who usurped the throne of Babylon with Assyrian help. This treaty was sealed by a
marriage between Ashur-bel-kala and Adad-apla-iddina’s daughter (Brinkman 1968 :
142 – 143 ). Contacts remained generally peaceful and were further strengthened by
interdynastic marriages (Brinkman 1968 : 181 – 204 ). The Assyrian kings of the ninth
and early eighth centuries showed their respect for the religious centres in Southern
Mesopotamia: e.g. Babylon, Borsippa or Cutha. They bestowed gifts on their major
temples and offered sacrifices there. Shalmaneser III ( 858 – 824 ) renewed the old treaty
and aided the Babylonian crown prince Marduk-zakir-shumi against his younger
brother. The central panel of the throne base of Shalmaneser from Kalchu (Nimrud)
shows the two kings shaking hands (Figure 37. 2 ). Shalmaneser’s son Shamshi-Adad
V ( 823 – 810 ) had to accept Babylonian help to quell an uprising within Assyria in
822 BCE. From this time comes the only surviving copy of an Assyro-Babylonian
treaty (Figure 37. 3 : Rm 2 , 427 ). It was written in 821 BCEor soon after and shows
Babylonia to be the stronger power (Brinkman 1990 : 96 – 99 , 107 – 112 ). But some
years later Shamsi-Addu invaded Babylonia and plundered the capital. Adadnirari III
( 809 – 783 ) tried to come back to normal relations. He sent the deported Babylonian
families back home, together with the captured statues of Babylonian gods. It was
also under his rule that the ‘Synchronistic History’ was composed (Galter 1999 ).
The long period of more or less peaceful relations between Assyria and Babylonia,
regulated by regularly renewed treaties, ended with Tiglath-pileser III ( 744 – 727 ).
Using Babylonian problems with royal succession as a reason, he invaded the south
and conquered Babylon. He was the first Assyrian king after Tukulti-Ninurta I who
officially occupied the Babylonian throne. By participating in the New Year’s festival
and ‘taking the hand of Marduk’ he became acknowledged king of Babylon. This
policy preserved Babylonian independency and kept the southern cities from rebellion
(Brinkman 1984 : 39–44; for the Babylonian history between 747 and 626 see also
Brinkman 1991 ).
During the following centuries, the Assyrian kings followed Tiglatpileser’s model
and ruled either directly or indirectly over Babylonia. Their main enemy were the
Chaldaean tribesmen living in the southern parts of Babylonia (see Fales in this
volume). In order to secure the support of the Babylonian urban population against
the Chaldaeans, Assyrian monarchs sent generous offerings to the Babylonian gods
— Looking down the Tigris —Figure 37. 2 Central panel of the throne base of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud
(courtesy of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq).