to the murder of the king and his family.
Tiglath-Pileser III (Tukulti-Apil-Esharra) (745-727)-He was an usurper. His actual name was Tukulti-Apil-Esharra. Tiglath-Pileser overcame the governor's autonomous conduct and the weakness of the crown and re-established the power of Assyria. Instead of raids of plunder and tribute, he conquered and annexed and organized the new territories as Assyrian provinces with Assyrian governors. Tiglath-Pileser is considered the founder of the Empire. Those areas not incorporated into the realm were given an Assyrian overseer to enforce submission. Tiglath also began the practice of mass deportations. He invaded the south, defeated an Aramean army and reminded Nabu-Nasir of his status as a vassal. He next invaded Syria to confront a coalition of Neo-Hittite and Aramean princes that were being supported by Sardur III of Urartu. Sardur came to their rescue but his army was crushed near Samsat on the Euphrates and he fled. Arpad then resisted a siege for three years but finally capitulated in 741. Meanwhile, the state of Sam'al and their allies were defeated and the Syrian coast and Phoenicia were annexed in 742. Damascus, Israel and others brought tribute in terror. The Zagros area was invaded and annexed in campaigns in 737 and 736. During those campaigns the Assyrians raided deep into Median territory as far as Demavend and the salt desert south of Tehran. He besieged Sardur's capital, Tushpa, with-out success in 735. In 734 he had to re-conquer Tyre and Sidon because of an uprising over economic policies. Shortly there after, an alliance of all the kingdoms of Palestine and the TransJordan was crushed. Judah called on Assyria for help in a war with Israel and Damascus in 732 and Tiglath-Pileser swept down and annexed Damascus and one-half of Israel. In 731 Nabu-Mukin-Zeri, an Aramean chief, seized the throne of Babylon. Tiglath-Pileser tried to persuade the citizens of Babylon to raise against him. When they did not, he sent in the army. Nabu-Mukin-Zeri was killed in the taking of Babylon, along with his son. Babylon was annexed, but as a distinct province with-in the Empire and with the Assyrian king as king of Babylon.
Shalmaneser V (Shulanu-Asharedu) (727-722)-Son of Tiglath-Pileser. His actual name was Shulanu-Asharedu. There was unrest in Syria and Palestine, as well as conflicts with the priesthood. In 725 Hoshea, King of Israel, revolted and Shalmaneser laid siege to Samaria. He was assassinated in the third year of the siege.
Sargon II (Sharru-Kin) (722-705)-An usurper. His actual name was Sharru-Kin. The first year of his reign saw domestic disorder that ended after he freed the citizens of Ashur from the call to arms and the tax collector imposed on them by Shalmaneser V. He revived the privileges of the aristocracy and the priesthood, which Tiglath-Pileser III had curtailed. Samaria was conquered and Israel annexed in 721. In Babylon Marduk-Apal-Iddina, a Chaldean from the shores of the Gulf, seized the throne. In 720 Sargon marched against him. Humbanigash, King of Elam met him at Der with a combined army and defeated the Assyrians. The Syrians also rebelled in 720, led by Ilu-Bi'di of Hama. Sargon defeated them at Qarqar, captured Ilu-Bi'di and flayed him. In 717 Karkemish was annexed to the Empire. In 712 Cilicia and all the rest of the Neo-Hittite kingdoms of the Taurus were also conquered. The Urartians instigated an uprising among the Manneans in 714 and Sargon responded by invading Urartu. He conquered their most sacred city, Musasir, and carried away the national god Haldia. Rusas, Urartu's king killed himself upon hearing the news. A revolt in the Zagros was put down in 713 and the area around modern Kermanshah and Hamadan annexed. The Medes were also made to pay tribute. Another Palestinian revolt erupted in 712, instigated by Egypt. Iamani of Ashdod led this coalition, that included Judah, Edom and Moab. Sargon crushed them and Iamani fled to Egypt, but when a new Nubian Pharaoh came to power, he sent him to Assyria in chains. Sargon invaded Babylon in 710. After much fighting in the south, Marduk-Apal-Iddina, wounded, escaped to Elam. He boasted of forcing Egypt to unbar its borders to trade and that seven Greek kings of Cyprus yielded fealty and tribute. He had the new royal residence of Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad) built between 717-707. He was killed putting down a revolt in Tabal (Taurus).
