Shamshi-ilu was an influential court dignitary and commander in chief (turtanu) of the Assyria

Assyria

Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...

n army who rose in high prominence

Origins

Shamshi-ilu was probably not born in Assyria though he was from noble linage of the Bit-Adini tribe and was more than likely educated at the Assyrian court. Later, he rose in the ranks of the Assyrian army to become the commander in chief (turtanu) who had a high degree of influence over the kings of Assyria who lived in his time. He was probably made governor when Shalmaneser III

Shalmaneser III

Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II....

 annexed the territories of the Bit-Adini.

Turtanu

Rising in high order through the ranks thanks to his teachings in the Assyrian ways Shamshi- ilu rose to the highest position in the army under the Kings Adad-Nirari III

Adad-nirari III

Adad-nirari III was King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. He was the son and successor of Shamshi-Adad V, and was apparently quite young at the time of his accession, because for the first five years of his reign his mother Shammuramat acted as regent, which may have given rise to the legend of...

 and Shalmaneser IV

Shalmaneser IV

Shalmaneser IV was king of Assyria . He succeeded his father Adad-nirari III, and was succeeded by his brother Ashur-dan III. Very little information about his reign has survived....

 although he quite posibily could have been around much later possibly coming into contact with Pulu Tiglath-pileser III

Tiglath-Pileser III

Tiglath-Pileser III was a prominent king of Assyria in the eighth century BC and is widely regarded as the founder of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Tiglath-Pileser III seized the Assyrian throne during a civil war and killed the royal family...

 at some point. He may possibly have taken part in the rebellion that saw Tiglath-pileser III take the throne from Ashur-nirari V

Ashur-nirari V

Ashur-nirari V was King of Assyria from 755 to 745 BC. He was succeeded by Tiglath-Pileser III.Ashur-nirari V was a son of Adad-nirari III, and succeeded his brother, Ashur-dan III. He inherited a difficult situation from his predecessor...

 although he may have been dead at this point

Campaigns

Shamshi- ilu's most famous and well documented campaign was against the Urartu

Urartu

Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....

 king Argishti I, his name appeared on many public monuments such as the colossal stone lion which accounts for his victories on this campaign. He is also known to have transferred land and border agreements with the Syro-Hittite

Syro-Hittite states

The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite, were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician-speaking political entities of the Iron Age northern Syria and southern Anatolia that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and lasted until roughly 700 BC...

s which is recorded on a stone stelae. He quite possibly could have been the prime leader in the Damascus campaign in 796