Around 1200 BCE, changes began to occur in the Afro-Eurasian world that can be attributed to both technological innovation and the coming of invaders, commonly called the Sea People. In Assyria, the rule of the Middle Assyrian Empire, which rose out of the ashes of the Mitanni Empire, continued throughout the twelfth century. The period after 1050 BCE is often called the Dark Ages in Near Eastern history, mainly because the dearth of records leaves the period rather dark for historians. Urartu was a largely highland kingdom that controlled the mountain passes and trade routes on the eastern Taurus region. In the late eighth century, however, a series of conqueror-builder kings took Assyria to the height of its power and ushered in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar II was the longest ruling and strongest of Chaldean rulers of Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar's reign, in short, constitutes the brief glorious period of the already brief Neo-Babylonian Empire.