Sennacherib (Sin-Ahhe-Eriba) (705-681)-Son of Sargon, although not the eldest. His actual name was Sin-Ahhe-Eriba. He had to wage four campaigns against the restless vassals in the Kurdistan region. In 703, Marduk-Apal-Iddina returned from Elam and ignited all the Arameans in Babylonia into rebellion. He was able to enter Babylon and be declared king again. Shortly there after he was defeated near Kish, but escaped. Sennacherib then appointed Bel-Ibni king. Three years later Marduk re-appeared in the south and stirred up a revolt. Bel-Ibni was suspected of collusion and was taken away to Assyria. Sennacherib again chased Marduk-Apal-Iddina into Elam and appointed his son as the new Babylonian king. In 694 Assyria launched a combined sea and land attack on Elam, conquering some coastal cities. In retaliation, Elam invaded and sacked Sippar. Encouraged the Babylonians revolted and overthrew Ashur-Nadin-Shumi, Sennacherib's son. The Elamite were able to install a puppet on the throne. Sennacherib again invaded, and installed his own puppet. Once again the populace of Babylon revolted, with Elamite support. Sennacherib invaded, but was defeated by the Elamites and Mushezib remained on the throne. In 689 he invaded again and sacked and destroyed Babylon. Meanwhile, Egypt supported a revolt by Sidon, Ascalon, Judah and Ekron. In 701 Sennacherib attacked. Lule, king of Sidon fled to Cyprus and Sidka, king of Ascalon was captured and sent to Assyria. Jerusalem was besieged and Ezekiah made a vassal. An Egyptian army sent to help the remaining rebels was crushed and Sennacherib put new vassals on the empty thrones in Palestine and Phoenicia. He made Nineveh the capital and built double walls with forced labor. His severity and brutal conduct brought about his murder. He was murdered by a son while praying in a temple.
Esarhaddon (Ashur-Aha-Iddin) (681-669)-Younger son of Sennacherib. His actual name was Ashur-Aha-Iddin.A short dynastic war broke out after the murder of Sennacherib, with Essarhaddon coming out on top. He had to go into exile in Cilicia because of his father's anger towards him. Already arrogant and decadent, his brothers turned on each other. Once he returned, the army and the people joined him and he defeated his brothers and seized the throne. He immediately ordered the rebuilding of Babylon and had himself crowned it's king. In 672 he divided the realm between his two sons, with Ashurbanipal getting Assyria, and Shamash-Shum- Ukin getting Babylon. In 680, Merodach's son made a failed attempt to capture Ur. This was the only southern problem of his reign. The people of Babylonia supported him because he was lavishly rebuilding their city. In fact, the Babylonians themselves defeated an Elamite invasion in 675. The Cimmerians invaded Cilicia in 679 and stirred up a revolution. They also pillaged into Syria and Palestine. Esarhaddon was able to put down the revolt and expel the Cimmerians. He also repulsed a weak attack from Urartu. Abdi-Milkuti, the vassal king of Sidon revolted in 677. Esarhaddon re-took Sidon, destroyed it, beheaded Abdi and deported the people. He launched three expeditions into Media as far as the salt desert to enforce tribute from them. After the defeat of the invading Elamites in 675, Esarhaddon in turn, invaded Elam and succeeded in installing a puppet king. The Egyptians again stirred up trouble in Syria and Palestine. Tyre was besieged in 671, but held out. Instead Esarhaddon moved on to Egypt and succeeded in conquering the land relatively quickly, despite tough resistance from Pharaoh Taharqa, who fled to Nubia. This was to be the greatest territorial expansion of the Empire. Two years later, Taharqa returned, fomented a revolt and captured Memphis. Esarhaddon was returning to Egypt when he fell sick and died at Harran.
