From the article archive
Writing Practice, Dec 17th 2001
Introduction
Welcome back to our regularly scheduled series. We're now up to the middle of the second millenium BAF (first millenium BC), and things are about to get a lot worse for Babylon.
The First Ægyptian War for Independence
At first Babylonian rule over Ægypt went well. The Nylle valley had been through a lot and initially welcomed the security and peace the Chaldeans brought. But soon enough discontent began to spread.
The Babylonian's insistence on replacing the Ægyptian gods with their own did not sit well with the natives. Nor did the Babylonian practice of replacing Ægyptian traditions and customs with their own. In less than five years the banner of revolt was being raised up and down the Nylle river.
It may have taken longer, but the Nubians and their Manasseh allies started raiding Babylonian held territory practically from the start of the conquest. The Manasseh themselves were originally a Canaanite tribe, located around the Sea of Galilee. To pacify the area the Ægyptians had found it necessary to relocate the tribe to the border town of Elephantine, near the Third Cataracts. Over the centuries the Canaanites had proved loyal and effective warders, and had become good friends with the Nubians they fought. When the Babylonians came Manasseh fled into Nubia and became a part of that kingdom.
It should be noted at this time that thanks to Manessah-Nubian intermarriage the tribe of Manasseh for all intents and purposes was now a Nubian tribe. Even going so far as to adopt Nubian customs, traditions, and gods. So when Manasseh began her raids on the Babylonians it was the kingdom of Nubia coming to liberate her old foe and neighbor.
The war fouled up Babylonian plans. With Persia occupied with her wars against the Greeks, Babylon thought she had a golden opportunity to conquer the Iranians. with Persia firmly in her grasp, Babylon would be able to conquer the Anatolian states, turn east and subdue the Hindic lands, then conquer Hellas and points west. It would never happen.
The war in Ægypt tied up more and more of Babylon's resources. Soon the bulk of her militaries were fighting in the Nylle valley, leaving the rest of the Empire open. Persia took advantage of this to foster raiding from Lybbos and Yarbay, and rebellions in the Babylonian provinces of Shamash and Philistia. The Babylonians had a serious problem.
Babylon decided to cut her losses. With Ægypt effectively untenable, she withdrew. The plan was to fall back to the heartland, then reconquer Shamash, leaving Philistia to the Ægyptians.
The Ægyptians moved faster than anybody thought possible. Leaving the Nubians to secure the southern part of the Double Kingdom the Ægyptians concentrated on harrassing the Babylonians as they retreated, advancing into Shamash itself and liberating that land. Plans, however, to invade Babylonia had to be put on hold and Ægypt's armies had to return to convince the Nubians to leave Ægypt proper.
This proved to be easier than the Ægyptians thought, but considering the history between the two peoples, their anxiety was well founded. Manasseh returned to her duties as the wardens of Ægypt's southern frontier. Only now that southern frontier was what had been the Nubian southern frontier. After a few years of negotiation the kingdom of Nubia joined with the Double Kingdom, becoming known as the Nubian Oversight. It was at this time that the former frontier region became a full fledged kingdom in its own right and Ægypt became known at the Triple Kingdom.
Concurrently with all this Babylon went through some very bad times. With the loss of Ægypt she no longer had to worry about raids from Lybbos (that was Ægypt's problem now), but the Yarbian raids plus encroachments from the Persian Empire made nights for Babylon's leaders anxious indeed. Fortunately Persia had problems of her own. Thus was Babylon able to concentrate on squelching the Yarbayian tribes and forcing them back into their desert strongholds.
With the Yarbayians taken care of Babylon could now rest and refit, preparing for the day when she would finally take care of those cursed Persians.
The Greeks got in the way.
The Greek Wars
Nobody alive today understands how it happened. Not even the Persians. But for generations the Persian emperors were obsessed with the land of Hellas. It was supposed to be a quick conquest. Subdue the Hellenes, then turn on Babylon prior to conquering Ægypt. The Greeks were primitives, barbarians at best. Had no standing army, and fought among themselves incessently. No matter what they tried, what strategem, what plan, the Greeks kept winning. It's possible Persia and the Greeks could have come to terms, but Athenian politicians kept bringing up the matter of Persian rule over Greek cities in western Anatolia to get votes. For a time Persia tried an alliance with Sparta, but found the Spartans to be even more intransigent than the Athenians, making Persian attempts to suborn the Greeks just about impossible.
Between failed attempts to conquer the Hellenes, the need to keep the Macedonians and Thracians peaceful, and constant revolts among the cities of western Anatolia Persia found herself hard pressed to keep the rest of her empire quiet, much less deal with the Babylonians as they needed to be dealt with. Babylonian support for the Greeks didn't help things any. If not for covert Ægyptian aid during much of this period it's possible Persia would've collapsed, thus changing the course of world history.
But Persia survived. Even going so far as to send expeditions to test Babylon's defenses when that Empire retreated from the now Triple Kingdom. Retreating from the Balkans Persia concentrated first on subduing her eastern provinces. Next western Anatolia was subjugated. The war between Athens and Sparta was easy to engineer, but the Spartan victory was quite unexpected. With the Greeks exhausted by the brutal war, and the even more brutal Spartan rule, Persia had a secure western border. Now it was Babylon's turn.
Babylon and Persia were battered, but still strong. Their armies were marshalling, soon the Valley of the Two Rivers would see the climatic clash that would determine once and for all who would rule that part of the world.
Thing is, it wouldn't be between Babylon and Persia.
Coming Up
Tomorrow, Alexander the Great.
