From the article archive
Writing Practice, Dec, 5th 2001
The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate
Part Five: As a Wolf Upon the Fold.
The Assyrians' first attempt at conquest was abortive. They did succeed in taking some Mitanni cities to the north, and a couple of Babylonian cities along their southern frontier, but quick action by Hittite and Babylonian authorities resulted in a quick reversal of fortunes. It wasn't long before the city of Asshur was under seige and the Assyrians were forced to pay a sizable tribute. Things went back to normal.
It was around this time that the Judean city of Jerusalem decided it wasn't going to pay the annual (and token) tribute to Pharoah. In years past the Judeans had refused to pay the tribute. The Ægyptians would send an emissary to find out why, and the two parties would work out a compromise. This time Pharoah sent an army.
The Judeans sent an embassy to the Hittites asking for their aid. The Ægyptians learned about this, and rerouted their punitive expedition to stop their long time foe. There is a good possibility it was the Judeans who let news of their embassy leak. It saved Jerusalem from being beseiged.
Once again the plains of Syria would see the clash of two mighty empires. Just what the Assyrians were waiting for.
As the massive Hittite and Ægyptian armies approached the town of Kadesh in Syria, Assyrian agents approached Babylon with an offer. With the Hittites occupied with their war against Pharoah, Assyria would act as Babylon's proxy and free Mitanni. The Assyrians would then prop up Mitanni and act as a buffer between the Hittites and Babylon. Babylon agreed.
Inside of five years the land of Mitanni was wrested from the Hittite kingdom, and placed firmly under Assyrian rule. Realizing she had been fooled, Babylon marshaled her forces and invaded Assyria. In the meantime the Hittites made a quick peace with Ægypt and withdrew her great army from the Syrian plain. The Ægyptians withdrew as well, falling back to Ægypt itself. With a side trip to win some concessions from those pesky Judeans.
Faced with a two front war again, the Assyrians made the best of a bad deal, and offered terms to the Babylonians. With their southern front secured they shifted forces north to face the Hittites. Once again Asshur was put under seige. But while the Hittites were able to force terms on the Assyrians, the bult of Mitanni remained under Assyrian rule.
Once again things returned to normal.
Then Ægypt decided to end the Hittite menace once and for all.
The largest army the Middle Kingdom ever fielded was assembled. As they moved north through Canaan they drafted the tribesfolk living there, including a sizable contingent of Judeans (not that the Judeans were given much of a choice in the matter, it was either contribute to the cause, or see Jerusalem razed to the ground and the hill it stood on leveled). The Hittites had to respond. They assembled a mighty army of their own and marched south to the traditional battleground. There, according to plan, either the Hittites or the Ægyptians would come out on top and the fate of the world decided.
The Philistines had different ideas.
A hodge-podge of refugees and pirates, the Philistines were fleeing the destruction of Minoan Crete and Mycenean Greece. They struck along the Levant and Ægypt's Mare Librum coast, pillaging, ravaging, and making a general nuisance of themselves.
Ægypt pulled off a miracle, defeating the main Philistine fleet off the Nylle delta. At the same time Ægypt's punitive force was called upon to defend the Canaanite coast. It would be a long, bitter struggle, but a century later the Philistines would be resettled along the Sinai's Mare Librum coast.
The Hittites, at the same time, faced a different problem. While they were preparing to conquer those damned Ægyptians, the Assyrians made preparations to conquer them. At around the same time they got word the Ægyptians were withdrawing from Syria, leaving the path to Canaan open, Assyrian troops were invading the kingdom of Hurria itself.
The Assyrians moved quickly, mindful that the Babylonians would take advantage of Assyria's preoccupation with the Hittites. With the Hittites stripped of their defenses, they could mount only a token defense. By summer's end a great empire had fallen.
Babylon, as it turns out, was not able to come to their old enemy's aid. The great city of Ur had decided to challenge Babylon. At a time when the Assyrians lay vulnerable imperial Babylon was too busy to take advantage of it.
With one problem dealt with the Assyrians turned their attention southward. Babylon's war with Ur had not gone well, and so her northern frontiers were denuded of defenses. But two years after the end of the Hittite Empire the first Babylonian Empire was destroyed.
The Assyrians would go on to conquer much of the Fertile Crescent, establishing a rule infamous for its cruelty and brutality. But they were never really able to consolidate their gains.
Ægypt was why.
The strain of near constant war over the course of centuries had bled the Twin Kingdoms dry. Libyian tribes were raiding into Ægyptian territory, and the Nubians were making inroads into the south. If not for Manasseh (A Canaanite tribe relocated to Ægypt's southern frontiers) it is possible the land of Pharoah would have been conquered.
The Valley of the Nylle was in no condition to field an army capable of doing battle with Assyria, but she could pay to have others fight for her. Under Ægyptian guidance the Canaanite tribes banded together. At the same time Ægyptian agents traveled far and wide, seeking allies in the war. The Medes and the Persians (Iranian tribes) were eager to take Ægyptian pay, and proved a constant source of irritation to the Assyrians. At the same time peoples living under Assyrian rule could be persuaded to rise in revolt against their cruel masters. Without exception those revolts were crushed, and crushed with increasing cruelty. Until the Chaldeans rose up.
