Assyria endured a period of growth, a boom in population for its people, strength in its military for its leadership, which continued once king Arik-den-ilu passed and was succeeded by Adad-nirari I (1305-1277). With all the smaller nations surrounding its borders now conquered, many thought who would first contest or challenge the emerging power that was Assyria. That question was answered in Babylon.
A growing resentment passed from one generation to the next. Many Kassite men remembered the embarrassment of the Tigris that was endured by their fathers. And it was only a matter of time that jealousy stoked the flames of hostility into open warfare. Nazi-Maruttash II, king of Babylon, engaged the new Assyria king's forces at Kar-Ishtar of Akarsallu. Both young kings fought to quell the sins of their fathers once and for all, and in the end, despite losses to both sides, Assyria decisively prevailed.
No longer was Assyria altering their borders by absorbing the lands of the lesser tribes, she was now annexing territory from another major power of the Near East, spanning further down both sides that stretched from the Tigris River. King Adad-nirari I gave himself the moniker of "destroyer of the mighty hosts of Kassites."
Upon victory, security was reached in the south and thus the Assyrian king turned north, intent on expanding his kingdom further. One town fell after another. Lupdu. Rapiku. Elukhat. Places that once meant much to its people that became no more than names whispered in the wind. Once his appetite for battle was sated, Adad-nirari I held lands from the Persian foothills of the east, all the way to the red grasslands of Harran in the west, and encroached into many infamous places, historic as sites of battle, such as Carchemish.
As the Assyria's quest for expansion continued, one fact remained as her forces began to enter the lands of the Mitanni, who were now loyalists to the Hittite Empire. . . If the Hittites were a powerful nation with a formidable army of its own, how would Assyria fare if it eventually came to crossing their swords?
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