Mesopotamia

History of Mesopotamia

History starts in Mesopotamia

          First civilizations appeared in the Middle East, in lands sometimes referred to as the Fertile Crescent (Map 1). Mesopotamia is a Greek word with a meaning ''the land between two rivers'' (the Tigris and the Euphrates). Fertile river valleys were suitable for farming which required permanent settlement. Farming appeared in around 7000 BC and first city-states by 4500 BC. It is said that history started here with the emergence of the first written word. Although no one knows exactly when the first written texts appeared, the archaeological founds states that in XXXV century BC script symbols were founded in Sumerian cities and written history then began.

  

Fig 1.  A vase from the Ubaid period

            First civilized force in the Mesopotamia was so-called Proto-Euphrateans (Ubaidians) who adopted a wheel and used copper tools although there is no written data from this period. They lived in towns near the two rivers and irrigated their farms. These settlements will, in time become Sumerian cities. Animal husbandry and pottery were also present (Fig 1). It may be that Sumerians originated from these people who occupied a period of 6th and 5th millennia BC.
              Ubaid period was followed by Uruk period (4000 - 3100 BC) and this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia. In the late Uruk period, the cuneiform script appeared (34th to 32nd  century BC). During this period Uruk became the most urbanized town in the world, from 5000 inhabitants at the beginning to surpassing 40 000 by the end of the 4th millennium BC.

Map 1. Fertile crestcent

Sumer - the cradle of civilization (ca. 3100 - 2334 BC)

            Sumerians were, as far as we know, the first known people which had ever appeared. In about 4000 BC they settled in southern parts of Mesopotamia which we now call Sumer. Although we don't know their origin, we know that they are probably non-Semitic people because of their language which can't be classified in any language family (language isolate). In time, they have replaced Ubaidian populace and created first city-states. Sumerians had also improved irrigation systems and roads, using donkeys for transporting goods. Trade extended, both by land and by the sea - they had build ships for marine commerce and imported goods to greater distances.

Fig 2. Cuneiform script on clay tablet

Fig 3. Bronze cylinder seal and its mark on a clay tablet  

            Jemdet Nasr period is the first one which should be mentioned (3100 - 2900 BC) named after the type-site Jemdet Nasr. It was first distinguished on the basis of distinctively painted monochrome and polychrome pottery with geometric and figurative designs. Script had already been invented (Fig 2) although it is very difficult to trace the precise time when it appeared. This was a cuneiform script - created in clay tablets with wooden sticks. Symbols were actually representations of pictures - pictographs (logographic script). In time, symbols which had represented actual terms were gradually replaced by strict signs with phonetic elements - the script was being gradually simplified. In Jemdet Nasr we can find the first documents which are unequivocally written in Sumerian. Apart from script, one great contribution of Sumerian people is a cylinder seal (Fig 3). Perhaps most important Sumerians had one as a personal sign and for marking their property.

  

Fig 4. Gilgamesh

            First dynasties marked an early dynastic period which started in around 2900 BC. Throughout the millennium, the various city-states: Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Lagash vied for power and gained hegemony at various times. Nippur and Girsu were important religious centers, as was Eridu at this point. There is a list of Sumerian kings and among them, we can find legendary figures such as Gilgamesh (Fig 4) and Enmerkar. First is well known as a king (lugal) of Uruk in a probably the first epic of world literature and the second one appears in several legends of the time and is considered as a builder of Uruk city-state. Apart from Uruk, various dynasties had appeared in Ur, Kish, Lagash etc. The early dynastic period is divided into three parts.
           Early Dynastic I (ca. 2900 - 2700 BC). The Sumerian King List names eight antediluvian kings who reigned for tens of thousands of years, but it is not known if these names have any historical basis. According to the Sumerian king list, Kish was the first city, in which the kingship descended from heaven after the deluge (1st dynasty of Kish). Rulers of this city had control over important trade routes making this city the most powerful in Sumer. The royal tombs of Ur contain the graves of Meskalamdug and Akalamdug, among others, which probably date to this period.
            Early Dynastic II (ca. 2700 - 2600 BC).  Enmebaragesi of  Kish became dominant ruler of Sumer (ca. 2700-2600 BC) and he is the earliest ruler in the king list whose name is attested directly from archaeological finds. He was victorious over the country of Elam and had built a temple to Enlil (main god of the Sumerian pantheon) in Nippur. Enmebaragesi's son Agga is said to have fought with Gilgamesh of Uruk (as stated in Epic of Gilgamesh). From this time, Uruk (1st dynasty of Uruk) seems to have had some kind of hegemony in Sumer. This illustrates a weakness of the Sumerian king list, as contemporaries are often placed in successive dynasties, making reconstruction difficult.

