The Assyrian Empire: Inscription of Tiglathpileser
I
(c. 1077 BCE)
Tiglath-pileser, the powerful king, king of hosts,
who has no rival, king of the four quarters (of the world), king of all rulers,
lord of lords, king of kings; the lofty prince. . . who rules over the nations,
. . . the legitimate shepherd whose name is exalted above all rulers; the lofty
judge, whose weapons Ashur’ has sharpened, and whose
name, as ruler over the four quarters (of the world), he has proclaimed
forever; the conqueror of distant lands, which form the boundaries on north and
south; the brilliant day, whose splendour over- throws
the world’s regions; the terrible, destroying flame, which like the rush of the
storm sweeps over the enemy’s country; who. . . has no adversary, and overthrows
the foes of Ashur.
Ashur and the great gods who have enlarged my
kingdom, who have given me strength and power as my portion, commanded me to
extend the territory of their (the gods’) country, putting into my hand their
powerful weapons, the cyclone of battle. I subjugated lands and mountains, cities
and their rulers, enemies of Ashur, and conquered
their territories. With sixty kings I fought, spreading terror (among them), and
achieved a glorious victory over them. A rival in combat, or an adversary in
battle, I did not have. To
In the beginning of my government, five kings . . . with an army of twenty
thousand men . . .—and whose power no king had ever broken and overcome in
battle—trusting to their strength rushed down and conquered the land of Qummuh (Commagene). With the help
of Ashur, my lord, I gathered my war chariots and
assembled my warriors; I made no delay, but traversed Kashiari,
an almost impassable region. I waged battle in Qummuh
with these five kings and their twenty thousand soldiers and accomplished their
defeat. Like the Thunderer (the storm god Adad) I crushed the corpses of their warriors in the battle
that caused their overthrow. I made their blood to flow over all the ravines
and high places of mountains. I cut off their heads and piled them up at the
walls of their cities like heaps of grain. I carried off their booty, their goods,
and their property beyond reckoning. Six thousand, the rest of their troops, who
had fled before my weapons and had thrown themselves at my feet, I took away as
prisoners and added to the people of my country.
At that time I marched also against the people of Qummuh,
who had become unsubmissive, withholding the tax and
tribute due to Ashur, my lord. I conquered Qummuh to its whole extent, and carried off their booty, their
goods, and their property; I burned their cities with fire, destroyed, and
devastated.