in 1595 b.c.e., Assyria became a vassal state of Mitanni. In the
1300s b.c.e. Mitanni became part of the Hittite Empire, cre-
ating an opportunity for Assyria to reassert its independence
under King Ashur-uballit I (r. ca. 1365–ca. 1330 b.c.e.). He es-
tablished the Assyrian capital in the city of Ashur and gained
dominion over several cities located near the confl uence of
the Great Zab River into the Tigris River. King Adad-nirari (r.
ca. 1307–ca. 1275 b.c.e.) campaigned westward into the heart
of Mitanni. Shalmaneser I (r. 1274-1245 b.c.e.) attacked deep
into central Anatolia, securing Assyria’s northern frontier.
Tukulti-ninurta I (r. 1243–1207 b.c.e.) attacked Baby-
lonia in 1220 b.c.e. and occupied the city of Babylon until
1213 b.c.e. He adopted Babylonian titles of kingship and
transported Babylonians to Ashur, resulting in a spreading
of Babylonian culture. His forces drove eastward to the Za-
gros Mountains. His numerous building projects included a
new temple of Ishtar in Ashur and a new town north of Ashur
for his residence, called Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta. In 1208 b.c.e.,
during a palace coup, one of his sons assassinated him. His
empire immediately began to fall apart.
It was Tiglath-pileser I (r. ca. 1115–ca. 1077 b.c.e.) who
again pulled the Assyrian Empire together. His conquests
extended south to Babylonia, northwest to the Hittite Em-
pire, and west across the Euphrates River, through the Syr-
ian Desert, and through Palestine to the Mediterranean Sea.
Th e borders of his new empire were ill defi ned, and nomads
raided the empire’s territories. By about 1000 b.c.e. the As-
syrian Empire had withdrawn to the territory that had been
ruled by Ashur-uballit I.
NEO-ASSYRIAN EMPIRE
(CA. 100–CA. 626 B.C.E.)
Aft er Tukulti-ninurta I there seems to have been an unbroken
line of kings who kept Assyrian cities and temples in good
repair, but it was Ashur-dan II (r. 935–912 b.c.e.) who began
Assyria’s climb back to preeminence. He reformed Assyrian
agriculture, making it more productive, and he developed a
strong military to protect Assyria’s frontiers. Adad-nirari II
(r. 911–891 b.c.e.) developed Assyria into a military power-
house and reconquered most of the territory held during the
Middle Assyrian Period. In the 870s b.c.e. King Ashurnasri-
pal II (r. 883–859 b.c.e.) conquered most of Syria. Aft er the
death of Shalmaneser III (r. 858–824 b.c.e.), Assyria foun-
dered on internal confl icts and some its conquests became
independent.
During the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (745–727 b.c.e.)
Assyria reasserted itself. Tiglath-pileser III founded a postal
service that would continue to serve later empires into Ro-
man times. To break up hostile groups of subjects, Assyrian
governments deported them to Assyrian territories, where
they could be both watched and put to work. In this way, Ti-
glath-pileser relocated more than 200,000 people from their
homelands. In 722 b.c.e. Shalmaneser V (r. 726–722 b.c.e.)
was overthrown by Sargon II (r. 721–705 b.c.e.). When Baby-
lon rebelled, Sargon II took away the sacred cult statues of the
Babylonian gods, in about 711 b.c.e. In 705 b.c.e. the city of
Nineveh, one of the most ancient of Assyrian cities, became
Assyria’s capital. When Esarhaddon (r. 680–669 b.c.e.) be-
came king, he returned the captured cult statues to Babylon
and undertook the rebuilding of shrines in the empire in an
eff ort to build goodwill. He was succeeded by Ashurbanipal
(r. 668–627 b.c.e.), famous for the immense library discov-
ered in his palace. He was brutal and infl icted horrifying
torture and suff ering on victims throughout his empire, in-
spiring hatred of him and Assyria. In about 615 b.c.e. Baby-
lon and Judah revolted, and the Medes invaded from the east.
Ashur was leveled by the Medes, not to rise again. Nineveh
fell in 612 b.c.e.; in 609 b.c.e. the last Assyrian resistance was
eradicated.HITTITE EMPIRE (CA. 1650–1205 B.C.E.)
In the third millennium b.c.e. the Hittites were one of a num-
ber of Indo-European-speaking groups living in Anatolia. In
the late 18th century b.c.e. King Anitta conquered the small
k i n g d o m s o f Z a l p a , H a t t u s a s a n d P u r u s k h a n d a a n d s u c c e e d e d
in establishing the fi rst central Anatolian state, stretching
from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. In about 1650 b.c.e.
Hattusilis I (r. ca. 1650-c. 1620 b.c.e.) made the city of Hattu-
sas his capital, and the Hittite written record (in cuneiform)
began. Th e Hittites were pillagers of other peoples and used
their superior iron body armor and military tactics to subdue
their neighbors. In 1595 b.c.e. Mursilis I (r. ca. 1620–ca. 1590
b.c.e.) led a daring raid down the Euphrates River to attack
Babylon, and the Hittites sacked the city. Mursilis I was assas-
sinated in about 1590 b.c.e., and the Hittites’ warrior elite fell
to killing one another. Hattusas was captured by the Kaskas,
a tribe from the north. Mitanni, a kingdom in Syria, domi-
nated much of the rest of Hatti.
Exactly when the Hittites reunifi ed has yet to be clari-
fi ed, but around 1500 b.c.e. Telipinus succeeded in restoring
political, religious, and military order. Tudhaliyas I (r. ca.
1420–1400 b.c.e.) campaigned against the Mitanni in Syria,
but the rise of the kingdom of Hattusas really occurred un-
der King Suppiluliumas I (r. 1355–1320 b.c.e.), who not only
retook Hattusas but also sacked Washukanni, the capital of
Mitanni, during a remarkable campaign. He created a strong
central government. Mursilis II (r. 1318–1290 b.c.e.) pushed
the empire to its maximum size, stretching from the Aegean
Sea to eastern Syria and south into Palestine.
Th e trade routes in northern Palestine were valued by sev-
eral Near Eastern peoples, and keeping those trade routes free
from bandits and marauding nations became national policy
for Egypt. Aft er fi ghting several battles over who should con-
trol northern Palestine, the Hittites and Egypt made a peace
treaty in about 1258 b.c.e. that defi ned the border between
them and made them allies against the Assyrians. Th e cause
of the demise of the Hittite Empire around 1200 b.c.e. is un-
clear. Marauders called the Sea Peoples by modern historians
but who were actually several groups of people who had been
displaced from their homelands in and around the Mediter-empires and dynasties: The Middle East 399