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Situation and Organisation: the Empire Building of Tiglath-Pileser Iii (745-728 Bc)

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Situation and Organisation: the Empire Building of Tiglath-Pileser Iii (745-728 Bc) SITUATION AND ORGANISATION: THE EMPIRE BUILDING OF TIGLATH-PILESER III (745-728 BC) T.L. Davenport, PhD (Ancient History), The University of Sydney, 2016 1 CONTENTS Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………............... 5 Tables and Figures ………………………………………………………………………............... 6 Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………….................... 7 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1.1 The Historical Background to Tiglath-pileser III‘s Reign …………………………………….. 8 1.2 What was the Achievement of Tiglath-pileser III? ……………………………………………. 10 CHAPTER 2 The Written Evidence 2.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………… 20 2.2 The Assyrian Royal Inscriptions …………………………………………………………….... 20 2.2.1 The Creation and Maintenance of Empire according to the Assyrian Royal Inscriptions ….. 22 2.3 The Eponym Chronicle ……………………………………………………………………….. 24 2.4 The Babylonian Chronicle ……………………………………………………………………. 32 2.5 Assyrian Letters ………………………………………………………………………………. 33 CHAPTER 3 The Accession of Tiglath-pileser III: Usurpation or Legitimate Succession? 3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………… 36 3.2 The Eponym Chronicle………………………………………………………………………… 37 3.3 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………... 40 CHAPTER 4 The Conquest of Babylonia and the Origins and Evolution of Tiglath-pileser’s ‘Babylonian Policy’ 4.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………… 42 4.2 Terminology ……………………………………………………………………………………45 4.3 Babylonian Population Groups ……………………………………………………………….. 47 4.4 The Written Evidence …………………………………………………………………………. 53 4.4.1 The ARI ……………………………………………………………………………………... 53 4.4.2 The Eponym Chronicle ……………………………………….…………………………….. 56 4.4.3 The Babylonian Chronicle …………………………………….……………………………. 56 4.4.4 The Nimrud Letters …………………………………………….…………………………… 57 4.5 The Chronology of Tiglath-pileser‘s Babylonian Campaigns …………………………………60 4.5.1 The Campaign of 745 BC ……………………………………….………………………….. 61 2 4.5.2 The Campaign of 731-729 BC .…………………………………………………………….. 63 4.6 The Babylonian Campaigns: Assyrian Foreign Policy under Tiglath-pileser III. ….………. 64 4.6.1 The First Babylonian Campaign: The Objectives of Assyrian Policy in 745 BC. …............. 64 4.6.2 The Second Babylonian Campaign: The Evolution of Tiglath-pileser III‘s Babylonian Policy …………………………………………………………….……………. 68 CHAPTER 5 The Context of Tiglath-pileser III’s Campaigns Against the West: The Arpad Alliance and the Problem of Alliance Formation in the West during the 9th and 8th centuries BC 5.1 Introduction .……………………………………………………………………………….. 72 5.2 The Origins and Growth of the ―Anti-Assyrian Coalition Theory‖ ….................................. 74 5.4 Historical Examples of Earlier Coalitions Attested in the West …........................................ 77 5.4.1 The Qarqar Alliance Attested During the Reign of Shalmaneser III …................................. 77 5.4.2 The Hatti Coalition from the Reign of Adad-nirari III …................... ….............................. 80 5.4.3 The Zakkur Inscription Alliance From the Reign of Adad-nirari III …................................. 83 5.5 Discussion: Coalitions in the West Prior to the Reign of Tiglath-pileser III and the Anti-Assyrian Coalition Theory…………………………………………………… 87 5.6 The Arpad Alliance of 743BC................................................................................................. 89 5.7 Conclusion ...………………………………………………………………………………... 97 CHAPTER 6 Assyrian Imperial Policies and the Role of the Provincial System in the Growth of Empire 6.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………... 100 6.2.1 A Definition of Empire …..................................................................................................... 102 6.2.2 The ―Network Model‖ Empire ….......................................................................................... 103 6.2.3 Economics: The Primary Driver of Assyrian Imperialism? ….............................................. 108 6.2.4 Agricultural Exploitation: A Current Trend in Economic Imperialism …............................. 113 6.3 Military Campaigning and the Army ..…................................................................................. 117 6.3.1 The Purpose of Assyrian Campaigning …............................................................................. 117 6.3.2 The Assyrian Army …........................................................................................................... 126 6.4 Assyria‘s Annexation Policy …................................................................................................ 141 6.4.1 The Province and Vassal Systems …...................................................................................... 