The
successes gained by Ashur-uballit, Bel-nirari, and Adad-nirari I against
the contemporary Babylonian kings had all resulted in the cession of
fresh territory to Assyria and in an increase of her international
importance. Up to the time of Tukulti-Mnib no Assyrian king had actually
seated himself upon the Babylonian throne. This feat was achieved by
Tukulti-Mnib, and his reign thus marks an important step in the gradual
advance of Assyria to the position which she later occupied as the
predominant power in Western Asia.
Before undertaking his campaign against Babylon, Tukulti-Mnib secured
himself against attack from other quarters, and his newly discovered
memorial inscription supplies considerable information concerning the
steps he took to achieve this object. In his inscription the king does
not number his military expeditions, and, with the exception of the
first one, he does not state the period of his reign in which they
were undertaken. The results of his campaigns are summarized in four
paragraphs of the text, and it is probable that they are not described
in chronological order, but are arranged rather according to the
geographical position of the districts which he invaded and subdued.
Tukulti-Ninib records that his first campaign took place at the
beginning of his sovereignty, in the first year of his reign, and it was
directed against the tribes and peoples inhabiting the territory on the
east of Assyria.
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