Ashurbanipal (Ashur-Ban-Apli) (668-627)-Son of Esarhaddon. His actual name was Ashur-Ban- Apli. He retook Memphis, but Taharqa again escaped. He assembled a large force and began to march on Thebes when he received news of a revolt about to erupt in lower Egypt. The conspirators had been betrayed by one of their own and all were captured. Some were executed and some, like Necho of Sais, were sent to Nineveh. Soon Ashurbanipal realized that he could not control Egypt with-out local support, so he released his prisoners and had Necho return as a vassal. Taharqa soon died in exile, but his son, Tanutamun, entered Thebes amid great rejoicing from the people. He sailed north and defeated a small Assyrian-Egyptian force and killed Necho. The main Assyrian occupation army then moved south, defeated Tanutamun and destroyed Thebes. His records are scanty and confusing for the last part of his reign. During this time, he also put down a revolt in Arvad in 667 and in Tyre in 662. Between the years of 665-655 he waged campaigns against the Mannia, the Medes, Urartu and his former puppet in Elam, who had invaded southern Mesopotamia. Sometime between 650-640 he defeated a Cimmerian invasion. In 655 Psammetichus I expelled the Assyrians from Egypt. During the same year Tept-Humaan of Elam invaded the south but was defeated and killed. King Phraortes of the Medes invaded and laid siege to Nineveh in 653. He was defeated and killed with the help of the Scythians. In 652 Ashurbanipal's brother, the king of Babylon, revolted with the support of Phoenicia, Judah, the Arabs, the Chaldeans and Elamites, along with Lydian and Egyptian support. Ashurbanipal discovered the plot before it was hatched and invaded the south. For three years the war raged. After a two year siege of Babylon, in which the people had to resort to cannibalism, the city surrendered. In despair Shamash-Shuma-Ukin killed himself by setting fire to his palace. Ashurbanipal entered Babylon and installed Kandalanu as viceroy. In defeating his brother, he expended the army that was to be used to re-conquer Egypt. He next launched a bitter war against the Arab tribes and fought a long war with Elam that ended in 639 with the destruction of Susa and the devastation of the land. Very learned, he established the library at Nineveh, of which over 22,000 clay tablets have been found. He studied mathematics and astronomy, and boasted of being able to read Sumerian. Continual internal unrest and Scythian incursions weakened the state. This may by the reason why the Annals (the Assyrian state records) are sketchy at times and completely end in 639. We do know that Ashurbanipal "abdicated" in 630 and handed over control of the government to his son.
Ashur-Etil-Ilani (627-623)-Son of Ashurbanipal. Ruled for his father since 630. During a revolt, his brother Sin-Shar-Ishkun re-established Assyrian control over Babylon. This lasted less than a year and he shortly fled to Nineveh. Babylon gained it's independence, although the Assyrians continued to occupy many key cities in the south. A three year civil war erupts between the brothers in which Ashur-Etil-Ilani is killed in a battle near Nippur.
Sin-Shumu-Lishir (623)
Sin-Shar-Ishkun (623-612)-Son of Ashurbanipal. He defeated his brother and seized the throne. He fought a losing seven year war with Babylon. First the Babylonians captured Nippur, then all of Akkad and Sumer. Nabopolassar unsuccessfully besieged Ashur in 616. In 615 the Medes invaded Assyria, captured Arrapha and laid siege to Nineveh. Shortly, they lifted the siege, moved south and captured and destroyed Ashur (614). Nabopolassar moved north, met Cyaxares at Ashur and established an alliance, which was sealed when Nebuchadnezzar married the grand- daughter of the Median king. The Assyrians, not recognizing their impending doom actually launched an offensive against the Babylonians in 613. A united army of Babylonians, Medes and Scythians besieged Nineveh for three months in 612 before it fell and was destroyed. Sin-Shar- Ishkun was killed in the fall of Nineveh.
Ashur-Uballit II (612-609)-He was an Assyrian general. He took control of the remnants of the army at Harran. The united Median/Babylonian army marched on Harran in 610 and Ashur-Uballit fled into the deserts of Syria, along with some Egyptian reinforcements. The next year he unsuccessfully tried to re-take Harran. After his loss he disappeared from history.
Assyria, a great empire for centuries collapsed in only three years. The population was wiped out and the land laid waste. Babylon annexed Assyria but did not re-populate or rebuild it. This was retribution for all the centuries of Assyrian cruelty. Assyria was no more.