Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. 1243 - 1207 BCE) rules during the Middle Assyrian Empire. His father Shalmaneser I has subdued the Hurrian Empire and the Hurrian kingdom Mitanni is a rebellious vassal state to Assyria.
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Shalmaneser then wages war on the aggressive Hittites, who incite rebellions and strategically ally with the Hurrians. Battling for control of the cities and trade routes, he quells uprisings and destroys the city of Arinnu, bringing its dust back to Assur, the Assyrian capital, in northern Mesopotamia.
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The patron god of the Assyrians, Ashur (Ashshur, Ašur, Aššur) remains in public worship for millennia, coexisting with powerful deities such as Inanna and Shamash. He eventually fades away with the rise of Christianity in the early centuries CE.
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The ascent of King Tukuli-Ninurta in 1243 BCE places him right at the center of power. His name means 'My trust is in [the god] Ninurta'.
In Anatolia the end of the Bronze Age approaches. Anatolian metal workers first produce steel in c. 1800, six hundred years before the beginning of the Iron Age in c. 1200 BCE.
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Tukuli-Ninurta has a mighty reputation to live up to, and he rises to the forefront of power with confidence and charismatic leadership. He's the first known person to call himself the King of Kings.
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His other titles include King of Assyria, King of Sumer & Akkad (an epithet taken by the first ruler of Ur), King of the Four Corners of the World and King of All Peoples. Highly ambitious, he brings the Assyrian Empire to its widest range of power.
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The triumphant King Tukuli-Ninurta gains control east of the Euphrates River. His empire stretches across the Tigris River, north of Babylonia, into Asia Minor and to the Levant and the coast of Arabia.
Tukuli-Ninurta makes offerings and prayers to Shamash, the Sun God. He fights the Hittites for the remains of the Hurrian lands, Mitanni. Bloody skirmishes lead up the decisive Battle of Nihriya in 1237 BCE, won by the Assyrians.
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According to his victory texts Tukiuli-Ninurta single-handedly captures the Hittite king, "trod with my feet upon his lordly neck as though it were a footstool" and sends him in chains to Assyria. He then smites the walls of Babylon into rubble.
Assyrian soldiers raze and pillage Babylon. Tukuli-Ninurta battles his way through the Babylonian chaos to the Esagila temple. He ransacks the temple and makes off with the statue of the God Marduk.
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He goes too far. The temples of Babylon are sacred and to destroy them is a sacrilege, even to the Assyrians. The King incurs the disapproval of the priesthood of the state god Ashur.
When the Elamites to the southeast try to move on in the ruins of Babylon, Tukuli-Ninurta attacks and drives them back. He later writes an epic poem about his battles with Babylon and the Elamites.
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He proceeds to the Arab lands and captures Dilmun and Meluhha, prosperous cities with prolific trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilization. In the area of today's Pakistan, the Indus Valley is also one of the world's oldest civilizations.
With the priests of Ashur turning against him, Tukuli-Ninurta founds a new cult center and capital city, Kar-Tukuli-Ninurta (Kar meaning Port). It's built on the eastern bank of the Tigris River about 3 km (1.8 mi) north of Assur.
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There he erects a magnificent ziggurat, a temple to Ashur. He builds an opulent royal palace. The site of the metropolis covers up to 260 hectares (642 acres).
The glamor and presige don't last long. In 1207 BCE his sons rebel against him and besiege the new city. While Kar-Tukuli-Ninurta is under siege, Tukuli-Ninurta is murdered.
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Shortly after his death, Tukuli-Ninurta is succeeded by his son Ashur-nadin-apli in 1206 BCE. Abandoned, the royal city of Kar-Tukuli-Ninurta falls into ruin.
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