            Uruk achieves political prominence under the rule of a famous monarch Gilgamesh who fortified the city with 9 km long walls. He managed to conquer cities of Ur, Kish, and Nippur, making Uruk the main seat of power in Sumer. Soon, this city-state was eclipsed by a neighboring city of Ur. Mesannepada is the first king of Ur mentioned on the king list and he had subjected Kish (prior to Gilgamesh), assuming the title king of Kish (this title was used by rulers of many prominent dynasties). Epigraphic evidence shows that mentioned dynasties (Kish, Uruk, Ur and a dynasty at Mari) were all contemporary and date to c. 2700–2600 BC.
            Early Dynastic III (ca. 2600 - 2370 BC). The King Lists record eleven more dynasties before Sargon of Akkad, but, except for the 3rd dynasty of Uruk, little is known about them, and many were probably contemporaneous. The discovery of a royal cemetery in Ur revealed a great opulence of local rulers, including the tomb of a queen Puabi (ca. 2600 BC) who was buried along with 52 attendants and various treasures. In 2500 BC, Mesopotamia has come under the sway of a Sumerian conqueror from Adab, Lugal-Ane-mundu, ruling over Uruk, Ur, and Lagash. However, his empire fell apart with his death: the king-list indicates that Mari in Upper Mesopotamia was the next city to hold the hegemony. Afterward, in around 2500 BC, Kish started to gain power under Mesilim who is known for being an arbiter in a conflict between Lagash and Uma regarding the rights to use an irrigation canal on the border between the two.

  

                              Fig 5. Stele of the Vultures

        Dynasties of Lagash are omitted from Sumerian kings lists but nonetheless had left much of archaeological finds. Eannatum of the 1st dynasty of Lagash (ca. 2430 BC) created one of the first verifiable empires known to history by annexing practically all of Sumer, including Ur, Uruk, Kish, and Larsa. A monument from the early dynastic period called "Stele of the Vultures" (Fig 5) depicts Eannatum victory over the city of Umma with religious and battle scenes. The conflict between Umma and Lagash is one of the earliest international dispute to be recorded. Eannatum's last successor Urukagina is best known for his social reforms to combat corruption, but during his reign, Umma's ruler (ensi) Lugalzagesi overthrew the primacy of Lagash (2350 BC) and reclaimed empire for himself by conquering Uruk who he set as capital (3rd dynasty of Uruk). He was the last Sumerian king before the rise of the Akkadian empire. In this period, the population of Mesopotamia probably reached half a million.

Akkadian empire (ca. 2334 - 2200 BC)

Fig 6. Sargon of Akkad

         In XXIV century BC, a new power arose - Akkadians, Semitic people from the middle Mesopotamia. Akkadian ruler Sargon (2334 - 2279 BC, Fig 6) conquered Sumer and surrounding lands, established a  great empire which occupied most of the Sumerian city-states and reached as far as Lebanon. This is often regarded as a first empire which appeared in history.
         Sargon started out as a cupbearer to a king Ur-Zababa of Kish who he displaced and became a new king, entering upon a career of foreign conquest. We can assume that his high court office served as a springboard for a dynasty of his own. Title Sargon of Akkad (means legitimate king) he possibly took after defeating Lugalzagesi at the battle of Uruk. He invaded Syria and Canaan and conquered surrounding regions in order to create an empire that stretched from the Mediterranean to the ends of Elam (Map 2). Sargon based his empire in the city of Akkad which is the basis for the name of his people. This capital became the most populated city in the world, surpassing Memphis, capital of Egypt. Trade extended and economy grew in Sargon's state, reflecting growing political power of Mesopotamia. Multiple rebellions broke out by the end of Sargon's reign but he managed to crash them all. These revolts broke out again during the reign of his sons.

Fig 7. Victory stele of Naram-Sin

         During Sargon's rule, both Akkadian and Sumerian language were spoken although Akkadian eventually replaced Sumerian. It is important to say that Akkadian was present in Mesopotamia long before the empire was formed - the first Akkadian words appear since 27th century BC. Some kings of Kish from Sumerian kings list bear Akkadian names and in the kingdom of Mari, this Semitic language was written probably from the very beginning. Bilingualism in Mesopotamia implies Akkadian as an official language used in administration and Sumerian as a spoken and literary language. Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language in about 2000 BC but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.
            Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin (2254 - 2218 BC) assumed the title: King of all quarters of the world and was addressed as a "god of Aggade" like his grandfather. He managed to crush all revolts which broke out during his reign and led series of new campaigns and conquests - to Ebla, Megan (Oman) and even to Anatolia. Victory over Lullubi is depicted on famous "Victory Stele of Naram-Sin" (Fig 7). By the end of the reign of Naram-Sin's son Shar-kali-sharri (2217 - 2193 BC) the empire had weakened. Invasion from Zagros mountains by the Gutians eventually led to an empire's collapse (after 140 years of existence) ushering in a period of regional decline.
             Two factors contributed to empire's downfall, first is the invasion of the Amorites from the northwest and the second one is infiltration of the mentioned Gutians who came from the east, between Zagros mountains and Tigris. In contrast to Amorites, who formed an ethnic component along with Sumerians and Akkadians, the presence of Gutians was temporary. The Gutians themselves have left no material records and original inscriptions about them are scarce in general.

