imperial title
of "king of Sumer and Akkad." Then the Babylonians revolted. The Assyrian
king was murdered by his son, Assur-nazir-pal I., and Hadad-nadin-akhi made
king of Babylonia. But it was not until several years later, in the reign
of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Assur, that a reconciliation was effected
between the two rival kingdoms. The next Assyrian monarch, Bel-kudur-uzur,
was the last of the old royal line. He seems to have been slain fighting
against the Babylonians, who were still under the rule of Hadad-nadin-akhi,
and a new dynasty was established at Assur by In-aristi-pileser, who
claimed to be a descendant of the ancient prince Erba-Raman. [Sidenote:
Tiglath-pileser I.] His fourth successor was Tiglath-pileser I., one of the
great conquerors of Assyria, who carried his arms towards Armenia on the
north and Cappadocia on the west; he hunted wild bulls in the Lebanon and
was presented with a crocodile by the Egyptian king. In 1107 B.C., however,
he sustained a temporary defeat at the hands of Merodach-nadin-akhi
(Marduk-nadin-akh[=e]) of Babylonia, where the Kassite dynasty had finally
succumbed to Elamite attacks and a new line of kings was on the throne.

[Sidenote: Assur-nazir-pal III.]

Of the immediate successors of Tiglath-pileser I. we know little, and it is
with Assur-nazir-pal III. (883-858 B.C.) that our knowledge of Assyrian
history begins once more to be fairly full. The empire of Assyria was again
extended in all directions, and the palaces, temples and other buildings
raised by him bear witness to a considerable development of wealth and art.
Calah became the favourite residence of a monarch who was distinguished
even among Assyrian conquerors for his revolting cruelties. [Sidenote:
Shalmaneser II.] His son Shalmaneser II. had a long reign of 35 years,
during which the Assyrian capital was converted into a sort of armed camp.
Each year the Assyrian armies marched out of it to plunder and destroy.
Babylon was occupied and the country reduced to vassalage. In the west the
confederacy of Syrian princes headed by Benhadad of Damascus and including
Ahab of Israel (see JEWS, s. 10) was shattered in 853 B.C., and twelve
years later the forces of Hazael were annihilated and the ambassadors of
Jehu of Samaria brought tribute to "the great king." The last few years of
his life, however, were disturbed by the rebellion of his eldest son, which
well-nigh proved fatal. Assur, Arbela and other places joine