For four years no expeditions were made, pointing to a continued ferment of discontent in Assyria. In 749 and 748 B.C., however, Aššur-nirari made expeditions to Namri, south-west of Media. It is significant, however, that the Canon has, for the next year (747 B.C.), the usual words (“In the land”) when no expedition took place, the reason probably being the unsettled state of the country. The entry for the next year is “Revolt in Calah,” which, as has already been seen, was one of the principal cities of the kingdom. After this is the usual division-line, indicating the end of a reign, followed by the words “(Eponymy of Nabû-bêl-uṣur, governor of) Arrapḫa. In the month Aaru (Iyyar), day 13, Tiglath-pileser sat upon the throne. In the month Tisritu (Tisri) he made an expedition to (the district) between the rivers.” This corresponds with 745 B.C. Thus is ushered in, in the Eponym Canon, one of the most important reigns in Assyrian history. By what right Tiglath-pileser III. took the throne is not known. To all appearance, he was not in any way related to his predecessor, Aššur-nirari, and it is therefore supposed that he was one of the generals of that king, who, taking advantage of the rising in Aššur (of which he may, indeed, have been the instigator), made away with his sovereign, and set himself in his place. Further light, however, is needed upon this period, before anything can be said as to the circumstances attending Tiglath-pileser’s accession to the throne. [Plate IX.] Tiglath-pileser III. in His Chariot. British Museum, Nimroud Central Saloon. Though all Tiglath-pileser’s inscriptions are imperfect, and most of them very fragmentary, they nevertheless contain enough to show of what enormous value they are. Their incompleteness and the absence of dates consequent thereon is fortunately compensated somewhat by the fact that the Eponym Canon is perfect in the part which refers to this king, and that we are therefore able to locate with certainty all the events of his reign. As the entry translated above shows, his first campaign was “between the rivers,” that is, to Babylonia, the land lying between the Tigris and the Euphrates. His object in leading his forces thither was to break the power of the Aramean tribes, with the Arabs and others who were in alliance with them. Going first south-east, he subjugated the Chaldean tribes, including the Pekodites; turning afterwards west, he went against the Arameans, capturing Sippar, Dûr-Kuri-galzu, and other Babylonian cities, and it is supposed that it was on this occasion that he assumed the title “king of Šumer and Akkad.” To all appearance, however, he was not recognized by the Babylonians themselves as king, Nabonassar being then on the throne. There is hardly any doubt, however, that Babylonia acknowledged Assyrian overlordship on this occasion, thus giving Tiglath-pileser some justification for assuming the title.