The Assyrian expansion into Syria continues under…
1233 BCE to 1222 BCE
The Assyrian expansion into Syria continues under the command of king Tukulti-Ninurta I and precipitates a crisis between Hatti which controls the Nairi lands which Assyria coveted.
The Hittites consider the Assyrian advance to be a clear attack on the frontiers of their empire and go into battle under their king, Tudhaliya IV, Hattusili's son and successor.
Tukulti-Ninurta wins a major victory against the Hittites at the Battle of Nihriya, the culminating point of the hostilities between Hittites and Assyrians for control over the remnants of the former empire of Mitanni.
The conflict between both great powers took place in the neighborhood of Nihriya in the Tigris region, with the Assyrians gaining a decisive victory that allows Assyria to annex the local Nairi region into their Empire and oust 40 native rulers who had resisted their advance into this territory.
The exact date of the conflict is not certain; it perhaps occurs around 1230.
Although Assyrian sources state that, after the battle, they captured 28,800 Hittite prisoners (although this may be an exaggeration), there are no significant consequences for Hittites in the long term, since Assyria henceforth turns its attention to the conquest of Babylonia, a project in which it will invest too many resources to permit expanding its western border.