[9]: 227 The country regained from Nabû-šuma-iškun was one riven by internal divisions and conflicts with the immigrant tribes of Arameans and Chaldeans, where the central authority was greatly diminished.

In Nabû-nāṣir's third year, the Assyrian general Tukultī-apil-Ešarra, better known under the Hebraic rendition "Tiglath-Pileser III", came to power in the Neo-Assyrian Empire,[i 1]: 1–2  overthrowing the existing regime, and in the first of two campaigns to secure his southern and eastern frontiers invaded Babylonia.

[10]: 41 Whether or not he actually solicited military aid from the Assyrians, Nabû-nāṣir seems to have been the main beneficiary of these actions as his regime was stabilized and he was subsequently able to put down a revolt in Borsippa.

[i 1]: 6–8  His hold over Uruk remained tenuous, as two local dignitaries complained of the neglect of the Akītu temple in their inscription[i 7] commemorating their own restorations, usurping monarchic privilege.

[11] Twenty-three tablets[12] survive dealing with agricultural production, animal husbandry, weaving and sales from his first to his fourteenth year[5] and these seem to represent a recovery in economic activity.