CHAPTER II—TIGLATH-PILESER III.
AND THE ORGANISATION OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE
FROM 745 TO 722 B.C.
Failure of Urartu and re-conquest of Syria—Egypt again united under Ethiopian auspices—Piônkhi—The downfall of Damascus, of Babylon, and of Israel.
* Drawn by Boudier, from Layard. The vignette, also by
Boudier, represents a bronze statuette of Queen Karomama,
now in the Louvre.
Events proved that, in this period, at any rate, the decadence of Assyria was not due to any exhaustion of the race or impoverishment of the country, but was mainly owing to the incapacity of its kings and the lack of energy displayed by their generals. If Menuas and Argistis had again and again triumphed over the Assyrians during half a century, it was not because their bands of raw recruits were superior to the tried veterans of Rammân-nirâri in either discipline or courage. The Assyrian troops had lost none of their former valour, and their muster-roll showed no trace of diminution, but their leaders had lost the power of handling their men after the vigorous fashion of their predecessors, and showed less foresight and tenacity in conducting their campaigns. Although decimated and driven from fortress to fortress, and from province to province, hampered by the rebellions it was called upon to suppress, and distracted by civil discord, the Assyrian army still remained a strong and efficient force, ever ready to make its full power felt the moment it realised that it was being led by a sovereign capable of employing its good qualities to advantage. Tiglath-pileser had, doubtless, held a military command before ascending the throne, and had succeeded in winning the confidence of his men: as soon as he had assumed the leadership they regained their former prestige, and restored to their country that supremacy which its last three rulers had failed to maintain.*
* The official documents dealing with the history of
Tiglath-pileser III. have been seriously mutilated, and
there is on several points some difference of opinion among
historians as to the proper order in which the fragments
ought to be placed, and, consequently, as to the true
sequence of the various campaigns. The principal documents
are as follows: (1) The Annals in the Central Hall of the
palace of Shalmaneser III. at Nimroud, partly defaced by
Esarhaddon, and carried off to serve as materials for the
south-western palace, whence they were rescued by Layard,
and brought in fragments to the British Museum. (2) The
Tablets, K. 3571 and D. T. 3, in the British Museum. (3)
The Slabs of Nimrud, discovered by Layard and G. Smith.
The empire still included the original patrimony of Assur and its ancient colonies on the Upper Tigris, the districts of Mesopotamia won from the Aramæans at various epochs, the cities of Khabur, Khindanu, Laqî, and Tebabnî, and that portion of Bît-Adini which lay to the left of the Euphrates. It thus formed a compact mass capable of successfully resisting the fiercest attacks; but the buffer provinces which Assur-nazir-pal and Shalmaneser III. had grouped round their own immediate domains on the borders of Namri, of Naîri, of Melitene, and of Syria had either resumed their independence, or else had thrown in their lot with the states against which they had been intended to watch. The Aramaean tribes never let slip an opportunity of encroaching on the southern frontier. So far, the migratory instinct which had brought them from the Arabian desert to the swamps of the Persian Gulf had met with no check. Those who first reached its shores became the founders of that nation of the Kaldâ which had, perhaps, already furnished Babylon with one of its dynasties; others had soon after followed in their footsteps, and passing beyond the Kaldâ settlement, had gradually made their way along the canals which connect the Euphrates with the Tigris till they had penetrated to the lowlands of the Uknu. Towards the middle of the eighth century B.C. they wedged themselves in between Elam and Karduniash, forming so many buffer states of varying size and influence. They extended from north to south along both banks of the Tigris, their different tribes being known as the Gambulu, the Puqudu, the Litau, the Damunu, the Ruuâ, the Khindaru, the Labdudu, the Harîlu, and the Rubuu;* the Itua, who formed the vanguard, reached the valleys of the Turnat during the reign of Kammân-nirâri III. They were defeated in 791 B.C., but obstinately renewed hostilities in 783, 782, 777, and 769; favoured by circumstances, they ended by forcing the cordon of Assyrian outposts, and by the time of Assur-nirâri had secured a footing on the Lower Zab. Close by, to the east of them, lay Namri and Media, both at that time in a state of absolute anarchy. The invasions of Menuas and of Argistis had entirely laid waste the country, and Sharduris III., the king who succeeded Argistis, had done nothing towards permanently incorporating them with Urartu.** Sharduris, while still heir-apparent to the throne, had been appointed by his father governor of the recently annexed territory belonging to Etius and the Mannai:*** he made Lununis his headquarters, and set himself to subdue the barbarians who had settled between the Kur and the Araxes. When he succeeded to the throne, about 760 B.C., the enjoyment of supreme power in no way lessened his activity. On the contrary, he at once fixed upon the sort of wide isthmus which separates the Araxes from Lake Urumiah, as the goal of his incursions, and overran the territory of the Babilu; there he carried by storm three royal castles, twenty-three cities, and sixty villages; he then fell back upon Etius, passing through Dakis, Edias, and Urmes on his way, and brought back with him 12,735 children, 46,600 women, 12,000 men capable of bearing arms, 23,335 oxen, 58,100 sheep, and 2,500 horses; these figures give some idea of the importance of his victories and the wealth of the conquered territory.
* The list of Aramæan tribes, and the positions occupied by
them towards the middle of the eighth century, have been
given us by Tiglath-pileser III. himself.
** Tiglath-pileser did not encounter any Urartian forces in
these regions, as would almost certainly have been the case
had these countries remained subject to Urartu from the
invasions of Menuas and Argistis onwards.
*** Argistis tells us in the Annals that he had made his
son satrap over the provinces won from the Mannai and Etius:
though his name is not mentioned, Sayce believes this son
must have been Sharduris.
So far as we can learn, he does not seem to have attacked Khubushkia,* nor to have entered into open rivalry with Assyria; even under the rule of Assur-nirâri III. Assyria showed a bold enough front to deter any enemy from disturbing her except when forced to do so. Sharduris merely strove to recover those portions of his inheritance to which Assyria attached but little value, and his inscriptions tell us of more than one campaign waged by him with this object against the mountaineers of Melitene, about the year 758. He captured most of their citadels, one after another: Dhumeskis, Zapsas, fourteen royal castles, and a hundred towns, including Milid itself, where King Khitaruadas held his court.**