Map 2. Akkadian empire during Sargon (ca. 2300 BC)

Neo-Sumerian era (ca. 2150 - 2000 BC)

Fig 8. Gudea of Lagash

          After the collapse of the Sargon's state, Lagash again thrived under independent kings. The most important ruler is Gudea (2141 - 2122 BC) of whom there are extent writings, mostly in Sumerian. He carried out an extensive program of temple construction during his reign - his was especially the era of artistic development. At the time of Gudea, the capital of Lagash was actually in Girsu and the city of Lagash was probably the largest in the world. Soon after the time of Gudea, Lagash was absorbed into the Ur III state as one of its provinces.
           Another dynasty managed to thrive after the fall of the Akkadian empire - the 3rd dynasty of Ur and sometimes their state is called Neo-Sumerian empire (XXI and XX century BC). This time we call "Sumerian renaissance" even though the region was becoming more and more Semitic due to Akkadian rise and recent Amorite influx. Sumerian language, however, remained as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in a similar way that Latin was used in the Middle Ages. When last Gutian king was defeated by Utu-hengal of Uruk (2120 BC) the Sumerian renaissance began.

Fig 9. Code of Ur-Nammu

Fig 10. Ur-Nammu's Zigurrat in Ur

                Following the Utu-hengal's reign, Ur-Nammu (2112 - 2095 BC) founded the third dynasty of Ur and details of how kingdoms switched hands are unclear. Ur's dominance over Neo-Sumerian empire (Ur III empire) was consolidated with the code of Ur-Nammu (Fig 9), probably the first law code of Mesopotamia since Urukagina of Lagash introduced his reforms centuries earlier. During the reign of Ur-Nammu's son Shulgi (2095 - 2047 BC, Map 3) many significant changes occurred - he standardized administrative processes, tax system, and calendar. He also established a standing army of Ur and completed construction of the Great Ziggurat of Ur (Fig 10). Around 2000 BC, the power of Ur waned, and the Amorites came to occupy much of the area. Ur fell down after Elamite invasion during the reign of Ibbi-Sin (2028 - 2004 BC) after which state fell under the Amorite rule. This marked the end of city-states ruling empires in Mesopotamia and the end of Sumerian dominance, but the succeeding rulers adopted much of Sumerian civilization as their own.

Map 3. Neo-Sumerian empire (Ur III state) under Shulgi c. 2050 BC

Early Assyrian period (ca. 2600 -2025 BC)

          Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is positively known. The city of Ashur (Map 4) was founded by 2600 BC (from which the name Assyria is derived, before that the region is referred to as Subartu) and was ruled by Sumerians. The first known king, according to the Assyrian king list, was Tudiya (ca. 2450 BC). Early kings, recorded as kings who lived in tents, were likely to have been Akkadian semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers, nominally independent but subject to the Akkadian Empire. They dominated the region and at some point during this period became fully urbanized and founded the city-state of Ashur. The foundation of the first true urbanized Assyrian monarchy was traditionally ascribed to king Ushpia (c. 2030 BC, according to Assyrian king list), probably a contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin. Assyria began to expand into Anatolia (Asia Minor) at this time, founding trading colonies in the southeast of the region. Ushpia is credited with dedicating a temple to the god Ashur in the city of Ashur.

Map 4. Ashur city through the centuries

         

Old Assyrian empire (ca. 2025 - 1400 BC)

          In around 2025 BC Puzur-Ashur I founded a new dynasty, and his successors left inscriptions regarding the building of temples to Ashur, Adad, and Ishtar in Assyria. One of his successors - Ilushuma  (2008 - 1975 BC) appears to have been a powerful king and the dominant ruler in the region, who made many raids into southern Mesopotamia between, attacking the independent Sumero-Akkadian city-states of the region such as Isin and Larsa, and founding colonies in Asia Minor. This was to become a pattern throughout the history of ancient Mesopotamia with the future rivalry between Assyria and Babylonia. In 1809 BC, the last king of Puzur-Ashur dynasty was overthrown by Amorite chieftain Shamshi-Adad. who converted the city to the capital of the Upper Mesopotamian empire. About 1800 BC, Assyria came into conflict with the newly created state of Babylon.

