164 Peter Dubovsk´ y — from its most important supporter — Urartu. Once this was achieved, in the following campaigns Tiglath-pileser III laid siege on Arpad and after three years conquered it (740 B.C.). This strategy became one of the favorite military tactics of Tiglath- pileser III’s successors as well. Sargon II in his campaign in 710-707 B.C. against Merodach-Baladan II and his Elamite ally, first drove a wedge between Elam and Babylonia by leading his army along the eastern bank of the Tigris. Once the members of the coalition were separated from each other, Merodach-baladan II left Babylon and the city fell into Sargon II’s hands shortly after (35). 4. Results of the campaigns The instability of the political scene in the ancient Near East was one of the characteristics of that period. Thus, to conquer states of the Levant and then to leave it on its own would mean losing in short time what was gained during sophisticated and costly military intervention. The account of the results of the campaigns and the reorganization of the region can illustrate another aspect of Tiglath-pileser III’s genius. a) Human losses According to Table 1. Aram and Israel seem to suffer the most serious repercussions of the rebellion. Summ. 4:16’ mentions that Tiglath-pileser III deported from Israel “all his (Pekah’s) people”. As for Aram, Tiglath-pileser III deported 800 people from the home of Rezin ([URUx]-ha-a-da-ra), 750 captives from South-syrian cities Kurus≥s≥a and Sama, and 550 from Meturna (Ann 23:13’-5’). Moreover, Tiglath-pileser III destroyed 591 cities of 16 districts of Damascus (Ann 23:16’-7’). Ann 18 and 24 mention a total of 13,520 deportees(36); however, their fragmentary status does not allow specifying where the deportees came from. These numbers do not include the captured soldiers mentioned in Ann 23:6’-7’. Biblical sources mention the deportation from Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and the land of Naphtali (2 Kgs 15,29). The Chroni- cler ’s account mentions the deportation of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (1 Chr 5,26) and the deportation of Beerah, the chieftain of the Reubenites (1 Chr 5,6). (35) H.W.F. SAGGS, The Might That Was Assyria (Great Civilizations Series; London 1984) 96. (36) NA’AMAN, “Tiglath-Pileser III”, 273.