Ashur-uballit I ''(Aššur-uballiṭ I)'', who reigned between 1363 and 1328 BC, was the first king of the

Middle Assyrian Empire The Middle Assyrian Empire was the third stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of Assyria from the accession of Ashur-uballit I 1363 BC and the rise of Assyria as a territorial kingdom to the death of Ashur-dan II in 912 BC. ...

. After his father Eriba-Adad I had broken

Mitanni Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian language, Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria (region), Syria an ...

influence over Assyria, Ashur-uballit I's defeat of the Mitanni king

Shuttarna III Shuttarna III was an usurper to the throne of Mitanni who reigned for a short period in the late 14th century BC. Reign He was the son of Artatama II, a usurper to the throne of Tushratta. Conquest of Carchemish In 1345 BC, the conquest of ...

marks Assyria's ascendancy over the Hurri-Mitanni Empire, and the beginning of its emergence as a powerful empire. Later on, due to disorder in Babylonia following the death of the

Kassite The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology). The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...

king

Burnaburiash II Burna-Buriaš II () was a Kassite king of Karduniaš (Babylon) in the Late Bronze Age, ca. 1359–1333 BC, where the Short and Middle chronologies have converged. The proverb "the time of checking the books is the shepherds' ordeal" was attrib ...

, Ashur-uballit established

Kurigalzu II Kurigalzu II (c. 1332–1308 BC short chronology) was the 22nd king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty that ruled over Babylon. In more than twelve inscriptions, Kurigalzu names Burna-Buriaš II as his father. Kurigalzu II was placed on the Kassite ...

on the Babylonian throne, in the first of what would become a series of Assyrian interventions in Babylonian affairs.

Family and personal life

Burnaburiash married

Muballitat-Sherua Muballitat-Sherua was a princess of Assyria, daughter of Ashur-uballit I. Biography Muballitat-Sherua was a daughter of the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit I (reigned 1363 and 1328 BC). Her father was the first to adopt the title ''king of Assyria' ...

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

, the daughter of Ashur-uballit I. Together, they had at least one son, Prince

Kara-hardash Kara-hardash (Kara-ḫardaš), also rendered ''Kadashman-Harbe'' and possibly ''Karaindash'', was a king of Babylon. He became king of Babylon around 1333 BC. He was the son of the Assyrian princess Muballitat-Sherua and the Babylonian king who p ...

. They may also have been the parents of Kurigalzu II, or his grandparents.

Amarna letters

From the Amarna letters, a series of diplomatic letters from various Middle Eastern monarchs to

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...

and

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

of Egypt, we find two letters from Ashur-uballit I, the second being a follow-up letter to the first. In the letters, Ashur-uballit refers to his second predecessor Ashur-nadin-ahhe II as his "father" or "ancestor," rather than his actual father, Eriba-Adad I, which has led some critics of conventional Egyptian chronology, such as

David Rohl The New Chronology is an alternative chronology of the ancient Near East developed by English Egyptologist David Rohl and other researchers beginning with ''A Test of Time: The Bible - from Myth to History'' in 1995. It contradicts mainstream E ...

, to claim that the Ashur-uballit of the Amarna letters was not the same as Ashur-uballit I. This, however, ignores the fact that monarchs in the Amarna letters frequently refer to predecessors as their "father," even if they were not their biological sons. In this case, Ashur-uballit presumably referred to Ashur-nadin-ahhe because the latter, unlike Eriba-Adad I, had previously corresponded with the Egyptian court.

Babylonian wars

With Assyrian power firmly established, Ashur-uballit started to make contacts with other great nations. His messages to the Egyptians angered his Babylonian neighbour

, who himself wrote to the Pharaoh: “with regard to my Assyrian vassals, it was not I who sent them to you. Why did they go to your country without proper authority? If you are loyal to me they will not negotiate any business. Send them to me empty-handed!”

Legacy

Prince

succeeded his father. A revolt soon broke out that showed the unpopularity of the Assyrians. Asshur-uballit would not allow his grandson to be cast aside, and duly invaded Babylon. Because Kara-Hardash was killed in the rebellion, the Assyrians placed on the Babylonian throne Kurigalzu II. But this new puppet king did not remain loyal to his master, and soon invaded Assyria. Ashur-uballit stopped the Babylonian army at Sugagu, not far south from the capital

Assur Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...

. Ashur-uballit I then counterattacked, and invaded Babylonia, appropriating hitherto Babylonian territory in central Mesopotamia, and forcing a treaty in Assyria's favour upon Kurigalzu.Georges Roux - Ancient Iraq

References

External links