From the article archive
Writing Practice, Dec. 4th 2001
It began, as so many Mesopotamian cities did, as a Sumerian trading post. When Sargon of Akkad came to power it was one of the first cities to join him in his conquest of northern Mesopotamia. It was also one of the first cities to send troops against the city of Akkad when he died.
The struggle against the Akkadians left the city vulnerable to attack itself, and so it was that the Amorites took control.
It was at this time that the city gained the name of Babylon. The Babylonians, for so they called themselves, began to expand their power and influence. South in the beginning, to conquer the Sumerian cities. When that front was secure, north against the barbaric Assyrians and peoples beyond.
By this time, early in the 3rd millennium BAF, the first of the Indo-Æropean peoples had migrated into Near Azir (Middle East). The kingdom of Mitanni now faced Babylonian agression.
Thanks to her chariots, and the rugged terrain of her land, Mitanni was able to hold off the Babylonians. Raids from mountaineers to the east, and steppe dwellers to the west did much to keep Babylon too occupied to focus her efforts on the northerners. The arrival of a new tribe of nomads from the land of Yarbay also caused the Amorites a lot of problems. They had to be defeated, settled somewhere else, and civilized, and all that took time.
But the Mitanni were not the only Indo-Æropeans to arrive at this time. The Hittites invaded the Hurrian kingdoms during the early part of the Mittani/Babylonian wars and quickly established their rule.
Ægypt in the meantime had learned about Sargon's decision to conquer the Valley of the Nylle. This was an insult Pharoah could not ignore. If anybody was going to conquer anybody, it was going to be the land of Khem subduing those uncultured savages. A bunch so uncivilized they spoke many languages, rather than the single tongue a civilized people would.
So an Ægyptian army crossed the northern shores of the Sinai (later the home of the kingdom of Philistia) and entered the land of Canaan. Unlike the Akkadian conquest, the Ægyptian had difficulties. The Canaanites had decided that being ruled by outsiders was not for them, and so resisted to the best of their ability. Didn't do 'em any good.
Having learned how difficult conquering people could be, the Ægyptians sent explorers further north and east, but decided they had defended their honor well, and settled down to enjoy the fruits of their labors.
By the 28th century BAF things had pretty much settled down in Near Azir. Babylon and Mitanni had an ongoing war, Ægypt and the Canaanites were getting along famously, and the Assyrians were sending traders and merchants everywhere they could. Then the Hittites happened.
As mentioned before, they were an Indo-Æropean people who had earlier conquered the Hurrians. While just about everybody else was happy with bronze, they took up working with iron. Iron, you see, is harder to work with, but easier to find. Instead of having to bring two different metals together (often from widely separated parts of the world) all one needed to do was find a source of iron ore and smelt it. (It's the smelting that was the sticking point).
Armed with their secret weapon (most likely a form of crude steel, iron itself is a weaker metal than all but the worst grades of bronze) the Hittites went out to do the (now) ancient Akkadians one better.
They hit the ancient world like a thunderstorm hitting a dried mud village. Most everybody they faced fell before them. The Babylonians avoided conquest only by promising tribute, and Mitanni became a Hittite Satrapy. Almost overnight the two deadly enemies, Babylon and Mitanni became clandestine allies against the Hittite Empire.
The only land to resist the Hittites successfully was Ægypt, and that more because the only place they came into contact was at the end of a lengthy and difficult supply route for both. Still the land that would one day become known as Syria saw Ægyptian and Hittite armies clash on many occasions.
But events were occuring that would mean great changes in Near Azir. Far to the north more Indo-Æropean tribes were starting to move into Mycenean Greece. Refugees from Greece, western Anatolia, and Crete would assail Ægypt, nearly bringing that land low. At the same time the first Iranian tribes were moving into the Plateau that now bears their name. And south in the land of Yarbay the Chaldean tribes were starting to drift north to Mesopotamia.
And if that weren't bad enough, the Assyrians were starting to speak of conquest.
