Tiglath Pileser I

Thesis Statement

“The contributions of Tiglath Pileser I made Assyria the leading power of the Middle East”.

Tiglath Pileser ascended the throne at the time when people known as the “Mushki” were entering into Asia Minor which is now Turkey. Their invasion posed a serious threat to Middle Eastern civilization because Asia Minor was a major source of iron, which was being generally used. Tiglath Pileser defeated 20,000 Mushkis in Kummukh, a province of Assyria. He also defeated the Nairi, in the west of Lake Van. He extended Assyrian control farther into Asia Minor than any of his predecessors had been able to done. He won over many semi-nomadic tribes living along the routes to the Mediterranean Sea and reached the Syrian coast. There was paid tribute by the Phoenician trading cities. However, his territorial conquests did not outlast his reign. Assyria entered a period of decline after his demise. He worked in the field of art and architecture and collected one of the oldest surviving libraries.

Introduction

The name “Tiglath-Pileser” is the name of the throne. It is given to the king on his accession to the throne, rather than at the time of birth. Its translated meaning is "my confidence is the son of Esharra". This term resembles the name; he took for his coronation as King of Babylon. Tiglath Pileser I was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian period (1114-1076 BC). He is said to be one of the greatest Assyrian monarchs since the days of Shamshi-Adad I. Assyria became a dominating power in the Middle East under his reign and this position was maintained for the coming five hundred years. He extended the Assyrian control into Anatolia and Syria, and to the shores of the Mediterranean. His inscriptions prove the fact that he instilled a fear of himself in his subjects and in his enemies. Tiglath Pileser I was a great military genius. His passion in life was hunting and slaughtering both, animals and humans. Arrangement of prodigious elephant hunts was his favorite sports activity, in which his soldiers were ordered to surround the animals and drive them toward the king. He was so proud of his expeditions that at an early period of his reign, he carved on his inscriptions:

“Under the auspices of my guardian deity Hercules, two soss of lions fell before me. In the course of my progress on foot I slew them, and 800 lions in my chariots in my exploratory journeys I laid low. All the beasts of the field and the flying birds of heaven I made the victims of my shafts” (Rawlinson, p.213).

Moreover, after returning from his conquests he proudly documented that when he reached the Mediterranean coast, he sailed out on the sea in a Phoenician ship and killed a "sea-monster," probably a porpoise, with his own hand.

Apart from all these hunting activities, Tiglath Pileser's main business in life was war. He used to marshal his armies annually, and led them on raids farther and farther ...