Ancient History - Part 35: A Kingdom United

For just a limited time, there was some semblance of peace, if it could even be imagined. So much bloodshed and war once again soaked the lands of Asia Minor, and yet the campaign had ended.

Following his conquests, Tiglath-pileser was a man of many leisurely interests. He possessed superior quality hunting skills and bore a penchant for hunting elephants, particularly upon the Euphrates, admiring them for their size as well as the challenge that accompanied their tenacity for survival. Elephants were not all he hunted. He often boasted of slaying lions by chariot and nearly as many by foot. Wild bulls were another favored sport, commonly found throughout the plains bordering the Arabian Desert.

The Assyrian king did more than just hunt, rebuilding many temples throughout his vast kingdom, most notably Ishtar, but also the historic Adad and Anu, among others. He took particular strides to improve not just the temples of his own god, but the new subjects who knelt beneath him, such as the Amorites and other Semitic tribes folk. With the flair of an architect, he constructed new palaces and refurbished the old.

It wasn't merely culture and leisure that was his focus, but practical applications as well, as water-mechanisms that aided in transporting water long distances were repaired along with granaries built to store grain for the people. His breeding techniques from back home were implemented to improve the number of cattle, horses, donkeys, and sheep, thereby eliminating starvation amongst the kingdom. Tiglath-pileser is solely credited with the tripling of populations of wild deer and wild goats of Syria.

Tiglath-pileser was also fond of this foreign plant-life and took great efforts to curate massive exotic gardens and parks everywhere he traveled. This same affectation extended to the indigenous animal-life new to his eyes and it is said that the Egyptian king presented him a gigantic crocodile as a gift. For a time, Assyria had earned the respect from world's greatest detractors.

Ancient History - Part 34: The Fight For Phoenicia

Quelling the northern district, king Tiglath-pileser crossed south-east beyond Lower Zab, conquering further into the lower mountain lands that laid in wait. Assyria's armies did not get far before news broke that the Kurti left behind had revolted in the north. Rather than risk falling for an old canard at worst or accepting distraction at best, the Assyrian king chose to remain in the southern district, his forces encroaching upon land belonging the Nairi people.

There, a collection of leaders, totaling twenty three kings and the warriors who followed, met Tiglath-pileser's men in the field. Again, the Assyrians triumphed. With the Nairi and her allies soundly defeated, the Assyrian had shattered all opposition on two of her sides. The western and northern districts remained a troublesome nuisance however.

Within Hanigalbat, the former lands of the Mitanni, the city of Malatya, along with her sister strongholds resisted. In the old Hittite empire, Carchemish and her sister cities raised arms to ready a counter-assault intended to push back against Assyrian expansion as well. Rumor had swelled that even in Cappadocia, specifically Cataonia, warriors trained daily in their steadfastness, expectant of any pending attack.

Despite the challenge that waited in earnest, Tiglath-pileser never once succumbed to fear. From Lower Zab to the opposite side of the Euphrates, his forces marched forth, and in the end, by the fifth year of the warrior-king's reign, forty-two countries and kingdoms were conquered at his hand. The Assyrian king left his mark in many ways:

1. Rock sculptures and cuneiform left at Nahr el-Kelb in Phoenicia.
2. Tolled Lebanon of their strong trees, particular cedars, for building material.
3. A portrait of himself was sculpted into the cliffs of the Nairi heartland.
4. All cities now paid Tiglath-pileser tribute in gold during his visits for the remainder of his reign.

The inevitability of Assyrian expansion during this period was undeniable and even though many civilizations resisted, upon defeat, these smaller kingdoms relented to taciturn servitude than to sacrifice more lives in a fit of negligence. 

Ancient History - Part 33: New Direction, Same Directive

[THE COMMAGENE KINGDOM WITHIN THE LANDS OF ARZANENE]

Despite his hungry nibbling at the disorganized former Hittite lands, king Tiglath-pileser's victories on the west were soon plagued by a distraction back home. The Commagene people had risen once again in open-rebellion causing the Assyrian king to return with a vengeful aim at retribution. But once he did return to the northern outskirts of Assyria, he'd found that the majority of the uprising voices had absconded to their mountain fortresses.

Irked at his inability to reach the dissenting voices amongst the Commagene, as they each lay hidden safely within dangerously steep holdfasts, Tiglath-pileser and his advisors knew it would be a lengthy wait to starve the rebels out. And yet, wait they did, but not for so long, as the local inhabitants of the mountain lands, beginning with the Kurti people then others to follow, took umbrage with Assyrian soldiers upon their soil.

Quickly forgetting the rabble who'd withdrawn to the mountaintops, king Tiglath-pileser found himself filling the shoes of a conqueror once again, and it was said that upon finalizing his excursions, the Assyrian army had overtaken twenty five cities and countless villages. The lands of Arzanene (modern Armenia) and lands that extended to the great river now known as Amu Darya were all captured.

Many of these places surrendered to the much greater Assyrian forces without resistance. Fight or no fight, the result was the same, their lands became Tiglath-pileser's land, and a greater part of Assyria's borders had expanded once again.

The irony in the Commagene's uprising is that no matter which direction the Assyrian king would have chosen to expand, expansion would've occurred. His original intent decided upon the west, but with the Commagene drawing his attention back north, his military simply shifted geographical objectives and the mountain villages suffered a great wroth by proxy on behalf of their well-hidden and troublesome neighbors.

Rather than be gored by Assyria's might on the field, the people within the Arzanene region submitted whilst withholding any desire to grumble, but as the years beyond will tell they'd opt to fight another day. 

Another day and against another king.

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Typical mountain village during this period (as rendered by archaeologists by the 1800s):