[10][16][12][17][18] The most important neighbour of Tabal in the 8th century BCE was the kingdom of Tuwana, which was located immediately to the north of the entrance to the Taurus mountains.

[23][24] During this campaign, Shalmaneser III crossed the Anti-Taurus Mountains, invaded the lands of the Tabalian king Tuwattīs I and destroyed the settlements in his kingdom, forcing the latter to flee to his capital of Artulu.

[45] One sub-kingdom within the territory of Tabal was ruled by a man named Ruwas who styled himself as the "servant of Tuwattīs" on several stelae erected in the Tabalian capital.

[55] The identity of Ḫulliyas is still uncertain: although Neo-Assyrian sources referred to him as a commoner,[63][61][40][10] he might have instead been the same individual as Ḫulis the nephew of Ruwas, the vassal of Tuwattīs II, who had erected a stele in his uncle's honour in the Tabalian capital of Artulu,[44] or alternatively he could have been of northern Syrian origin.

[55] This restoration of Ḫulliyas on the throne of Tabal might itself have been linked to the power struggle within the Neo-Assyrian Empire which led to Sargon II seizing power from Shalmaneser V.[7] It is possible that the tradition of Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions in the kingdom of Tabal might have ended with the appointment of Ḫulliyas, whose deportation to Assyria before his restoration as well as the re-education of his son at the Neo-Assyrian court might have distanced him from the Syro-Hittite cultural traditions.

Additionally, Sargon II desperately tried to ensure the loyalty of Ambaris and augment his position above those of the other Tabalian kings by marrying him to his own daughter, Aḫat-abiša, and gave them Ḫilakku as dowry.

[69] Sargon II's conferring of authority over Ḫilakku to him appears to have instead been due to the unavailabiliy of any other land that he could offer Ambaris after he had given the northwestern part of Wasusarmas's kingdom, corresponding to the region of present-day Suvasa, Topada and Göstesin, to Kurdis of Atuna when he had handed over the territory of Šinuḫtu to him in 718 BC after he had repressed the rebellion of its king Kiyakiyas.

[76][66] Sargon II himself claimed to have "widened the land" which he had given to Ambaris, and this new enlarged and reorganised kingdom of Tabal was given the new name of Bīt-Burutaš:[10][71][19] this reorganisation was part of Sargon II's attempt to establish a centralised authority in the region of Tabal in the form of a single united kingdom incorporating most of the region under a ruler whom he could trust so as to more efficiently impose Neo-Assyrian authority there and better contain the threat posed by the Phrygian king Midas to Neo-Assyrian power in Anatolia.

[69] However, likely beginning in 714 BC, Ambaris came under pressure from Midas, who attempted to persuade him to renounce Neo-Assyrian allegiance and join him, initially through diplomatic means and later through military threats.

[70] Ambaris himself came under pressure from Midas, who attempted to persuade him to renounce Neo-Assyrian allegiance and join him, initially through diplomatic means and later through military threats.

[77] Because Phrygia directly bordered Bīt-Burutaš in the south-east, and Ambaris was not capable of efficiently defending his new kingdom against the Phrygian armies who were able to rapidly march to his cities, he therefore found himself forced to make the difficult decision of remaining loyal to Sargon II and lose his kingdom and throne to Phrygia and Urartu, or allying with these latter rivals of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and face a military response by Sargon II.

[78] Facing increased pressure from both of these powers, Ambaris communicated with them seeking guarantees that they would protect him should he break his ties with the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

[72][77][79][80] [[Category:States and territories established in the 8th century BC|𒆳𒂍𒁹𒁍𒊒𒋫𒀾 (Bīt-Burutaš]] [[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 8th century BC|𒆳𒂍𒁹𒁍𒊒𒋫𒀾 (Bīt-Burutaš]] Neo-Assyrian intelligence however intercepted Ambaris's messages to Phrygia and Urartu,[77] causing him to lose favour with Sargon II, who accused him of conspiring with Phrygia and Urartu, and consequently deported Ambaris, his family and his chief courtiers to Assyria in 713 BCE.

[87] The annexation of Bīt-Burutaš and the deportation of Ambaris was impactful enough that it was able to convince the king Kurdis of Atuna, who had abandoned his allegiance to the Neo-Assyrian Empire and become a vassal of Midas, to submit to Sargon II again.

[97][98] And after Sargon II's son and successor, Sennacherib, had attacked Gurdî at Til-Garimmu but failed to capture him, the Neo-Assyrian Empire instead became limited to protecting its newly reduced borders running from Que to Melid to Ḫarran.

[68][99][17] Some Georgian linguists see a connection between the Kartvelian languages and the land of Tabal, citing the name of the Tibarēnoi mentioned living on the Black Sea shores of Anatolia in the 5th century BCE by Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Xenophon.