Tukulti-Ninurta I

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Tukulti-Ninurta I was a king of Assyria. (reigned 1243 BC – 1207 BC)

He succeeded Shalmaneser I, his father, as king and won a major victory against the Hittites at the Battle of Nihriya in the first half of his reign. Tukulti-Ninurta I later defeated Kashtiliash IV, the Kassite king and captured the rival city of Babylon to ensure full Assyrian supremacy over Mesopotamia. Kashtiliash IV was captured and deported to Assyria. After a rebellion in Babylon, he plundered Babylon's temples, and later began to build a new city, Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta. However, his sons rebelled against him and besieged him in his new city. During the siege, he was murdered. One of them, Ashur-nadin-apli, would succeed him on the throne.

After his death, the Assyrian Empire fell into decline. The Tukulti-Ninurta Epic describes the war between Tukulti-Ninurta I and Kashtiliash IV.

Preceded by Shalmaneser I

King of Assyria 1233 BC–1196 BC

Succeeded by Ashur-nadin-apli