Aà ¡à ¡ur-rÃÂà ¡a-ià ¡i I, inscribed <sup>m</sup>aà ¡-à ¡ur-SAG-i-à ¡i (meaning "Aà ¡à ¡ur has lifted my head") ruled 1132âÂÂ1115 BC, son of Mutakkil-Nusku, was a king of the Middle Assyrian Empire, and the 86th ruler to appear on the Assyrian King List and ruled for 18 years. The Synchronistic King List and its fragmentary copies give him as a contemporary of the Babylonian kings Ninurta-nÃÂdin-à ¡umi, Nebuchadnezzar I and Enlil-nÃÂdin-apli, although the last of these is unlikely per the commonly accepted chronology.
His royal titles included âÂÂmerciless hero in battle, crusher of the enemies of Aà ¡à ¡ur, strong shackle binding the insubmissive, one who puts the insubordinate to flight, â¦murderer of the extensive army of the Ahlamà(and) scatterer of their forces, the one who ⦠defeats the lands of [â¦], the Lullubû, all the Qutu and their entire mountainous region and subdues them at his feetâ¦â He styled himself mutÃÂr gimilli mÃÂt Aà ¡à ¡ur, âÂÂavenger of Assyria,â and seems to have directed his earlier campaigns to the east, as a broken chronicle records his campaign staged from the Assyrian city of Arbela (modern Erbil) into disputed areas of the Zagros mountains where his shock troops (ḫurÃÂdu) encountered the Babylonian king Ninurta-nÃÂdin-à ¡umi, here called Ninurta-nÃÂdin-à ¡umÃÂti, whose forces characteristically âÂÂfled,â a recurring motif in Assyrian accounts of their relationship with their southern neighbour.
Pressures from the west, however, were to draw Aà ¡à ¡ur-rÃÂà ¡a-ià ¡iâÂÂs attention, and that of his successorsâÂÂ, as the widespread (rapà ¡ÃÂti) hordes of Ahlamànomadic Semitic tribesmen were driven by the deprivations of climate change into the Assyrian hinterland. Here he may also have encountered Nabû-kudurrë-uá¹£ur, who like him claimed victories against the Amorite lands and the Lullubû.
The Synchronistic History has a lengthy passage concerning his conflicts with Nebuchadnezzar I. Initially, they established an amicable relationship. However the Babylonian king subsequently besieged the Assyrian fortress of Zanqi in central Mesopotamia and when Aà ¡à ¡ur-rÃÂà ¡a-ià ¡i approached with his relief force, Nebuchadnezzar I torched his siege engines (nÃÂpeà ¡à «) to prevent their capture and withdrew. On a second campaign, he laid siege to the fortress of Idi and the arrival of the Assyrian army resulted in a pitched battle in which he âÂÂbrought about his total defeat, slaughtered his troops and carried off his camp. Forty of his chariots with harness were taken away and Karaà ¡tu, Nebuchadnezzar I's field-marshal, was captured.âÂÂ
The later king à  ulmÃÂnu-aà ¡arÃÂdu III credited him with rebuilding the city wall of Assur in his own rededication. His own brick inscriptions from the same city identify him as builder of the temple of the gods Adad and An, Ià ¡tar of Assyria and Aà ¡à ¡ur. He built a palace in Bumariyah, ancient Apqu à ¡a Adad' as witnessed by a baked brick inscription. His most significant construction efforts were witnessed at his capital, Nineveh, the location of his palace, the Egalà ¡aḫulla (âÂÂThe Palace of JoyfulnessâÂÂ), where he rebuilt the tower-gates of the temple of Ishtar which had been damaged by earthquakes during the earlier reigns of à  ulmÃÂnu-aà ¡arÃÂdu I (c. 1274âÂÂ1245 BC) and Aà ¡à ¡ur-dÃÂn I (c. 1179 to 1134 BC), the latter being his grandfather. These were flanked by monumental statues of lions.
His palace edict concerning men fraternizing with palace women gives the penalty of execution, with silent witnesses considered a party to the event and punished by being thrown into an oven. The sequence of limmu officials in the eponym dating system is not known, as column 2 of the only extant list is damaged at this point.
He was succeeded by his son, the powerful Tiglath-Pileser I, who expanded the Middle Assyrian Empire significantly.