Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë I (1305âÂÂ1274 BC or 1295âÂÂ1263 BC short chronology) was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian Empire. His annals survived in more detail than most of his predecessors, and he achieved numerous major military victories that further strengthened Assyria.
His name is rendered in all but two inscriptions ideographically as <sup>md</sup>adad-<small>ZAB+DAḪ</small>, meaning "Adad (is) my helper,"
In his inscriptions from Assur he calls himself son of Arik-den-ili, the same filiations being recorded in the Nassouhi kinglist. He is recorded as a son of Enlil-nirari in the Khorsabad kinglist and the SDAS kinglist, probably in error.
He boasted that he was the "defeater of the heroic armies of the Kassites (the ruling dynasty of their Babylonian neighbours to the south), Qutu (their eastern Gutean neighbours), Lullumu (the pre Indo-European Lullubi tribesmen of Ancient Iran immediately east of Assyria) and Shubaru (" Hurrian and Hittite northerners in Asia Minor"). Pacifier of all enemies above and below." The defeat of Nazi-Maruttaà ¡' Kassite forces must have been particularly sweet as his father "could not rectify the calamities inflicted by the king of the Kassite lands," during his reign. It took place at the town of Kar Ishtar in the province of Ugarsulu and victory was assured when Adad Nirari's army fell on the Kassite camp "like a devastating flood," as described gloatingly by Tukulti-Ninurta I in his eponymous epic, plundering and carrying off his royal standard. This triumph resulted in a border realignment with Assyria extending its territory into southern Mesopotamia, into Pilasqu, the city of Arman in Ugarsallu and Lullumu.
Nazi-Maruttaà ¡' successor, Kadaà ¡man-Turgu was sufficiently motivated to secure peace that he seems to have agreed to a humiliating treaty with Adad Nirari where "he pardoned his (Nazi-Maruttaà ¡') son of the crime," twice.
With peace in Assyria's favour towards Babylon in the south, the Assyrians could turn their attention north and westwards, taking lands from the former the Mitanni Empire. Under Shattiwaza, Hanigalbat (the southern remnant of the Mitanni Empire) had become a vassal state of the Hittite empire, celebrated with a treaty, as a buffer to the ascendant Assyrians. But treaties were between individual kings during the late bronze age as nation states had yet to emerge and with the accession of Shattuara I in Hanigalbat and Urhi Teà ¡à ¡up as Mursili III of the Hittites and a waning of Hittite engagement in international affairs, the former may have sought to adopt a more independent position.
According to Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë, conflict was triggered by Shattuara's preemptive attack which resulted in the defeat and capture of the Mitanni king Shattuara, who was taken to Aà ¡à ¡ur and forced to swear fealty as a vassal of the Assyrians, apparently without the intervention of the Hittites, providing regular tribute for the remainder of his reign.
Bolstered by his military victories, Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë pronounced himself à ¡ar kià ¡à ¡ati, "king of the universe," in imitation of his ancient predecessor Shamshi-Adad I, and greeted his Hittite counterpart on equal terms as a fellow "great king." He invited himself to visit Amman Mountain (Amanus, a cult center perhaps?) in his "brother's" territory, drawing a scathing put down from Hittite king Mursili III (Urhi Teà ¡à ¡up),
By the time Hittite king Hattusili III (âÂÂ1237 BC) overthrew Urhi Teà ¡à ¡up, the conquest was a fait accompli and a sheepish Hattuà ¡ili was to request that Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë intervene to curb the incursions of the people of Turira, a Hanigalbat frontier town, against those of Carchemish, still a loyal Hittite vassal,
Hattuà ¡ili's main complaint, however, was the breach in protocol caused when Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë snubbed his inauguration:
Hattuà ¡ili was at great pains to placate his Assyrian counterpart following the "sad experiences" encountered by his envoys in their dealings with his predecessor and call on Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë to confirm with his own envoy, Bel-qarrad, that he had been treated well by Hattuà ¡ili. Although still in the Bronze Age, iron was not unknown, and Hattuà ¡ili goes on to discuss Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë's request for the metal:
Conflict with Hanigalbat resumed when Shattuara's son, Wasashatta, rebelled and engaged with the Hittites for support. Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë was later to gloat that the Hittites took his gifts but gave nothing in return when he (Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë) counterattacked, sacking and plundering the cities of Amasaku, Kahat, Shuru, Nabula, Hurra, Irridu, Shuduhu and Washshukanu, places largely as yet unidentified, destroying the city of Taite (Taida) and sowing kudimmus over it.
The denouement took place at Irridu (Ordi?) where Wasashatta was captured and, along with his extended family and court, deported in fetters to Aà ¡à ¡ur where he vanished from history. Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë annexed the kingdom of Hanigalbat, enslaved its people, and appointed a governor drawn from the Assyrian aristocracy. While the name of this individual is unknown, one of his successors, during the later reign of à  ulmanu-aà ¡aredu, was Qibi Assur who founded a short dynasty of Assyrian viceroys ruling over this region.
The seat of Assyrian governance was possibly Wasashatta's former capital, Taida, because his monumental steles recounted that it "had become dilapidated and (he) removed its debris. (He) restored it," rebuilding the palace replete with a suitably boastful commemorative inscription prepared but never installed as it was found in the ruins of Assur. His building restorations in the city of Assur were celebrated in monumental inscriptions and include the Step Gate of the temple of the god Ashur, various of the city's walls, its quay along the river Tigris, the temple of Ishtar and the storehouses of the gate of An and Adad.
His reign lasted for 31 years, but only around 12 Limmu officials, from the Assyrian Eponym dating system have been identified, primarily from monumental inscriptions, and these include Shulmanu-qarradu, Andarasina, Ashur-eresh, variant Ashur-erish (son of Abattu), Ana-Ashur-qalla (officer of the palace), Iti-ili-ashamshu, Sha-Adad-ninu, Qarrad-Ashur, Assur-dammiq, Sin-n[a....], Ninurta-emuqaya, BÃÂbu-aḫa-iddina and Adad-à ¡umu-lesir, the eponym in whose year he died. BÃÂbu-aḫa-iddina was a high-ranking official, some sources say "chancellor," son of Ibassi-ili, who served under Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë and his two successors. He celebrated his eponym year towards the end of Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë's reign as attested in texts relating the activities of Assur-kasid son of Sin-apla-eris at Billa. His archive, called "archive 14410," consisting of 60 tablets was found in a tomb under a house in Assur.
A bronze sword of Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë I can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This historical epic is extant in four fragments and concerns the conflict between Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë and his Babylonian contemporary Nazi-Maruttash, with whom he clashes and ultimately vanquishes in battle. The surviving pieces do not allow for a detailed narrative to be reconstructed. They do, however, suggest a sequence of events, where Adad-nÃÂrÃÂrë harks back to the setbacks faced by his father, "the seed of the men has disappeared forever," his petitioning of the god à  amaà ¡, "O à  amaà ¡ you are the true judge," in preparation for his denouement with "the unjust Kassite king," and so on.
In 2018, inscriptions were discovered at Qasr Shemamok on four brick molds referring to the celebration of building a palace by the Assyrian king Adad-nirari I (1308-1275 BC) in Kilizu.