*******
*******
Interlude 1: It is during this time that the horse first appears in Near Azir. Prior to this chariots had been crude, wickerwork affairs drawn by donkeys. The horse drawn chariot had the advantage of speed and mobility over the early vehicle. Advances in chariot design and construction made it even better. Light and agile, the horse drawn chariot could range over the battlefield. Until technigues were developed that gave the infantry the advantage over them, the chariot would rule the battlefield and decide the fate of nations. It's supremacy didn't last long.
*******
*******
Interlude 2: For a desert wasteland Yarbay has been the source of an amazing number of tribes over the course of the millennia. One of the first to enter Mesopotamia after the arrival of the Sumerians was the tribe of Benjamin, who bedeviled the Black-Headed People during the 5th millennium BAF. One Benjamite was a clan chief and part time goat rustler name of Abraham. One day he went into the city of Ur to do some business. A few hours later he stormed out of the city gates, boiling mad and ready to call maledictions down on every thieving, underhanded, filthy, trash-talking, dishonorable Sumerian who lived.
He gathered his clan together and announced that they were all going to the land of Canaan (though not in so many words, Canaan as a land hadn't been established yet). He then explained why.
The next morning a contrite Abraham went back into the city of Ur and met again with the Sumerian merchant he'd had the fight with the day before. The two men made peace, and successfully concluded a business deal. The descendents of Abraham's clan later moved into Ur and in a few generations had melted into the population.
You see, Abraham had forgotten a law every Semitic husband has had to follow from time immemorial, never explain yourself. You give the order and wait for it to be carried out. You never tell why. You tell why you give your wife the opening she needs to talk you out of it. Ærth's Abraham explained himself, and that was all his wife needed to talk him out of it.
And so Ærth would never have a Hebrew people, or the nation of Israel. On the other hand, the tribe of Judah did arise some millennia later, the story of why they did not become known as Jews is a story to be related further on in this history.
*******
Coming Up: The Assyrians make their bid, Ægypt conquers the Sea People, and the death of Babylon. Till then.
Alan
The struggle against the Akkadians left the city vulnerable to attack itself, and so it was that the Amorites took control.
It was at this time that the city gained the name of Babylon. The Babylonians, for so they called themselves, began to expand their power and influence. South in the beginning, to conquer the Sumerian cities. When that front was secure, north against the barbaric Assyrians and peoples beyond.
By this time, early in the 3rd millennium BAF, the first of the Indo-Æropean peoples had migrated into Near Azir (Middle East). The kingdom of Mitanni now faced Babylonian agression.
Thanks to her chariots, and the rugged terrain of her land, Mitanni was able to hold off the Babylonians. Raids from mountaineers to the east, and steppe dwellers to the west did much to keep Babylon too occupied to focus her efforts on the northerners. The arrival of a new tribe of nomads from the land of Yarbay also caused the Amorites a lot of problems. They had to be defeated, settled somewhere else, and civilized, and all that took time.
But the Mitanni were not the only Indo-Æropeans to arrive at this time. The Hittites invaded the Hurrian kingdoms during the early part of the Mittani/Babylonian wars and quickly established their rule.
Ægypt in the meantime had learned about Sargon's decision to conquer the Valley of the Nylle. This was an insult Pharoah could not ignore. If anybody was going to conquer anybody, it was going to be the land of Khem subduing those uncultured savages. A bunch so uncivilized they spoke many languages, rather than the single tongue a civilized people would.
So an Ægyptian army crossed the northern shores of the Sinai (later the home of the kingdom of Philistia) and entered the land of Canaan. Unlike the Akkadian conquest, the Ægyptian had difficulties. The Canaanites had decided that being ruled by outsiders was not for them, and so resisted to the best of their ability. Didn't do 'em any good.
Having learned how difficult conquering people could be, the Ægyptians sent explorers further north and east, but decided they had defended their honor well, and settled down to enjoy the fruits of their labors.
