Sarduri II
Assyrian power in the Near East greatly increased as the result of Tiglath-Pileser's military reforms (see "Reforms" below) and of his campaigns of conquest. Upon ascending the throne, he claimed (in Annal 9, which dates to 745 BCE, his first regnal year) to have annexed Babylonia, from "Dur-(Kuri)galzu, Sippar of Shamash, ... the cities [of Ba]bylonia up to the Uqnu river [by the shore of the Lo]wer [Sea]" (which referred to the Persian Gulf), and subsequently placed his eunuch over them as governor. Also in his first year of reign he defeated the powerful kingdom of Urartu (in Anatolia), whose hegemony under the rulership of Sarduri II had extended to Asia Minor, western Iran and Syria; there he found unrivalled horses for his war-chariots. He also defeated the Medes before making war on and conquering the Neo-Hittites, Arameans of Syria and Phoenicia. He took Arpad in 740 BCE after three years of siege, annexed it as a province (over which he placed one of his eunuchs as governors), and subjected Hamath to tribute. Assyrian inscriptions record in 740 BCE, the fifth year of his reign, a victory over Azariah (Uzziah), king of Judah, whose achievements appear in 2 Chronicles 26. He also subjugated Aramean Damascus, the Arabs under Queen Zabibe, Menahem of Israel and Sam'al's king Azriyau, who all paid him tribute. In 737 and 736 BCE he turned his attention again to Iran, conquering the Medes, Parthians and Persians and occupying a large part of western Iran. According to the royal inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser many of the inhabitants were enslaved and deported to other parts of the Assyrian empire, as was commonly done by his predecessors. At sieges, captive soldiers and leaders were executed, and their bodies raised on stakes and displayed before the city ("illustration, right").