TIDHAR (tid-har'), (Heb. 717, tid-hawr')i? twice mentioned in Scripture (Is. xli:iq, and ix:t3), in both of which places it is enumerated along with the BEROSH and TEASHUR, or cypress and box tree, and is translated pine tree in the Authorized Ver sion.
But it has been variously interpreted, and even by the same translator in the two passages. Thus it is rendered elm in one passage, and box or pine in the other. Gesenius is of opinion that tid-hawr' signifies a durable tree, or one that yields durable wood. It is difficult, therefore, to select from among the trees of Lebanon that which is specially intended. (See Box TREE; CYPRESS.) J. F. R. TIGLATH - PILESER ( trg'lath-pi-le'zer ), in Chronicles (Assyrian Tukuai-afill-Eshara, my strength is the god Ni nib).
A king of Assyria, who reigned from 745 to 727 B. C. Tiglath-pileser is but another name for Pul, as appears from the fact that where Ptole my's list of Babylonian kings gives Poros, and the so-called dynastic tablets of the Babylonians give Pull', the Babylonian chronicle gives Tiglath pileser. Probably Pul was his original name, and when he secured the throne he assumed the grander title of Tiglath-pileser, which had al ready been made famous by a great king of the past, Tiglath-pileser I (about lino B. C.).
The recovery of the tablets and monumental inscriptions of Western Asia has done much in the way of throwing additional light upon the con quests of "Pul, or Tiglath-pileser III, King of Assyria" (2 Kings xv :19). This man was a mili tary adventurer who, after the fall of Assur nirari, seized the crown of Assyria and assumed the name of Tiglath-pileser III, or according to some authorities Tiglath-pileser (1) Early Life. According to Greek tradition he began life as a gardener but proved a formida ble force in the whole country and became the founder of the second Assyrian empire. The, first empire had been a somewhat loosely con structed military organization; campaigns were made into distant countries for the sake of plun der and tribute, but little effort had been made to retain the territory which had been conquered.
Almost as soon as the Assyrian armies were gone, the conquered nations shook off their yoke, and it was only in the regions bordering on Assyria that even garrisons were left by the Assyrian king. When (as often happened) the Assyrian throne was occupied by a weak or un warlike prince, even these were soon destroyed or driven homeward. Tiglath-pileser III, how ever, consolidated and organized the conquests he made ; turbulent populations were deported from their old homes, and the empire was divided into satrapies or provinces, each of which paid an nual tribute to the imperial exchequer. For the first time in history the principle of centralization was carried out on a large scale, and a bureau cracy began to take the place of the old feudal nobility of Assyria.
(2) The Second Empire. But the second As syrian Empire was not only an organized and bureaucratic one; it was also commercial. In car rying out his schemes of conquest Tiglath-pileser III was influenced by considerations of trade. His chief object was to divert the commerce of ‘Vestern Asia into Assyrian hands. For this pur pose every effort was made to unite Babylonia with Assyria, to overthrow the Hittites of Car chemish, who held the trade of Asia Minor, as well as the high road to the west, and to render Syria and the Phoenician cities tributary.
Babylonia was the first to feel the results of the change of dynasty at Nineveh. The northern part of it was annexed to Assyria, and secured by a chain of fortresses. Tiglath-pileser now attacked the Kurdish tribes, who were constantly harassing the eastern frontier of the kingdom, and chastised them severely, the Assyrian army forcing its way through the fastnesses of the Kurdish mountains into the very heart of Media.
But Ararat or Armenia was still a dangerous neighbor, and accordingly Tiglath-pileser's next campaign was against a confederacy of the na tions of the north headed by Sarduris of Van.