The destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile were a great catastrophe in the history of the Jewish Nation. What really happened during that dark, fateful age, and how did new opportunities arise from the ashes?
Fall of Assyria (B)
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Del curso dictado por Tel Aviv University
The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem
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De la lección
Introduction to geopolitics and geography of the Ancient Near East
Welcome to the first module of "The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem"! In this module you will be introduced to the geopolitical reality of the time of the Assyrian empire, followed by the Neo-Babylonian. We hope you'll find the videos informative and interesting. We encourage you to use the discussion forums in order to raise any questions or thoughts you might have after watching the videos.
Conoce a los instructores
Professor Oded Lipschits, Ph.D.Director, Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology
Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures
Coming back to what we know from the Babylonian chronicle.
In the month of Tisritum, Tishrei in Hebrew, October 616 BCE,
Egyptian and Assyrian forces headed down the Euphrates and
attacked the city of Gablinu, but after failing, they withdrew.
The Babylonian Chronicle contains no evidence
of the continued Egyptian presence in the region and
the next time that Egypt assisted Assyria was six years later.
It seemed that during this period Egypt made efforts
to continue to establish its reign over the regions
west of the Euphrates without sending forces beyond it.
The collapse of Assyria in the following years was rapid.
In the month of Adar of the tenth year of Nabopolassar's rule,
which was around March 615 BCE, the Babylonian forces
managed to press the Assyrian army at the Tigris.
Pushing them to beyond the province of Arrapha up to the lower Zab,
causing many casualties and taking much plunder.
At this stage, a real threat had already been leveled against the city of Assur.
And it is no wonder that, only two months after the first campaign In
the month of Ayarru of the eleventh year of Nebopolassar's rule.
Around May 615 BCE, he gathered his army and
set out against the ancient Assyrian capital.
Approximately one month later, during the month of Simanu, Sivan in Hebrew,
June 615 BCE, when it became clear that the city would be able to hold out.
And that the forces of Sin-shar-ishkun were due to arrive there,
the Babylonian army retreated down the Tigris toward the city of Tikrit.
The Assyrians pursued the retreating Babylonian army, and
for ten days laid siege to the city of Tikrit.
The Babylonian Chronicle contains victory for the besieged Babylonian force.
And it seemed that, after the failure of the Assyrians,
they reversed direction and returned home.
Approximately half a year later, in the early winter of 615 BCE,
the army of the Medes enter the Province of Arrapha.
However, the Babylonian Chronicle is fragmented at this point.
And the relationship between the presence of the Medes in the region and
the Babylonian presence there at the beginning of that same year is not clear.
In any event, it is reasonable to assume that
the Medes conquer the region as preparation for the campaign
of the Assyrian city of Nineveh in the summer of the following year.
In the month of Abu, Av in Hebrew, of the twelfth year of Nabopolassar's rule,
around July or August 614 BCE.
The Medes left Arrapha, attacked Kalhu which is the city of Nimrud, and Nineveh.
And continued rapidly further northward to capture the nearby city of Tarbisu.
Afterwards, they went back down the Tigris and laid siege to the city of Assur.
The Babylonian army came to the aid of the Medes only after the Medes
had begun to decisive offensive against the city.
Capturing it, killing many of its residents, and
taking many others as captives.
In my opinion, it is possible to assume that the intention of this
description in the Chronicles was to stress that the Babylonians had
no part in the cruel conquest of the city.
Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, and Umakistar, the king of the Medes
met in the ruins of the devastated city and signed an anti-Assyrian treaty.
Which was to deal the final death blow to Assyria within a few years.
Nevertheless, the Assyrians didn't concede defeat.
And theiir last attempt to rest Babylon
took place in the 13th year of Nabopolassar's reign.
In the region of Suhu, in the middle Euphrates,
which Babylon captured already in 616 BCE, a revolt
began in the month of Ayarru, May or June 613 BCE.
Nabopolassar hastened to suppress the revolt, capture the city of Rahilu,
and laid siege to the city of Anatu.