Map 5. Upper Mesopotamian empire at the time of death of Shamsi Adad

        In ca. 1720 BC Assyrian king Adasi ejected Amorites from Assyria and Babylonian power began to wane in Mesopotamia as a whole. The nation under Adaside dynasty remained relatively strong and stable with the peace made with Cassite rulers of Babylonia. However, a period of decline under Mitanni domination (Map 6) occurred from the mid-15th to early 14th centuries BC (1450 - 1393 BC).


Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000 - 1600 BC)

          After the fall of Ur III state, southern Mesopotamia was dominated by the Amorite cities of Isin and Larsa, as the two cities vied for dominance. Ishbi-Erra, the ruler of Isin, gradually took control over Nippur, Uruk, Eridu and finally Ur. At the same time, the new Amorite dynasty appeared in Larsa. In 1925 BC Gungunum, the ruler of Larsa, took control over Ur from Lipit-Ishtar of Isin and dynasty of Larsa became a dominant power in Mesopotamia. In this period, a significant growth of power is observed in northern Mesopotamia as Ilushuma became a dominant figure of the region. Apart from Assyria, two Amorite ruled states, Eshnunna and Mari also became important in the north. In 1813 BC, Amorite chieftain Shamshi-Adad I usurped the throne in Assyria by conquering Ashur. By conquering Mari and Eshnuna in the south he created a regional empire, expanding and maintaining colonies in Syria and Asia Minor. Under his successors, the state would be conquered by Babylonian king Hammurabi.

Fig 11. Figures at the top of stele above the code of law - repre-
sents Hammurabi who receives the code from a god Shamash

         Babylonia was founded as an independent state by an Amorite chieftain named Sumuabum in 1894 BC. For over a century after its founding, it was a minor state, overshadowed by older and more powerful states such as Isin, Larsa, Assyria, and Elam. During the reign of Amorite ruler Hammurabi (1792 BC - 1750 BC) Babylon became a major power in the region (Map 4). Hammurabi freed Babylon from Elamite dominance and conquered the whole southern Mesopotamia by 1761 BC, including the kingdom of Larsa. He defeated the heirs of Shamsi-Adad and reduced Zimri-Lim, the ruler of Mari, to vassalage. This was a final piece of a puzzle that gave him control over virtually all of the territory that made up Ur III state in the 3rd millennium. The conquests of Hammurabi gave the region stability after turbulent times and coalesced the patchwork of states of southern and central Mesopotamia into one single nation, It is only from the time of Hammurabi that southern Mesopotamia came to be known historically as Babylonia. Hammurabi is most famous for his law code which is one of the oldest known legal acts. The code contains 282 legal decrees and was displayed in c. 1755 BC on monumental stelae in temples throughout the empire (fig 11). This was probably more an attempt to portray himself as a supporter of justice than a practical legal document. The penalties were mostly harsh and retributive and were based on principle ''eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth''. Hammurabi conducted major building work in Babylon, expanding it from a minor town into a great city. In fact, it has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world in this period (from ca. 1770 to 1670 BC), surpassing 60 000 inhabitants. During the rule of Hammurabi's son Samsuiluna (1749-1712 BC), Babylon faced a serious rebellion during which Ur and Nippur broke away from its control. Although the south of Mesopotamia went into decline the first Babylonian dynasty continued to rule the north - the empire quickly unraveled and Babylon once again became a small state. The Amorite dynasty ended in 1595 BC when Babylonia fell to the Hittite king Mursilis I, after which the Kassites took over control of the city.

Map 5. Old Babylonian state under Hammurabi

Middle Assyrian empire (ca. 1400 - 1050 BC)

Fig 12. Rock relief of Tiglath-Pileser I

         Ashur-uballit I (1363 - 1328 BC) completely overthrew the Mitanni empire and founded powerful Assyrian empire that came to dominate Mesopotamia and much of the Middle East. During the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta (1243 - 1207 BC) the empire reached its height by conquering Kassite Babylon in 1235 BC. He took on the ancient title of ''King of Sumer and Akkad''. During his reign, Assyria annexed swathes of Hittite and Amorite land, sacking and dominating Canaan and Elam, thus becoming a rival to Egypt. The empire endured until 1076 BC, with the death of Tiglath-Pileser I, who was one of the greatest Assyrian conquerors (Fig 12). He expanded Assyrian control into Anatolia and Syria, and to the shores of the Mediterranean. Soon after his death, many territories were sacked by Arameans and state entered a decline.

