| Ashur-rabi II | |
|---|---|
| King of Assyria | |
| King of theMiddle Assyrian Empire | |
| Reign | 1013–972 BC |
| Predecessor | Ashur-nirari IV |
| Successor | Ashur-resh-ishi II |
| Issue | Ashur-resh-ishi II |
| Father | Ashurnasirpal I |
Aššur-rabi II, inscribedmaš-šur-RA-bi, "(the god)Aššur is great,"[1] was king ofAssyria 1012–972 BC. Despite his lengthy reign (41 years), one of the longest of the Assyrian monarchs, his tenure seems to have been an unhappy one judging by the scanty and laconic references to his setbacks from later sources.
He was a younger son of the earlier Assyrian monarch,Aššurnaṣirpal I. He succeeded his nephewAššur-nerari IV's brief six year rule, and if this succession was like earlier usurpations by uncles of their nephews, it would have been a violent affair. TheAssyrian Kinglist[i 1][i 2][i 3] records his accession and genealogy but provides no further information. His construction of the Bit-nathi, part of the temple ofIštar inNineveh, was recalled in a dedicatorycone ofAššur-nāṣir-apli II (883–859 BC) commemorating his own repair work.[i 4]
Some Assyrian settlements on the MiddleEuphrates were lost to theArameans as they were able to cross the river and establish a network of autonomous but interrelated settlements that began to encroach on the Assyrian heartland.[2]Šulmānu-ašarēdu III recalled the loss of Ana-Aššur-utēr-aṣbat (Pitru, possibly Tell Aushariye) and Mutkinu, two towns close toTil Barsip, which had originally been taken and colonized byTiglath Pileser II around a hundred or so years earlier; in one of his inscriptions: "At the time of Aššur-rabi (II), king of Assyria, the king of Aram (Syria) took [two cities] by force—I restored these cities. I installed the Assyrians in their midst."[i 5] The king of Aram (šar4KUR-a-ru-mu) is unlikely to have beenHadadezer ofZobah, in southern Syria, but a northern Aram, in or near Ḫanigalbat.[3] His authority continued to stretch as far west as theKhabur river in northeastSyria as recorded on the cylinder[i 6] of Bel-ereš, ašangû or governor of Šadikanni,[4] somewhat contradicting the picture of Assyrian retreat and decline painted elsewhere.[5]
His era must have stretched from the reigns of hisBabylonian contemporaries,Simbar-Šipak (1025–1008 BC) toNabû-mukin-apli (978–943 BC), although there is no extant contemporary proof of contact which might help fix this chronology more precisely. TheSynchronistic Kinglist[i 7] gives his contemporary asŠirikti-šuqamuna, a king of Babylonia who reigned just 3 months c. 985 BC. Severe distress and famine was recorded underKaššu-nādin-aḫi (c. 1006–1004 BC), the midpoint in Aššur-rabi's reign, and this possibly points to the underlying cause of the Aramean migration.[6]
He was followed on the throne by his son, the equally obscureAššur-reši-išši II, who ruled for five years.
| Preceded by | King of Assyria 1013–972 BC | Succeeded by |
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