The timeline of ancient Assyria can be broken down into three main eras: the Old Assyrian period, Middle Assyrian Empire, and Neo-Assyrian Empire. Modern scholars typically also recognize an Early period preceding the Old Assyrian period and a post-imperial period succeeding the Neo-Assyrian period.
Old Assyrian period, 2025–1364 BC Puzur-Ashur I (c. 2025 BC) is thought to have been the first independent ruler of Assur following the city's independence from the collapsing Third Dynasty of Ur, founding a royal dynasty which was to survive for eight generations (or 216 years) until Erishum II was overthrown by Shamshi-Adad I. Puzur-Ashur I's descendants left inscriptions mentioning him regarding the building of temples to gods such as Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in Assyria. The length of Puzur-Ashur I's reign is unknown. Hildegard Levy, writing in the Cambridge Ancient History, sees Puzur-Ashur I as part of a longer dynasty started by Sulili, suspected by other scholars to perhaps have been a legendary figure. Inscriptions link Puzur-Ashur I to his immediate successors, who, according to the Assyrian King List, are related to the following kings down to Erishum II.
Shalim-ahum, son and successor of Puzur-Ashur I, is the earliest independent ruler to be attested in a contemporary inscription. Carved in curious archaic character mirror-writing in old Assyrian on an alabaster block found during the German excavations at Assur under Walter Andrae, this sole exemplar of his contemporary inscriptions records that the god Ashur “requested of him” the construction of a temple and that he had “beer vats and storage area” built in the “temple area.” He ruled during a period when nascent Assyrian merchant colonies were expanding into Anatolia to trade textiles and tin from Assur for silver, Shalim-ahum and his successors bore the title išši’ak aššur, vice regent of Assur, as well as ensí.
Ilu-shuma, inscribed DINGIR-šum-maKhorsabad copy of the Assyrian King List i 24, 26. (c. 2008 BC – c. 1975 BC), son and successor of Shalim-ahum, and is known from his inscription (extant in several copies) where he claims to have "washed the copper" and "established liberty" for the Akkadians in the Sumerian city-states Ur, Nippur, and Der. This has been taken by some scholars to imply that he made military campaigns into Southern Mesopotamia to relieve his fellow Mesopotamians from Amorite and Elamite invasions. His construction activities included building the old temple of Ishtar, a city wall, subdivision of the city into house plots and diversion of the flow of two springs to the city gates, “Aushum” and “Wertum”.
Erishum I (c. 1974 BC – c. 1935 BC), son and successor of Ilu-shuma, vigorously expanded Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor during his long reign. It was during his reign that karums were established along trade routes into Anatolia in the cities of Kanesh, Amkuwa, Hattusa, and eighteen other locations yet to be identified, some designated warbatums, satellites of and subordinate to the karums. The colonies traded tin, textiles, lapis lazuli, iron, antimony, copper, bronze, wool, and grain.
Ikunum (c. 1934 BC – c. 1921 BC), son and successor of Ilu-shuma, built a major temple for the god Ningal. He further strengthened the fortifications of the city of Assur and maintained Assyria's colonies in Asia Minor.
Sargon I or Šarru-kīn I (c. 1920 BC – c. 1881 BC), son and successor of Ikunum, reigned as king of the Old Assyrian Empire for an unusually long 39 years. Sargon I might have been named after his predecessor Sargon of Akkad. The name “Sargon” means “the king is legitimate” in Akkadian. Sargon I is known for his work refortifying Assur. Very little is known about this king.
Puzur-Ashur II (c. 1881 BC – c. 1873 BC), son and successor of Sargon I, was king of the Old Assyrian Empire for eight years. Due to his father's long reign he came to the throne at a late age since one of his sons, named Ili-bani, was a witness in a contract (and so already a grown man) eleven years before Puzur-Ashur II became ruler.
Naram-Sin or Narām–Suen, (c. 1872 BC – c. 1818 BC), son and successor of Puzur-Ashur II, was named for the illustrious Naram-Sin of Akkad and, like his grandfather, Sargon I, took the divine determinative in his name. Assyria was wealthy as the hub of the trading network at the height of the Old Assyrian Empire's activity. Naram-Sin came under attack from Shamshi-Adad, in an attempt to usurp the Assyrian throne, however the would be usurper was defeated, and The Assyrian King List records that Shamshi-Adad I, “went away to Babylonia in the time of Narām-Sîn.” Shamshi-Adad I was not to return until taking the Assyrian city of Ekallatum, pausing three years and then overthrowing Erishum II (c. 1817 BC – c. 1809 BC), son and successor of Naram-Sin.
Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1808 BC – c. 1776 BC), conquered Assur, took over the long-abandoned town of Shekhna in north-eastern Syria,Leilan.yale.edu, Harvey Weiss et al., The genesis and collapse of Third Millennium north Mesopotamian Civilization, Science, vol. 291, pp. 995–1088, 1993 converted it into the capital city of his Upper Mesopotamian Empire and renamed it Shubat-Enlil. Shamshi-Adad I placed his sons in key geographical locations and gave them responsibility to look over those areas. While he remained in Šubat-Enlil, his eldest son, Ishme-Dagan I was put on the throne of Ekallatum.
A main target for expansion was the city Mari, which controlled the caravan route between Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The king of Mari, Iakhdunlim, was assassinated by his own servants, possibly on Shamshi-Adad I's orders. Shamshi-Adad I seized the opportunity and occupied Mari c. 1741 BC. Shamshi-Adad I put his second son, Yasmah-Adad on the throne in Mari, and then returned to Shubat-Enlil. With the annexation of Mari, Shamshi-Adad was in control of a large empire,Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamshi-Adad I by his son can be found in the Mari Letters section of controlling central Mesopotamia, the north eastern Levant and swathes of eastern Asia Minor.