136 6.4.2 The Purpose of Provinces and Assyria‘s Annexation Policy …............................................. 141 3 6.5 Military Strategy .................................................................................................................... 152 6.5.1 The ―Threat of Force‖ …........................................................................................................ 154 6.5.2 Provinces as Bases for Implementing a ―Threat of Force‖ Strategy …................................. 165 6.5.3 Alternative Methods of Empire Creation ………………………………………………….. 159 6.6 Conclusion …......................................................................................................................... 165 CHAPTER 7 Conclusion …......................................................................................................... 156 APPENDIX A The Nimrud Letters Letter 1 .………………………………………………………………………………………….. 172 Letter 2 …………………………………………………………………………………………... 178 Letter 3 ………………………………………………………………………………………….... 183 Letter 4 …………………………………………………………………………………………….187 Letter 5 ………………………………………………………………………………………….... 191 Letter 6 …………………………………………………………………………………………… 194 Letter 7 …………………………………………………………………………………………… 197 Letter 8 …………………………………………………………………………………………… 199 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 201 4 Abbreviations B - base CAD – Chicago Assyrian Dictionary CTN 5 – Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud V d – divine name E – edge f – feminine l – line LS – left side m – masculine O – obverse PO – post canonical R – reverse RIMA 3 – Grayson A.K, (1996), Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC II (858-745) BC. RINAP – Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period SAA – State Archives of Assyria 5 Tables Table 1 Provincial Territories Noted in the Eponym Entries: 850 – 750 BC .………………… 15 Table 2 Cases of limmu overlap in the Eponym Texts ………………………………………… 27 Table 3 A Comparison of Data in the Eponym Chronicle, the Annals and Summary Inscriptions for Years Eighteen to Twenty-Four of the Reign of Shalmaneser III……. 30 Table 4 Sources for the Eponym Chronicle and the Reign Notation …………………………. 40 Table 5 A Comparison of the Babylonian Campaigns in the Summary Inscriptions …………. 54 Table 6 A Reconstruction of the Babylonian Campaigns according to Tadmor (1996) ……….. 60 Table 7 The Composition of Allied Forces at Qarqar …………………………………………. 79 Table 8 Booty and Spot Tribute Acquired by Tiglath-pileser III ……………………………… 120 Table 9 Evidence Pertaining to the Use of ṣab šarri Troops in Campaign Operations ……….. 134 Figures Figure 1 – The Eponym Chronicle Entries 745-743 BC ………………………………………… 38 Figure 2 – A One-Way Economic Model ………………………………………………………... 110 Figure 3 – A Redistributive Economic Model …………………………………………………… 111 6 Abstract The reign of Tiglath-pileser III (745-728 BC) is synonymous with a period of rapid upheaval and change. In the second half of the 9th and the first half of the 8th century the Assyrian empire was plagued with internal problems and revolt under a number of successive weak rulers. With the accession of Tiglath-pileser III (745-728 BC) to the throne, however, Assyria experienced a rapid recovery and entered into a ‗golden age‘ characterised predominantly by a vast and stable empire. While the achievement of Tiglath-pileser III has been widely recognised, the problem of how Tiglath-pileser III was able to achieve this feat so quickly and at a time when Assyria was still recovering from a period of weakness has continued to perplex scholars. The issue of what role provinces played in the empire-building of Tiglath-pileser III is of fundamental importance to this question. While the royal annals are clearly biased in their presentation of Assyrian history, some attempt has been made to overcome the limitations inherent in these sources here through the use of Assyrian letters and the adoption of a critical approach to the official Assyrian accounts. A number of texts utilised here, in particular some of the Nimrud letters presented in the Appendix, are also accompanied by new transliterations and translations. This research concludes that the success of Tiglath-pileser III can be credited to introduced military reforms, as well as to the prevailing international situation, notably the weakness of other rival powers, which enabled Assyria to successfully pursue an aggressive imperial policy during this period. 7 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1.1 The Historical Background to Tiglath-pileser‘s Reign Tiglath-pileser III came to power in a turbulent period of Assyrian history following a significant period of decline under his immediate predecessors, Ashur-dan III (771-754 BC) and Ashur-nerari V (753-746 BC). Open rebellion erupted in Assyrian cities (7631, 7622, 7463) and provinces (7614, 760, 7595), and several outbreaks
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