Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire
Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire | |||||||
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Map of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 824 BC (dark green) and in its apex in 671 BC (light green), under King Esarhaddon | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Medes Babylonians |
Egypt | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Cyaxares Nabopolassar |
Sinsharishkun † Ashur-uballit II †(?) Necho II | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
10,000 | 40,000 |
The Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire was the last war fought by the
Background
In the first half of the seventh century, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was at the height of its power, controlling the entire
Course of the war
Rise of Babylon
Sinsharishkun's rule of Babylon did not last long, as almost immediately in the wake of him coming to the throne, the general
In 625–623 BC, Sinsharishkun's forces again attempted to defeat Nabopolassar, campaigning in northern Babylonia. The Assyrian campaigns were initially successful, seizing the city of Sippar in 625 BC and repelling Nabopolassar's attempt to reconquer Nippur. Another Assyrian vassal, Elam, also stopped paying tribute to Assyria during this time and several Babylonian cities, such as Der, revolted and joined Nabopolassar. Realizing the threat this posed, Sinsharishkun led a massive counterattack himself which saw the successful recapture of Uruk in 623 BC.[13] Sinsharishkun could possibly have ultimately been victorious but another revolt, led by an Assyrian general, occurred in the empire's western provinces in 622 BC.[13] This general, whose name remains unknown, took advantage of the absence of Sinsharishkun's forces to march on Nineveh, met an army which surrendered without fighting and successfully seized the Assyrian throne. The surrender of the army indicates that the usurper was an Assyrian and possibly even a member of the royal family, or at least a person that would be acceptable as king.[14] Sinsharishkun then abandoned his Babylonian campaign to defeat the usurper, accomplishing the task after roughly a hundred days of civil war; however the absence of the Assyrian army saw the Babylonians conquer the last remaining Assyrian outposts in Babylonia in 622–620 BC.[13] The Babylonian siege of Uruk had begun by October 622 BC, and though control of the ancient city would shift between Assyria and Babylon, it was firmly under Babylonian rule by 620 BC,[15] and Nabopolassar consolidated his rule over the entirety of Babylonia.[16] During the next several years, the Babylonians scored several other victories against the Assyrians and by 616 BC, Nabopolassar's forces had reached as far as the Balikh River. Pharaoh Psamtik I, Assyria's ally, marched his forces to help Sinsharishkun. The Egyptian Pharaoh had over the last few years campaigned in order to establish dominance over the small city-states of the Levant, and it was in his interests that Assyria survived as a buffer state between his own empire and those of the Babylonians and Medes in the east.[16] A joint Egyptian-Assyrian campaign to capture the city of Gablinu was undertaken in October of 616 BC, but ended in defeat, after which the Egyptian allies kept to the west of the Euphrates, only offering limited support.[17] In 616 BC, the Babylonians defeated the Assyrian forces at Arrapha and pushed them back to the Little Zab.[18] Nabopolassar failed to seize Assur, the ceremonial and religious center of Assyria, in May of the next year, forcing him to retreat to Takrit, but the Assyrians were unable to capture Takrit and end his rebellion.[17]
Medes' intervention
In October or November 615 BC, the Medes under King Cyaxares invaded Assyria and conquered the region around the city of Arrapha in preparation for a great final campaign against the Assyrians.[17] That same year, they defeated Sinsharishkun at the Battle of Tarbisu, and in 614 BC, they conquered Assur, plundering the city and killing many of its inhabitants.[1][18][19][20] Nabopolassar only arrived at Assur after the plunder had already begun and met with Cyaxares, allying with him, signing an anti-Assyrian pact and Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar married a Median princess. Shortly after, Sinsharishkun made his last attempt at a counterattack, rushing to rescue the besieged city of Rahilu, but Nabopolassar's army had retreated before a battle could take place.[21] In 612 BC, the Medes and Babylonians joined their forces to besiege Nineveh, taking the city after a lengthy and brutal siege, with the Medes playing a major part in the city's downfall.[21][22][23][24] Although Sinsharishkun's fate is not entirely certain, it is commonly accepted that he died in the defense of Nineveh.[25][26]
After the
After the Babylonians had ruled Harran for three months, Ashur-uballit, along with a large force of Egyptian soldiers attempted to retake the city, launching a siege in June or July of 609 BC.[31][34] His siege lasted at most two months, until August or September, before being forced to retreat by Nabopolassar; they may have retreated even earlier.[34]
Aftermath
The eventual fate of Ashur-uballit is unknown and his siege of Harran in 609 BC is the last time he, or the Assyrians in general, are mentioned in Babylonian records.[31][34] After the battle at Harran, Nabopolassar resumed his campaign against the remainder of the Assyrian army in the beginning of the year 608 or 607 BC. It is thought that Ashur-uballit was still alive at this point, for in 608 BC, the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, Psamtik I's successor, personally led a large Egyptian army into former Assyrian territory to rescue his ally and turn the tide of the war. There is no mention of a large battle between the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Medes in 608 BC, which would have been mentioned in contemporary sources as it marked conflict of the four greatest military powers of their day, and there are no later mentions of Ashur-uballit, it is possible he died at some point during 608 BC, before such a battle could occur.[31] The historian M.B. Rowton speculates Ashur-uballit could have lived until 606 BC,[31] however, by this time, references to the Egyptian army in Babylonian sources bear no reference to the Assyrians or their king.[27]
Although Ashur-uballit is no longer mentioned after 609 BC, the Egyptian campaigns in the Levant continued for some time until a crushing defeat at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. Throughout the next century, Egypt and Babylon, brought into direct contact with each other through Assyria's fall, would frequently be at war with each other over control in the Fertile Crescent.[34][35]
Notes
References
- ^ a b Liverani 2013, p. 539.
- ^ a b Frahm 2017, p. 192.
- ^ Curtis 2009, p. 37.
- ^ a b Ahmed 2018, p. 121.
- ^ a b Na’aman 1991, p. 255.
- ^ Ahmed 2018, p. 129.
- ^ Ahmed 2018, p. 126.
- ^ a b c d Lipschits 2005, p. 13.
- ^ a b c Na’aman 1991, p. 256.
- ^ Mary Caperton Morton (15 January 2020). "Megadrought Helped Topple the Assyrian Empire". Eos. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
- ^ Beaulieu 1997, p. 386.
- ^ Lipschits 2005, p. 14.
- ^ a b c Lipschits 2005, p. 15.
- ^ Na’aman 1991, p. 263.
- ^ Boardman 1992, p. 62.
- ^ a b Lipschits 2005, p. 16.
- ^ a b c Lipschits 2005, p. 17.
- ^ a b Boardman 2008, p. 179.
- ^ Bradford 2001, p. 48.
- ^ Potts 2012, p. 854.
- ^ a b Lipschits 2005, p. 18.
- ^ Frahm 2017, p. 194.
- ^ Dandamayev & Grantovskiĭ 1987, pp. 806–815.
- ^ Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006.
- ^ Yildirim 2017, p. 52.
- ^ Radner 2019, p. 135.
- ^ a b Reade 1998, p. 260.
- ^ Radner 2019, pp. 135–136.
- ^ a b Radner 2019, pp. 140–141.
- ^ a b Lipschits 2005, p. 19.
- ^ a b c d e Rowton 1951, p. 128.
- ^ Bertman 2005, p. 19.
- ^ Radner 2019, p. 141.
- ^ a b c d Lipschits 2005, p. 20.
- ^ Edwards 1970, p. 14.
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