At the height of the siege, the Assyrian Army, headed by Sin-shar-ishkun,
drew near, which led to the retreat of the Babylonian army.
Probably because the Babylonian army was not prepared for
face-to-face combat against the Assyrians.
Such a battle was no longer required, because in the beginning of the 14th
year of his reign around spring 612 BCE,
Nabopolassar and his army headed toward the Tigris.
There he met Umakistar and his army and
together the two kings proceeded towards Nineveh.
They laid siege on the city in the month of Simanu,
June 612 BCE, continuing through the month of Abu,
August 612 BCE, when the walls of the Assyrian city were breached.
And it was conquered and brutally destroyed.
The Babylonian Chronicle contains references to the fate of Sin-shar-ishkun.
But this segment of the Chronicle is broken and unclear.
The battle ended on the 20th of Ululu, around September 14th or
15th in the year 612 B.C., when Umakistar returned to his country.
Nabopolassar sent his army to the northwest,
in order to get some more plunder and captives.
But meanwhile, the last Assyrian king,
Assur-uballit II, ascended the throne in Harran.
And although he surely demanded possession of all the territories of the kingdom,
at this stage, Assyria had in fact ceased to exist.
In the month of Dumuzu, Hebrew Tammuz, of the 15th year
of Nabopolassar's reign, around June July 611 BCE.
The king of Babylon and his army headed for the upper Euphrates and
the Balikh River, where he established his rule up to the border of Harran.
Thus, the Babylonians prepare the ground for a campaign against Harran.
And this campaign, joined by the Medes, was held in the early winter of 610
BCE after a five month period in which Nabopolassar spent
with his army in Assyria to ensure the stability of his rule there.
The Medes-Babylonian army threatened Assur-uballit II and
the Egyptian army that came to its assistance.
The Babylonians laid siege to Harran and during the winter of 610 BCE,
in the beginning of 609, the last Assyrian center capitulated.
In the months of Adarru, around March 609 BC,
Nabopolassar was able to return to Babylon leaving a garrison in Harran and
in other cities along the Balikh and the Euphrates.
The Egyptian presence in Harran that year is worthy of some attention.
Because after Assur-uballit II established there his alternative capital,
Egypt found it easier to help him to confront,
the attacks of Medes-Babylonian army.
Furthermore, Assyria's end already seems real and concrete.
So that if Egypt wished to avoid direct engagement with the forces rising
from the East, it had to try to provide Assyria with necessary assistance.
At the same time, it seemed that the main reason for the Egyptian presence across
the Euphrates on the banks of the Balikh was to rise to power of Necho II.
After the death of his father, Psammetichus I,
in late July or August of 610 BCE.
The conclusion is that, only several months after taking the throne,
Necho II initiated a campaign to aid Assyria.
Evidence of the cardinal importance he assigned to the last remaining chance
to preserve the power base east of the Euphrates.
This may also help explain the battle that took place only three months
after the establishment of Babylonian rule in Harran around March 609 BCE.
According to the account of the Babylonian Chronicle, Assur-uballit,
supported by a large Egyptian army, attacked Harran in the month of Tammuz
of the 16th year of Nabopolassar's rule around June, July 609 BCE.
This was a desperate attempt by the Assyrian king and
his Egyptians allies to retake a foothold on the banks of the Balikh,
during which he laid siege to the Babylonian garrison stationed in the city.
The siege lasted two months until the month of Ululu, August or
September 609 BCE.
And the Assyrian-Egyptian Army retreated when Nabopolassar's
army came to rescue the city or perhaps even earlier.
This is the last time that Assyria is mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicles.
And the former empire disappears from the stage of history.
After Assyria's disappearance,
direct contact was created between Babylon and Egypt.
And an era began during which the two empires struggles for
control of the entire Fertile Crescent.
Before reconstructing the main events of this period and
considering the consequences and significance of the struggle.
It is important to understand the two powers.
The Egyptian empire during the 26th Dynasty and the Babylonian empire of
the new Babylonian period, the age of the Chaldean dynasty.
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