Map 6. Map of the ancient near east during the Amarna period (14th century BC), showing the geat powers of the day

Middle Babylonian period (ca. 1550 - 1150 BC)

Fig 13. Partially restored ziggurat of Dur Kurigalzu

         Although the Hittites overthrew Babylon, another people, the Kassites, took it as their capital (ca. 1570 BC). The Kassite rulers regained possession of Marduk idol, who was taken away by Hittites and returned it to Babylon, making him the equal of the Kassite deity Shuqamuna. They have the distinction of being the longest lasting dynasty in Babylon, reigning for over four centuries.  Kassites left few records, so this period is unfortunately obscure. They are of unknown origin; what little we have of their language suggests it is a language isolate. Babylon, under Kassite rulers, re-emerged as a political and military power in Mesopotamia and Kassites built a new capital city, Dur-Kurigalzu (which was named in honor of Kurigalzu I in early 14th century BC, fig 13). Although Babylonia maintained its independence through this period, it was not a power in the Near East, and mostly sat out the large wars fought over the Levant between Egypt, the Hittite Empire, and Mitanni. Assyria participated in these wars toward the end of the period, overthrowing the Mitanni Empire and besting the Hittites and Phrygians, but the Kassites in Babylon did not. They did, however, fight against their longstanding rival to the east, Elam. 
            Babylonia found itself under Assyrian and Elamite domination for much of the later Kassite period. Assyrian ruler Tukulti-Ninurta conquered Babylon in 1235 BC. Although Kassites remained in Babylon, the dynasty was finally taken down by Elamites (1158 BC) under Shutruk-Nakhunte (ca. 1185–1155 BC). The last Kassite king was taken to Susa and imprisoned there, where he also died. Elamites soon lost control over Babylonia to the second dynasty of Isin which came to power in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar I (1126 - 1103 BC). He won wars against Elam, but his dynasty fell after a century of political stability. Isin dynasty was deposed by Arameans, which had created the fifth dynasty of Babylon, also known as the second Sealand dynasty (1025 BC-1004 BC). By some scholars, this was actually a Kassite dynasty, although the evidence for this is rather tenuous. It should also be noted that, by the end of 2nd millennium BC, the population of Mesopotamia was probably around 1.25 million.

Hurrians and the Kingdom of Mitanni (ca. 1600 (1500) - 1250 BC)

          The Hurrians were a people who settled in northwestern Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia in 1600 BC. They created the kingdom under an Indo-Aryan ruling class (Mitanni) with capital Washukanni on the Khabur river. Mitanni state (also called Hanigalbat in Assyrian or Naharin in Egyptian texts) came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Amorite Babylon and a series of ineffectual Assyrian kings created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia. By 1450 BC a medium-sized empire was established (Map 6) and kings in the west were made temporary tributary vassals, making Hurrians a major threat for the Thutmosids in Egypt. However, with the ascent of the Hittite empire, Mitanni and Egypt made an alliance to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. During the reign of Shuttarna II (early 14th c.) Mitanni reached its height and marriage alliance was made with the Egyptians.
          Ashur-Uballit I of Assyria annexed Mittani territory in the middle of the 14th century BC. Hittite army, under Suppiluliuma I, conquered Washukanni and installed a vassal king in the later years of the same century. Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (father of Tukulti-Ninurta I) defeated the last Hurrian king Shattuara II and Hurrians were absorbed into Middle Assyrian empire around 1250 BC. The Hurrian language is related to the later Urartian, but there is no conclusive evidence that these two languages are related to any others.

Map 7. Near east in 1400 BC, showing the Kingdom of Mitanni at its greatest extent

Late bronze age collapse (ca. 1200 - 900 BC)

