2 – Tiglath-Pileser III (? – 727 BC)
This military genius was the King of Assyria for 18 years and is credited with the most crucial phase of Assyrian expansion. During the reign of Adad-nirari III (810 – 783 BC), Assyria was a weak nation both politically and militarily. The state of Urartu, which lay north of Assyria, was the most dominant region at the time. The kingdom continued to flounder until 745 BC when the governor of Calah led a rebellion against the weak King Ashur-nirari V. The governor became the new king and proclaimed himself Tiglath-Pileser III in honor of the illustrious Tiglath Pileser I who reigned from 1115 BC to 1077 BC.
The new king wasted no time in stamping his authority and by 744 BC, he had founded two new provinces in a region that was controlled by Medes. The Urartian army was alerted to the presence of this new threat and returned to the Euphrates River in 743 BC. Tiglath defeated the Urartu in the Battle of Arpad and chased the enemy all the way back to its capital, Turuspa. It was a clear sign that Assyria was no longer a docile state run by incompetent rulers.
The kingdom of Arpad had assisted the Urartu and the angry Tiglath responded by severely punishing it during a three-year war. When the Assyrians were victorious, Tiglath divided Arpad into two provinces and transformed it into a permanent part of his fledgling empire. However, he was far from being satisfied and continued marching west; his next target was Arpad’s ally, the influential kingdom of Hamat. Within a few years, Tiglath’s army destroyed the Hamat resistance and the north-western parts of the kingdom also became Assyrian provinces. Tiglath also conquered the kingdom of Ungu during this campaign.
Assyria took full control of Hamat in 732 BC and soon, Tiglath turned his attention to the Bit-Amukani whose leader, Mukin-zeri, became king of Babylon in 731 BC. Tiglath viewed this as a direct provocation and decided to attack Mukin-zeri. The Assyrians were once again victorious and Tiglath ruled as the king of Assyria and Babylon for the rest of his life. He did not enjoy his new-found power for too long because he died in around 727 BC. Tiglath was succeeded by his son Ululaya who became Shalmaneser V and defeated Egypt and Samaria during his reign.
Tiglath is unquestionably one of the greatest military leaders of the ancient world. When he took the throne by force, Assyria was on its knees, a weak and feeble kingdom. Within 20 years, he had turned the army into one of the most feared fighting units in ancient history. He created a professional army by replacing conscripts with specialized soldiers. Tiglath bolstered his army by using soldiers from defeated kingdoms along with mercenaries from Babylonia, Anatolia, and the Zagros Mountains. The Neo-Assyrian Empire he left behind lasted for another 118 years when an Assyrian-Egyptian alliance was defeated by Medes and Babylonia at the Fall of Harran in 609 BC.