Adad-nirari II, who succeeds his father, Ashur-dan II, in 911, is generally considered to be the first King of Assyria in the Neo-Assyrian period.

Because of the existence of full eponym lists from his reign down to the middle of the reign of Ashurbanipal in the seventh century BCE, year one of his reign in 911 BCE is perhaps the first event in ancient Near Eastern history which can be dated to an exact year, although the Assyrian King List is generally considered to be quite accurate for several centuries before Adad-nirari's reign, and scholars generally agree on a single set of dates back to Ashur-resh-ishi I in the late twelfth century BCE.