          Between 1206 and 1150 BCE, the cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and Syria, and the New Kingdom of Egypt in Syria and Canaan interrupted trade routes and severely reduced literacy. In the first phase of this period, almost every city between Pylos and Gaza was violently destroyed and often left unoccupied thereafter. Prior to and during the Bronze Age Collapse, Syria became a battleground between the empires of the Hittites, Assyrians, Mitanni and Egyptians, and the coastal regions came under attack from the Sea Peoples. From the 13th Century BCE, the Arameans came to prominence in Syria, and the region outside of the Phoenician coastal areas eventually became Aramaic speaking. Assyria however, remained a compact and strong nation, which continued to provide much-written record and it was not threatened by the Sea Peoples. However, after the death of Tiglath-Pileser I in 1076 BC, Assyria withdrew to its natural borders in northern Mesopotamia and entered a dark age which lasted from 1050 to 936 BC, after which once more began to assert itself internationally.
            Records from the 12th and 11th centuries BC are sparse in Babylonia, which had been overrun with new Semitic settlers, namely the Arameans, Chaldeans, and Suteans. The 10th century BC is even worse for Babylonia, with very few inscriptions. Mesopotamia was not alone in this obscurity: the Hittite Empire fell at the beginning of this period and very few records are known from Egypt and Elam.
            When the ancient Dark Ages finally lifted, the world had changed dramatically. Ancient kingdoms such as Assyria, Babylonia, Elam, and Egypt still endured, the Hittites did also, in the form of smaller Neo-Hittite states. A number of new states had arisen during the tumultuous time between 1200 and 936 BC, such as; Persia, Media, Parthia, Mannea, Israel, Urartu, Phrygia, Lydia, the Aramean and Phoenician states of the Levant, Doric Greece, Putria (Libya), Colchia, Tabal, Nubia/Kush. In addition, other nations and peoples such as Chaldeans, Judaeans (Kingdom of Judah), Scythians, Cimmerians, Samarrans, Ethiopians, Nabateans, Armenians, and the Arabs were to emerge in the following centuries.

Map 8. Mesopotamia in ca. 1200 BC

Neo-Assyrian empire (ca. 900 - 600 BC)

Fig 14. Jehu, king of Israel, bows before Shalmaneser III, 825 BC

          The Neo-Assyrian Empire is usually considered to have begun in 911 BC, with the accession of Adad-nirari II who firmly subjugated the areas previously under only nominal Assyrian vassalage, conquering and deporting troublesome Aramean, Neo-Hittite and Hurrian populations in the north to far-off places. Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) advanced without opposition through Aram (modern Syria) and Asia Minor as far as the Mediterranean and exacted tribute from Aramea, Phrygia and Phoenicia. He also moved his capital to the city of Kalhu (Calah/Nimrud). Ashurnasirpal's son, Shalmaneser III (859–824 BC) reduced Babylonia to vassalage, including subjugating the Chaldean, Aramean and Sutean tribes settled within it. He marched an army against an alliance of Aramean states, fighting them to a standstill at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. It is in Assyrian accounts of the 850's BC, recorded during the reign of Shalmaneser III, that the Arabs and Chaldeans first enter the pages of written history. He also brought under tribute Jehu of Israel (Fig 14), and the Phoenician states of Tyre, and Sidon. Last years of his reign were accompanied by series of rebellions that were nearly fatal to the state (Map 8).

Fig 15. The Palaces of Nimrud Restored. Lithograph printed in colors. Plate 1 from Sir Austen Henry Layard's, The Monuments of Nineveh. This print, based on a sketch by James Fergusson, shows the city of Nimrud from across the river Tigris, with the ziggurat on the left and various palaces on the right. This imaginative reconstruction bears little resemblance to excavated evidence.

Fig 16. Tiglath-Pileser III, stela from
the walls of his palace in Nimrud

        When Tiglath-Pileser III (744–727 BC) ascended the throne (Fig 16), Assyria was in the throes of a revolution. Civil war and pestilence were devastating the country, and many of Assyria's most northerly colonies in Asia Minor had been wrested from it by Urartu, which started to gain strength and made an alliance with Mannea. Tiglath-Pileser III defeated Urartu, leading his army to the gates of its capital Tushpa. Furthermore, he subjected Babylonian king Nabonassar to tribute, conquered the Medes, Persians, and Neo-Hittites, and then directed his armies into Aramea, of which large swathes had regained independence and the commercially successful Mediterranean seaports of Phoenicia. Later on, he invaded Israel and conquered Aramean state Damascus. In the end, he assumed total control of Babylon from revolting Chaldeans, crowning himself as its king. The conquered provinces were organized under an elaborate bureaucracy, with the king at the head - each district paying a fixed tribute and providing a military contingent. The Assyrian forces at this time became a professional standing army, that by successive improvements became an irresistible fighting machine (Fig 17) and Assyrian empire stretched from the Caucasus Mountains to Arabia and from the Caspian Sea to Cyprus. Tiglath-Pileser III introduced Mesopotamian Eastern Aramaic as the Lingua Franca of Assyria and its vast empire, whose Akkadian infused descendant dialects survive among the modern Assyrian Christian people to this day.

Fig 17. Relief of Siege Scene with Battering-Ram and Impaled Bodies, gypsum, Palace of Tiglath-pileser III, Nimrud. Note the sappers undermining the wall foundations, and the archers armed with composite bows.

Fig 18. A lamassu from the palace of Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin.

