Middle Assyrian Empire

Middle Assyrian Empire māt Aššur
c. 1363 BC–912 BC
Approximate map of the Middle Assyrian Empire at its height in the 13th century BC
Capital	Assur (c. 1363–1233 BC) Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta (c. 1233–1207 BC) Assur (c. 1207–912 BC)
Common languages	Akkadian, Hurrian, Amorite, Aramaic
Religion	Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Government	Monarchy
Notable kings
• c. 1363–1328 BC	Ashur-uballit I (first)
• c. 1305–1274 BC	Adad-nirari I
• c. 1273–1244 BC	Shalmaneser I
• c. 1243–1207 BC	Tukulti-Ninurta I
• c. 1191–1179 BC	Ninurta-apal-Ekur
• 1132–1115 BC	Ashur-resh-ishi I
• 1114–1076 BC	Tiglath-Pileser I
• 934–912 BC	Ashur-dan II (last)
Historical era	Bronze and Iron Age
• Accession of Ashur-uballit I	c. 1363 BC
• First period of expansion	c. 1305–1207 BC
• First period of decline	c. 1206–1115 BC
• Second period of expansion	1114–1056 BC
• Second period of decline	1055–935 BC
• Death of Ashur-dan II	912 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Old Assyrian period Mitanni Neo-Assyrian Empire
Today part of	Iraq Syria Turkey

The Middle Assyrian Empire was the third stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of Assyria from the accession of Ashur-uballit I c. 1365 BC and the rise of Assyria as a territorial kingdom^[1] to the death of Ashur-dan II in 912 BC.^[a] The Middle Assyrian Empire was Assyria's first true period of ascendancy as an empire, although Assyrian kings had existed from perhaps as early as the 25th century BC, and from the 21st century BC Assyria had controlled trading colonies in Anatolia and had economic and military influence in Southern Mesopotamia, and from the late 19th century BC had been an integral part of the "Empire of Shamsi-Adad", sometimes called the Old Assyrian Empire. Though the empire experienced successive periods of expansion and decline, it remained the dominant power of Mesopotamia and often the entirety of West Asia throughout the period. In terms of Assyrian history, the Middle Assyrian period was marked by important social, political and religious developments, including the rising prominence of both the Assyrian king and the Assyrian national deity Ashur.

The Middle Assyrian Empire was founded through Assur, a city-state that also controlled trading colonies through most of the preceding Old Assyrian period, and the surrounding territories achieving independence from sporadic domination of the Mitanni kingdom. Under Ashur-uballit, Assyria began to expand and assert its place as one of the great powers of the Ancient Near East. This aspiration chiefly came into fruition through the efforts of the kings Adad-nirari I (r. c. 1305–1274 BC), Shalmaneser I (r. c. 1273–1244 BC) and Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. c. 1243–1207 BC), under whom Assyria expanded to become the dominant power in Mesopotamia and the Near East, eclipsing rivals such as the Hittites, Egyptians, Hurrians, Mitanni, Elamites and their fellow Mesopotamian Babylonians. The reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I marked the height of the Middle Assyrian Empire and included the subjugation of Babylonia and the foundation of a new capital city, Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta, though it was abandoned after his death. Though Assyria was left largely unscathed by the direct effects of the Late Bronze Age collapse of the late 13th and early 12th century BC, the Middle Assyrian Empire began to experience a significant period of decline diring the mid to late 11th century BC. The assassination of Tukulti-Ninurta I c. 1207 BC led to inter-dynastic conflict and a significant but temporary drop in Assyrian power.

Even during its period of decline, Middle Assyrian kings continued to be assertive geopolitically and militarily; both Ashur-dan I (r. c. 1178–1133 BC) and Ashur-resh-ishi I (r.  1132–1115 BC) campaigned against Babylonia. Under Ashur-resh-ishi I's son and successor Tiglath-Pileser I (r. 1114–1076 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire experienced a period of resurgence, owing to wide-ranging campaigns and conquests. Tiglath-Pileser's armies marched as far from the Assyrian heartland as the Mediterranean, the Caucasus and Arabian Peninsula. Though the reconquered and newly conquered lands were held on to for some time, the empire experienced a second and more catastrophic period of decline after the death of Tiglath-Pileser's son Ashur-bel-kala (r. 1073–1056 BC), which saw the loss of most of the empire's territories outside of its heartlands, partly due to invasions by Aramean tribes. Assyrian decline began to be reversed again under Ashur-dan II (r.  934–912 BC), who campaigned extensively in the peripheral regions of the Assyrian heartland. The successes of Ashur-dan II and his immediate successors in restoring Assyrian rule over the empire's former lands, and in time going far beyond them, is used by modern historians to mark the transition from the Middle Assyrian Empire to the succeeding Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Theologically, the Middle Assyrian period saw important transformations of the role of Ashur. Having originated as a deified personification of the city of Assur itself sometime centuries earlier in the Early Assyrian period, Ashur in the Middle Assyrian period became equated with the old Sumerian head of the pantheon, Enlil, and was as a result of Assyrian expansionism and warfare transformed from a primarily agricultural god into a military one. The transition of Assyria from a city-state into an empire also had important administrative and political consequences. While the Assyrian rulers of the Old Assyrian period had governed with the title iššiak ("governor") jointly with a city assembly made up of influential figures from Assur, the Middle Assyrian kings were autocratic rulers who used the title šar ("king") and sought equal status to the monarchs of other empires. The transition into an empire also led to the development of various necessary systems, such as a sophisticated road system, various administrative divisions of territory and a complex web of royal administrators and officials.

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