Till then.
Alan
Welcome back to our regularly scheduled series. We're now up to the middle of the second millenium BAF (first millenium BC), and things are about to get a lot worse for Babylon.
The First Ægyptian War for Independence
At first Babylonian rule over Ægypt went well. The Nylle valley had been through a lot and initially welcomed the security and peace the Chaldeans brought. But soon enough discontent began to spread.
The Babylonian's insistence on replacing the Ægyptian gods with their own did not sit well with the natives. Nor did the Babylonian practice of replacing Ægyptian traditions and customs with their own. In less than five years the banner of revolt was being raised up and down the Nylle river.
It may have taken longer, but the Nubians and their Manasseh allies started raiding Babylonian held territory practically from the start of the conquest. The Manasseh themselves were originally a Canaanite tribe, located around the Sea of Galilee. To pacify the area the Ægyptians had found it necessary to relocate the tribe to the border town of Elephantine, near the Third Cataracts. Over the centuries the Canaanites had proved loyal and effective warders, and had become good friends with the Nubians they fought. When the Babylonians came Manasseh fled into Nubia and became a part of that kingdom.
It should be noted at this time that thanks to Manessah-Nubian intermarriage the tribe of Manasseh for all intents and purposes was now a Nubian tribe. Even going so far as to adopt Nubian customs, traditions, and gods. So when Manasseh began her raids on the Babylonians it was the kingdom of Nubia coming to liberate her old foe and neighbor.
The war fouled up Babylonian plans. With Persia occupied with her wars against the Greeks, Babylon thought she had a golden opportunity to conquer the Iranians. with Persia firmly in her grasp, Babylon would be able to conquer the Anatolian states, turn east and subdue the Hindic lands, then conquer Hellas and points west. It would never happen.
The war in Ægypt tied up more and more of Babylon's resources. Soon the bulk of her militaries were fighting in the Nylle valley, leaving the rest of the Empire open. Persia took advantage of this to foster raiding from Lybbos and Yarbay, and rebellions in the Babylonian provinces of Shamash and Philistia. The Babylonians had a serious problem.
Babylon decided to cut her losses. With Ægypt effectively untenable, she withdrew. The plan was to fall back to the heartland, then reconquer Shamash, leaving Philistia to the Ægyptians.
The Ægyptians moved faster than anybody thought possible. Leaving the Nubians to secure the southern part of the Double Kingdom the Ægyptians concentrated on harrassing the Babylonians as they retreated, advancing into Shamash itself and liberating that land. Plans, however, to invade Babylonia had to be put on hold and Ægypt's armies had to return to convince the Nubians to leave Ægypt proper.
This proved to be easier than the Ægyptians thought, but considering the history between the two peoples, their anxiety was well founded. Manasseh returned to her duties as the wardens of Ægypt's southern frontier. Only now that southern frontier was what had been the Nubian southern frontier. After a few years of negotiation the kingdom of Nubia joined with the Double Kingdom, becoming known as the Nubian Oversight. It was at this time that the former frontier region became a full fledged kingdom in its own right and Ægypt became known at the Triple Kingdom.
Concurrently with all this Babylon went through some very bad times. With the loss of Ægypt she no longer had to worry about raids from Lybbos (that was Ægypt's problem now), but the Yarbian raids plus encroachments from the Persian Empire made nights for Babylon's leaders anxious indeed. Fortunately Persia had problems of her own. Thus was Babylon able to concentrate on squelching the Yarbayian tribes and forcing them back into their desert strongholds.
With the Yarbayians taken care of Babylon could now rest and refit, preparing for the day when she would finally take care of those cursed Persians.
The Greeks got in the way.
The Greek Wars
Nobody alive today understands how it happened. Not even the Persians. But for generations the Persian emperors were obsessed with the land of Hellas. It was supposed to be a quick conquest. Subdue the Hellenes, then turn on Babylon prior to conquering Ægypt. The Greeks were primitives, barbarians at best. Had no standing army, and fought among themselves incessently. No matter what they tried, what strategem, what plan, the Greeks kept winning. It's possible Persia and the Greeks could have come to terms, but Athenian politicians kept bringing up the matter of Persian rule over Greek cities in western Anatolia to get votes. For a time Persia tried an alliance with Sparta, but found the Spartans to be even more intransigent than the Athenians, making Persian attempts to suborn the Greeks just about impossible.
Between failed attempts to conquer the Hellenes, the need to keep the Macedonians and Thracians peaceful, and constant revolts among the cities of western Anatolia Persia found herself hard pressed to keep the rest of her empire quiet, much less deal with the Babylonians as they needed to be dealt with. Babylonian support for the Greeks didn't help things any. If not for covert Ægyptian aid during much of this period it's possible Persia would've collapsed, thus changing the course of world history.
But Persia survived. Even going so far as to send expeditions to test Babylon's defenses when that Empire retreated from the now Triple Kingdom. Retreating from the Balkans Persia concentrated first on subduing her eastern provinces. Next western Anatolia was subjugated. The war between Athens and Sparta was easy to engineer, but the Spartan victory was quite unexpected. With the Greeks exhausted by the brutal war, and the even more brutal Spartan rule, Persia had a secure western border. Now it was Babylon's turn.
Babylon and Persia were battered, but still strong. Their armies were marshalling, soon the Valley of the Two Rivers would see the climatic clash that would determine once and for all who would rule that part of the world.
Thing is, it wouldn't be between Babylon and Persia.
Coming Up
Tomorrow, Alexander the Great.
Till then.
Alan
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