            After the death of Tiglath-Pielser's son, the throne was seized by Sargon II (721–705 BC), who founded new, Sargonid dynasty. He drove the Cimmerians and Scythians from Iran, where they had invaded and attacked the Persians and Medes, who were vassals of Assyria. He fought against Elam and Chaldean dynasty of Babylon, which deposed the Assyrian rule.  Sargon also built a new capital at Dur Sharrukin ("Sargon's City") near Nineveh (Fig 18). He was killed in battle while driving out the Cimmerians. His son Sennacherib (705–681 BC) moved the capital to Nineveh and made the deported peoples work on improving Nineveh's system of irrigation canals. He defeated the Greeks who were attempting to gain a foothold in Cilicia. Sennacherib launched a campaign against Elam in 694 BC and ravaged the land. In retaliation, the king of Elam attacked Babylonia, ruled by Sennacherib's son. Assyrian prince was then captured and brought to Elam. After finally defeating the Elamites, Sennacherib opened the canals around Babylon and flooded the outside of the city until it became a swamp, resulting in its destruction, while its inhabitants were scattered. Soon after, Sennacherib was murdered and his son Esarhaddon (681–669 BC) succeeded him and immediately had Babylon rebuilt. He launched a full invasion and conquered Egypt in 671 BC, chasing the Pharaoh Taharqa back to Nubia, thus bringing to an end Nubian-Kushite rule in Egypt, and destroying the Kushite Empire. Assyria also defeated Urartu, annexed much of its territory and reduced it to vassalage, and expanded southwards as far as Dilmun (Bahrain) and into Arabia. This was perhaps Assyria's greatest territorial extent.

Fig 19. Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal from the Palace
at Nineveh. 645-635 BC

         Ashurbanipal (669–627 BC) succeeded his father Esarhaddon to the throne (Fig 19). He continued to campaign in and dominate Egypt by defeating Nubian-Kushite kings who tried to invade it once again, after which Memphis and Thebes were sacked. He quelled the resistance of Medes and Persians and around this time, Gyges, king of Lydia, also offered him his submission. Soon after, his brother Shamash-shum-ukin, ruler of Babylon, attempted to raise a huge rebellion encompassing many vassal peoples against Ashurbanipal, however, this largely failed. This rebellion lasted until 648 BC when Babylon was sacked, and Shamash-shum-ukin set fire to the palace, killing himself. Ashurbanipal then set about punishing the Chaldeans, Arabs, and Nabateans who had supported the Babylonian revolt. He invaded the Arabian Peninsula and routed and subjugated the Arabs, including the powerful Qedar tribe, taking much booty back to Nineveh and killing the Arab kings. Elam was targeted next, it was devastated and its capital Susa sacked. Cyrus I of Persia (grandfather of Cyrus the Great) was forced into submission, as a part of this defeated alliance. Late in his reign, Ashurbanipal was forced to contend with renewed attempts on his empire by the Scythians and Cimmerians. The Scythians were able to once more ravage Assyria's Median and Persian colonies in Ancient Iran before being finally subdued, although the last decade of his reign seems to have been peaceful. At its height, Assyrian domination spanned from the Caucasus Mountains in the north to Nubia, Egypt, and Arabia in the south, and from Cyprus and Antioch in the west to Persia in the east (Map 8). Ashurbanipal was an unusually educated man for his time, being able to read and write in Akkadian, Aramaic, and Sumerian, and having a proficient understanding of Astronomy and Mathematics, as well as military, civil and political aptitude. He built the famed Library of Ashurbanipal which contained a multitude of ancient texts from all over Mesopotamia and was the first library in history to classify works in order of genre.

Fig 20. Reconstructed Mashki gate of Nineveh, lower stones
being the original

            Upon Ashurbanipal's death in 627 BC, the empire began to disintegrate rapidly after a series of bitter civil wars broke out involving a number of claimants to the throne. In 625 BC, the Babylonian vassal state had taken advantage of the upheavals in Assyria and rebelled under the previously unknown Nabopolassar, a member of the Chaldean tribe. In 616 BC, Cyaxares the Median king made an alliance with Nabopolassar and with the help of the Scythians and Cimmerians attacked Assyria. After four years of bitter fighting, the coalition finally destroyed Nineveh in 612 BC (Fig 20). Egyptian dynasty aided the Assyrians, but in 608, the Babylonians and Medes defeated the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance, after which Assyria ceased to exist as an independent nation.