By the 28th century BAF things had pretty much settled down in Near Azir. Babylon and Mitanni had an ongoing war, Ægypt and the Canaanites were getting along famously, and the Assyrians were sending traders and merchants everywhere they could. Then the Hittites happened.
As mentioned before, they were an Indo-Æropean people who had earlier conquered the Hurrians. While just about everybody else was happy with bronze, they took up working with iron. Iron, you see, is harder to work with, but easier to find. Instead of having to bring two different metals together (often from widely separated parts of the world) all one needed to do was find a source of iron ore and smelt it. (It's the smelting that was the sticking point).
Armed with their secret weapon (most likely a form of crude steel, iron itself is a weaker metal than all but the worst grades of bronze) the Hittites went out to do the (now) ancient Akkadians one better.
They hit the ancient world like a thunderstorm hitting a dried mud village. Most everybody they faced fell before them. The Babylonians avoided conquest only by promising tribute, and Mitanni became a Hittite Satrapy. Almost overnight the two deadly enemies, Babylon and Mitanni became clandestine allies against the Hittite Empire.
The only land to resist the Hittites successfully was Ægypt, and that more because the only place they came into contact was at the end of a lengthy and difficult supply route for both. Still the land that would one day become known as Syria saw Ægyptian and Hittite armies clash on many occasions.
But events were occuring that would mean great changes in Near Azir. Far to the north more Indo-Æropean tribes were starting to move into Mycenean Greece. Refugees from Greece, western Anatolia, and Crete would assail Ægypt, nearly bringing that land low. At the same time the first Iranian tribes were moving into the Plateau that now bears their name. And south in the land of Yarbay the Chaldean tribes were starting to drift north to Mesopotamia.
And if that weren't bad enough, the Assyrians were starting to speak of conquest.
*******
*******
Interlude 1: It is during this time that the horse first appears in Near Azir. Prior to this chariots had been crude, wickerwork affairs drawn by donkeys. The horse drawn chariot had the advantage of speed and mobility over the early vehicle. Advances in chariot design and construction made it even better. Light and agile, the horse drawn chariot could range over the battlefield. Until technigues were developed that gave the infantry the advantage over them, the chariot would rule the battlefield and decide the fate of nations. It's supremacy didn't last long.
*******
*******
Interlude 2: For a desert wasteland Yarbay has been the source of an amazing number of tribes over the course of the millennia. One of the first to enter Mesopotamia after the arrival of the Sumerians was the tribe of Benjamin, who bedeviled the Black-Headed People during the 5th millennium BAF. One Benjamite was a clan chief and part time goat rustler name of Abraham. One day he went into the city of Ur to do some business. A few hours later he stormed out of the city gates, boiling mad and ready to call maledictions down on every thieving, underhanded, filthy, trash-talking, dishonorable Sumerian who lived.
He gathered his clan together and announced that they were all going to the land of Canaan (though not in so many words, Canaan as a land hadn't been established yet). He then explained why.
The next morning a contrite Abraham went back into the city of Ur and met again with the Sumerian merchant he'd had the fight with the day before. The two men made peace, and successfully concluded a business deal. The descendents of Abraham's clan later moved into Ur and in a few generations had melted into the population.
You see, Abraham had forgotten a law every Semitic husband has had to follow from time immemorial, never explain yourself. You give the order and wait for it to be carried out. You never tell why. You tell why you give your wife the opening she needs to talk you out of it. Ærth's Abraham explained himself, and that was all his wife needed to talk him out of it.
And so Ærth would never have a Hebrew people, or the nation of Israel. On the other hand, the tribe of Judah did arise some millennia later, the story of why they did not become known as Jews is a story to be related further on in this history.
*******
Coming Up: The Assyrians make their bid, Ægypt conquers the Sea People, and the death of Babylon. Till then.
Alan
Recovered from the Gaming Outpost database backup. Original wording is preserved; damaged punctuation and presentation markup have been repaired. Historical links without a local match point to the Internet Archive.