Aššur-dān II

Aššur-dān II (934-912 BC), son of Tiglath-pileser II [/riao/thekingdomofassyria1114884bc/tiglathpileserii/index.html] (966-935 BC), and father of Adad-nārārī II [/riao/thekingdomofassyria1114884bc/adadnarariii/index.html] (911-891 BC), was the ninety-eighth ruler of Ashur, who ruled, according to the Assyrian King List [/riao/kinglists/assyriankinglist/assyriankinglist/index.html#Ashurdan], for twenty-three years.
The historians identify this reign as the beginning of the Neo-Assyrian period. Aššur-dān II was in fact able to regain territory earlier occupied by the Arameans (see, Tiglath-pileser I [/riao/thekingdomofassyria1114884bc/tiglathpileseri/index.html]). A passage from his royal inscriptions (which include the first annalistic texts since the reign of Aššur-bēl-kala), dramatically describes the return of the fugitive Assyrians that now Aššur-dān II brings back to their lands, text no. 1: 60-67 [/riao/Q006013.69/].

I brought back the exhausted [people] of Assyria [who] had abandoned [their cities (and) houses in the face of] want, hunger, (and) famine (and) [had gone up] to other lands. [I settled] them in cities (and) houses [which were suitable] (and) they dwelt in peace. I constructed [palaces in] the (various) districts of my land. [I hitchedup] plows in the (various) districts of my land (and thereby) [piledup] more grain than ever before. I hitched up [numerous] teams ofhorses [... for the forces of] Assyria.

Aššur-dān led some major building works in Ashur, at the "New Palace" of Baltil (text no. 1), at the Craftman's Gate (nos. 3 and 5), and at the Aššur Temple (no. 4), whereas other building project were carried on at Kalzu (no. 6)

Baker, H. D. (1998). Aššur-dān. In H. D. Baker (Ed.), The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (Volume 1), p. 178-179, Helsinki.

Grayson, A. K., Königslisten und Chroniken. B. Akkadisch. In D. O. Edzard (Ed.), Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie (Band 6), pp. 86–135, Berlin, 1986

Grayson, A. K., Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC I (1114-859 BC), RIMA 2, University of Toronto, 1991, p. 131.

Browse the RIAo Corpus [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/pager/]

Nathan Morello

Nathan Morello, 'Aššur-dān II', The Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo) Project, The RIAo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/thekingdomofassyria1114884bc/ashurdanii/]