People > Adad-nirari II
Adad-nirari II
Background
Adad-nirari II was a king of Assyria and considered the first king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and responsible for revitalizing the empire from a long period of decline and stagnation. He was the son of Ashur-dan II and reigned between 911 BC and 891 BC. Adad-nirari II had a son named Tukulti-Ninurta II who would later become the king of Assyria.
Adad-nirari II was responsible for launching several military campaigns that increased the regional power and territory of Assyria, ultimately creating the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Following a major battle at the convergence of the Khabur and Euphrates Rivers in 910 BCHh he managed to conquer and deport the entire Aramean population who was causing Assyria much social strife by conquering the cities of Kadmuh and Nisibin. Following this he went on to subjugate the Hittites and the Hurrians.
He then went on to defeat the leader of Babylonia named Shamash-mudammiq and was able to annex all of the territory north of the Diyala River along with the towns of Hit and Zanqu. Adad-nirari II was able to push even further into Babylonia in successive military campaigns against Nabu-shuma-ukin I. In addition to gathering a massive amount of wealth for the Neo-Assyrian Empire he was also able to conquer and control the Kabur river region and expand many trade routes in the ancient world which linked the regions of Anatolia with all of the rest of Mesopotamia along with Egypt and the rest of the area around the Mediterranean basin.
Biography[edit]Adad-nirari II's son was named Tukulti-Ninurta II and Tukulti continued to wage war against Assyrian enemies.[1]He reigned from 911[2] to 891 BC.Because of the existence of full eponym lists from his reign down to the middle of the reign of Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BC, year one of his reign in 911 BC is perhaps the first event in ancient Near Eastern history which can be dated to an exact year, although the Assyrian King List is generally considered to be quite accurate for several centuries before Adad-nirari's reign, and scholars generally agree on a single set of dates back to Ashur-resh-ishi I in the late 12th century BC.References[edit]^ Jump up to: a b Healy, Mark (1991). The Ancient Assyrians. New York: Osprey. p. 6.Jump up ^ Bertman, Stephen (2005). Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford UP. p. 74.Preceded byAshur-dan IIKing of Assyria911–891 BCSucceeded byTukulti-Ninurta II