Map 9. Neo-Assyrian empire

Neo-Babylonian empire (626 - 539 BC)

           After a period of political confusion, Nabu-mukin-apli (978–943 BC) founded an 8th Dynasty of Babylon, though his rule did not extend far beyond the city itself. While unimportant politically, Babylon continued to be a cultural and intellectual center. Under Nabonassar (Nabu-nasir, 747–732 BC) an important calendar reform was instituted in which the monthly lunar cycle was reconciled with the solar year, a standard system still used in the Jewish calendar. Although Babylonia was subject to, and dominated by Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian period, the Assyrians had usually been able to pacify their southern relations, whether through military might, installing puppet kings, or granting increased privileges. From 710 to 626, Chaldean kings, often supported by Elam, alternated with Assyrian rulers.
          The founder of Neo-Babylonian dynasty is Nabopolassar (626 - 605 BC), who had made himself king of Chaldea in the far south east of Mesopotamia. In 623 BC, Sin-shar-ishkun seized the throne of Assyria after killing his brother, the king, and then set about retaking Babylon from Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar was forced to endure Assyrian armies encamped in Babylonia over the next seven years, however, he resisted, aided by the continuing civil war in Assyria itself which greatly hampered Sin-shar-ishkun's attempts to retake the parts of Babylonia held by Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar attempted a counterattack, he marched his army into Assyria proper in 616 BC but was defeated and driven back into Babylonia. However, the balance of power was decisively tipped when Cyaxares, ruler of the Iranic peoples (the Medes, Persians, and Parthians), and technically a vassal of Assyria, attacked Assyria without warning in 615 BC.  Then, in 614 BC Cyaxares, in alliance with the Scythians and Cimmerians, besieged and took Assur, with Nabopolassar remaining uninvolved in these successes. Nabopolassar too then made active alliances with Cyaxares. In 612 BC Nabopolassar and the Median king Cyaxares led a concentrated coalition of forces including Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians in an attack on Nineveh, which finally fell, with Sin-shar-ishkun being killed defending his capital. Nabopolassar (with the help of his son and future successor Nebuchadnezzar II) spent the last years of his reign dislodging the Egyptians who were defeated in 608 BC.

Fig 21. An engraving on an eye stone
of onyx with an inscription
of Nebuchadnezzar II

           Nebuchadnezzar II (605 - 562 BC) became king after the death of his father (Fig 21). He conducted successful military campaigns in Syria and Phoenicia. In 599 BC, he invaded Arabia and routed the Arabs at Qedar. In 597 BC, he invaded Judah and captured Jerusalem and deposed its king Jehoiachin. Egyptian and Babylonian armies fought each other for control of the near east throughout much of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and this encouraged king Zedekiah of Judah to revolt. After an 18-month siege, Jerusalem was captured in 587 BC, and thousands of Jews were deported to Babylon, and Solomon's Temple was razed to the ground. By 572 Nebuchadnezzar was in full control of Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, Israel, Philistinia, northern Arabia, and parts of Asia Minor (Map 9). Nebuchadnezzar was a patron of the cities and a spectacular builder. He rebuilt all of Babylonia's major cities on a lavish scale. His building activity at Babylon was what turned it into the immense and beautiful city of legend. Nebuchadnezzar is credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens, for his homesick wife Amyitis to remind her of her homeland, Medis (Media) in Persia. He is also credited for the construction of the Ishtar Gate, one of the eight gates leading into the city of Babylon (Fig 22). The city of Babylon covered more than three square miles, surrounded by moats and ringed by a double circuit of walls. At the center of the city rose the 91 m high ziggurat called Etemenanki, "House of the Frontier Between Heaven and Earth," which lay next to the Temple of Marduk (Fig 23).

Fig 22. Reconstruction drawing of Babylon in the 6th c BC
showing Ishtar gates

            The Neo-Babylonian period ended with the reign of Nabonidus (556 - 539 BC). To the east, the Persians had been growing in strength, and Cyrus the Great was very popular in Babylon itself, in contrast to Nabonidus. In 539 BC, Cyrus invaded Babylonia. After Cyrus' engineers had diverted the waters of the Euphrates, "the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting, while Nabonidus surrendered and was deported. Babylon, like Assyria, became a colony of Achaemenid Persia.
        Neo-Babylonian rulers were deeply conscious of the antiquity of their kingdom, and pursued an arch-traditionalist policy, reviving much of the ancient Sumero-Akkadian culture. Even though Aramaic had become the everyday tongue, Akkadian was retained as the language of administration and culture. The seat of the empire was transferred to Babylonia for the first time since the death of Hammurabi in the mid 18th century BC. This period witnessed a general improvement in economic life and agricultural production, and a great flourishing of architectural projects, the arts, and science. Once again, Babylon was estimated to be the largest city in the world (between ca. 612 and 320 BC), its population reaching more than 200 000 inhabitants.

Fig 23. Reconstruction of Babylon, showing Euphrates river and zigurat Etemenanki

Map 10. Neo-Babylonian empire in 580 BC