Tiglath-Pileser Iii Or Iv
TIGLATH-PILESER III OR IV, was a successful general who usurped the Assyrian throne on the 13th of lyyar 745 B.C., after the fall of the older dynasty, and changed his name of Pulu (Pul) to that of the famous conqueror of earlier times. In Babylonia, however, he continued to be known as Pulu. He was a man of great ability, both military and administrative, and initiated a new system of policy in Assyria which he aimed at making the head of a centralized empire, bound together by a bureaucracy who derived their power from the king. The empire was supported by a standing army and an elaborate system of finance. The first task of Tiglath-Pileser was to reduce the Aramaean tribes to order, and so win the gratitude of the Babylonian priests. Then he struck terror into the wild tribes on the eastern frontiers of the kingdom by a campaign which extended into the remotest parts of Media. Next came the defeat of a northern coalition headed by Sar-duris of Ararat, no fewer than 72,950 of the enemy being captured along with the city of Arpad, where the Assyrian king received the homage of various Syrian princes. Arpad revolted soon afterwards, but after a siege was taken in 740 B.C. The following year Azariah of Judah appears among the enemies of Tiglath-Pileser, who had overthrown his Hamathite allies and annexed the nineteen districts of Hamath. The conquered populations were now transported to distant parts of the empire. In 737 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser again marched into Media, and in 735 he invaded Ararat and wasted the country round the capital Van to a distance of 450 miles. In 734 B.C. he was called to the help of Yahu-khazi (Ahaz) of Judah, who had been attacked by Pekah of Israel and Rezon (Rasun) of Damascus. Rezon, defeated in battle, fled to his capital which was at once invested by the Assyrians, while with another portion of his army Tiglath-Pileser ravaged Syria and overran the kingdom of Samaria. Ammon, Moab, Edom and the queen of Sheba sent tribute, and Teima in northern Arabia was captured by the Assyrian troops. In 732 B.C. Damascus fell; Rezon was put to death, and an Assyrian satrap appointed in his stead. Tyre also was made tributary. The next year Tiglath-Pileser entered Babylonia, but it was not until 729 B.C. that the Chaldaean prince Ukin-zer (Chinzirus) was driven from Babylon and Tiglath-Pileser acknowledged as its legitimate ruler. In the early part of Tebet 727 B.C. he died, after having built two palaces, one at Nineveh, the other at Calah.
See P. Rost, Die Keilschrifttexte Tiglat-Pilesers III. (1893); also BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, v. History ("Second Assyrian Empire") ; and authorities quoted in viii. Chronology.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