While Ishme-Dagan I probably was a competent ruler, his brother Yasmah-Adad appears to have been a man of weak character; something the disappointed father was not above mentioning. Shamshi-Adad I clearly kept a firm control on the actions of his sons, as shown in his many letters to them. At one point he arranged a political marriage between Yasmah-Adad to Beltum, the princess of his ally in Qatna. Yasmah-Adad already had a leading wife and put Beltum in a secondary position of power. Shamshi-Adad I did not approve and forced his son to keep Beltum in the palace in a leading position.
Dadusha, a king of the neighbouring state Eshnunna, made an alliance with Shamshi-Adad I in order to conquer the area between the two Zab rivers c. 1727 BC. This military campaign of joint forces was commemorated on a victory stele which states that Dadusha gives the lands to Shmshi-Adad I. Shamshi-Adad I later turned against Dadusha by attacking cities including Shaduppum and Nerebtum.
Ishme-Dagan I (c. 1775 BC – c. 1750 BC), son and successor of Shamshi-Adad I, main challenge was in keeping his enemies in check; to his east were the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, inhabited by warlike pastoral peoples such as the Turukku, Kassites and Lullubi, and to the south was the fellow Mesopotamian kingdom of Eshnunna. Although politically astute and a capable soldier, Ishme-Dagan I became embroiled in a struggle for dominance of the Near East with Hammurabi, an Amorite who had turned the hitherto minor town of Babylon into a major city-state and begun a war of conquest, creating the Babylonian Empire. It was from this period that the southern half of Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.
Mut-Ashkur (c. 1749 BC – c. 1740 BC), son and successor of Ishme-Dagan I, was arranged by his father to marry the daughter of the Hurrian king Zaziya.Who's who in the ancient Near East By Gwendolyn Leick Hammurabi of the newly created Amorite state of Babylon (c. 1696 BC — c. 1654 BC), after first conquering Mari, Larsa, Eshnunna and defeating Elam, eventually prevailed over Mut-Ashkur. With Hammurabi, the various kārum colonies in Anatolia ceased trade activity–probably because the goods of Assyria were now being traded with the Babylonians. The Assyrian monarchy survived; however, the three Amorite kings succeeding Ishme-Dagan I (including Mut-Ashkur) were largely vassals and dependent on the Babylonians during the reign of Hammurabi.
Rimush, inscribed mri-mu-u[š] on the only variant king list on which he appears,Assyrian Kinglist fragment VAT 9812 = KAV 14: 5. (c. 1739 BC – c. 1733 BC), a successor to and probably a descendant of Išme-Dagān I, would appear to be named for the second king of the Akkadian Empire Rimush of Akkad (c. 2214 BC – c. 2206 BC). This perhaps reflects the extent to which Shamshi-Adad and his successors identified with the prestigious Dynasty of Akkad, although the earlier Rimush was apparently assassinated by his own courtiers, “with their seals”, according to a liver-omen of the monumental Bārûtu series, a somewhat ignominious end. The events resulting in the demise of the dynasty are witnessed in only one inscription, that of Puzur-Sin, who boasted of overthrowing the son of Asinum, descendant of Shamshi-Adad I, whose name has not been preserved. This may have been Rimush, or if Asinum followed him, perhaps his grandson. The result was apparently turmoil as a rapid succession of seven usurpers took power, each reigning briefly before being overthrown.
Asinum (c. 1732 BC), possibly successor or descendant to either Rimush or Mut-Ashkur, was an Amorite king driven out by the Assyrian vice-regent Puzur-Sin; not included in the standard King List; however, attested in Puzur-Sin's inscription. Asinum is believed to have been a descendant of Shamshi-Adad, who had founded the brief, foreign Amorite dynasty apparently greatly resented by the native Assyrians judging by an alabaster slab inscription left by Puzur-Sin. Puzur-Sin is believed to have been an otherwise unattested Assyrian monarch. Puzur-Sin deposed Asinum to allow for the Assyrian king Ashur-dugul to seize the throne. A period of civil war followed this event which ended Babylonian and Amorite influence in Assyria c. 1665 BC.
Ashur-dugul, inscribed maš-šur-du-gul, “Look to (the god) Ashur!”, (c. 1731 BC – c. 1725 BC), apparently, “son of a nobody”, seized the throne from the three unpopular Amorite vassals. The Assyrian King List says of Ashur-dugul that he was a “son of a nobody, without right to the throne” meaning that he was not of royal descent and consequently unqualified to govern according to the patrilineal principle of legitimacy relied upon by later monarchs. During Ashur-dugul's reign six other kings, “sons of nobodies also ruled at the time”. This may suggest a fragmentation in the small Assyrian kingdom, with rival claims to the throne. Ashur-dugul was unable to retain control for long, and was soon deposed by a rival claimant, Ashur-apla-idi, who was in turn followed by Nasir-Sin, Sin-namir, Ipqi-Ishtar and Adad-salulu.
The short-lived Babylonian Empire quickly began to unravel upon the death of Hammurabi, and Babylonia quickly lost control over Assyria during the reign of Hammurabi's successor Samsu-iluna (1750–1712 BC). A period of civil war ensued after Asinum (a grandson of Shamshi-Adad I and the last Amorite ruler of Assyria) was deposed in approximately 1732 BC by a powerful native Assyrian vice regent named Puzur-Sin, who regarded Asinum as both a foreigner and a former lackey of Babylon, after which Ashur-dugul seized the throne.
After a period of civil war lasting six years, a king named Adasi (1720-1701 BC) came to the fore in 1720 BC and stabilised Assyria, inflicting further defeats on the Babylonians and their Amorite rulers, as did his successor Bel-bani (1700-1691 BC).