Tukulti-Ninurta I

Following on the campaigns his predecessor Adad-Nirari I to the west, Tukulti-Ninurta I undertook ambitious missions aimed at carving away land controlled by the Hittites and then from the staunch enemy to the south, Babylon.

The first notable victory over the Hittites took place in the Upper Euphrates, over the small state of Nihriya (Kuhrt pg. 355). Knowledge of this battle comes from letters among the Assyrians, Hittites, and client-states of Syria regarding the aftermath of the event. In a letter some scholars ascribe to Tukulti-Ninurta I (see Bryce pg. 317) and others to Shalmaneser I (see Kuhrt pg. 355), the Assyrian king describes to the king of Ugarit his preparations for and ultimate success in battle with the Hittites over Nihriya:

I called my camp herald: "Put on your cuirasses and mount your chariots. The king of Hatti arrives in battle-order." I harnessed [ ] my chariot and made a charge, [shouting(?) 'the king(?) of Ha]tti comes ready to do battle!'…Certainly I won a great victory. (RS 34.165, translation from Bryce pg. 317).

This set-back placed Tudhaliya, the Hittite king, in a politically unstable situation, thus leaving his kingdom open to further attack. However Tukulti-Ninurta I did not pursue this option, choosing instead to begin a campaign against the Babylonians, who in the mean time had taken advantage of Assyria's focus on the Hittites to grab some of their lost territories to the north and east (Kuhrt pg. 355). As described in a rare indigenous Assyrian epic (see Lambert AfO 18 (1957-8)), and supported by the fragmentary Chronicle P, Tukulti-Ninurta I defeated Kashtiliash IV, and took him prisoner to Assur along with other treasures from Babylon.