This chapter talks about the Assyrian military power during the period by focusing on the campaigns of Adad-nīrāri I, the conquest of Khanigalbat, and the conquest of Babylonia. The reign of Adad-nīrāri I inaugurated a period of rapid expansion. His leadership and that of his immediate successors, Shalmaneser I and Tukulti-Ninurta I, saw Assyria extend its territories and eventually emerged as one of the most powerful states of the Near East. In Khanigalbat, Shalmaneser I was opposed not only by its ruler, Shattuara II, but by a Hittite army which, since it included a contingent of the Akhlamu tribe of the Syrian desert. For much of his first decade his energies were directed to establishing a firmer control over the lands to the east and north than had been achieved by his predecessors. Tukulti-Ninurta I demolished its fortifications, put the inhabitants to the sword, looted Babylon and the temple E-sagila and carried off the statue of Marduk to Assyria.