*******
Coming Up: The Chaldeans arise and Assyria falls. Babylon is reborn, threatened by the Persians, and survives the crisis. The fall of Ægypt. Till then.
Alan
Part Five: As a Wolf Upon the Fold.
The Assyrians' first attempt at conquest was abortive. They did succeed in taking some Mitanni cities to the north, and a couple of Babylonian cities along their southern frontier, but quick action by Hittite and Babylonian authorities resulted in a quick reversal of fortunes. It wasn't long before the city of Asshur was under seige and the Assyrians were forced to pay a sizable tribute. Things went back to normal.
It was around this time that the Judean city of Jerusalem decided it wasn't going to pay the annual (and token) tribute to Pharoah. In years past the Judeans had refused to pay the tribute. The Ægyptians would send an emissary to find out why, and the two parties would work out a compromise. This time Pharoah sent an army.
The Judeans sent an embassy to the Hittites asking for their aid. The Ægyptians learned about this, and rerouted their punitive expedition to stop their long time foe. There is a good possibility it was the Judeans who let news of their embassy leak. It saved Jerusalem from being beseiged.
Once again the plains of Syria would see the clash of two mighty empires. Just what the Assyrians were waiting for.
As the massive Hittite and Ægyptian armies approached the town of Kadesh in Syria, Assyrian agents approached Babylon with an offer. With the Hittites occupied with their war against Pharoah, Assyria would act as Babylon's proxy and free Mitanni. The Assyrians would then prop up Mitanni and act as a buffer between the Hittites and Babylon. Babylon agreed.
Inside of five years the land of Mitanni was wrested from the Hittite kingdom, and placed firmly under Assyrian rule. Realizing she had been fooled, Babylon marshaled her forces and invaded Assyria. In the meantime the Hittites made a quick peace with Ægypt and withdrew her great army from the Syrian plain. The Ægyptians withdrew as well, falling back to Ægypt itself. With a side trip to win some concessions from those pesky Judeans.
Faced with a two front war again, the Assyrians made the best of a bad deal, and offered terms to the Babylonians. With their southern front secured they shifted forces north to face the Hittites. Once again Asshur was put under seige. But while the Hittites were able to force terms on the Assyrians, the bult of Mitanni remained under Assyrian rule.
Once again things returned to normal.
Then Ægypt decided to end the Hittite menace once and for all.
The largest army the Middle Kingdom ever fielded was assembled. As they moved north through Canaan they drafted the tribesfolk living there, including a sizable contingent of Judeans (not that the Judeans were given much of a choice in the matter, it was either contribute to the cause, or see Jerusalem razed to the ground and the hill it stood on leveled). The Hittites had to respond. They assembled a mighty army of their own and marched south to the traditional battleground. There, according to plan, either the Hittites or the Ægyptians would come out on top and the fate of the world decided.
The Philistines had different ideas.
A hodge-podge of refugees and pirates, the Philistines were fleeing the destruction of Minoan Crete and Mycenean Greece. They struck along the Levant and Ægypt's Mare Librum coast, pillaging, ravaging, and making a general nuisance of themselves.
Ægypt pulled off a miracle, defeating the main Philistine fleet off the Nylle delta. At the same time Ægypt's punitive force was called upon to defend the Canaanite coast. It would be a long, bitter struggle, but a century later the Philistines would be resettled along the Sinai's Mare Librum coast.
The Hittites, at the same time, faced a different problem. While they were preparing to conquer those damned Ægyptians, the Assyrians made preparations to conquer them. At around the same time they got word the Ægyptians were withdrawing from Syria, leaving the path to Canaan open, Assyrian troops were invading the kingdom of Hurria itself.
The Assyrians moved quickly, mindful that the Babylonians would take advantage of Assyria's preoccupation with the Hittites. With the Hittites stripped of their defenses, they could mount only a token defense. By summer's end a great empire had fallen.
Babylon, as it turns out, was not able to come to their old enemy's aid. The great city of Ur had decided to challenge Babylon. At a time when the Assyrians lay vulnerable imperial Babylon was too busy to take advantage of it.
With one problem dealt with the Assyrians turned their attention southward. Babylon's war with Ur had not gone well, and so her northern frontiers were denuded of defenses. But two years after the end of the Hittite Empire the first Babylonian Empire was destroyed.
The Assyrians would go on to conquer much of the Fertile Crescent, establishing a rule infamous for its cruelty and brutality. But they were never really able to consolidate their gains.
Ægypt was why.
The strain of near constant war over the course of centuries had bled the Twin Kingdoms dry. Libyian tribes were raiding into Ægyptian territory, and the Nubians were making inroads into the south. If not for Manasseh (A Canaanite tribe relocated to Ægypt's southern frontiers) it is possible the land of Pharoah would have been conquered.
The Valley of the Nylle was in no condition to field an army capable of doing battle with Assyria, but she could pay to have others fight for her. Under Ægyptian guidance the Canaanite tribes banded together. At the same time Ægyptian agents traveled far and wide, seeking allies in the war. The Medes and the Persians (Iranian tribes) were eager to take Ægyptian pay, and proved a constant source of irritation to the Assyrians. At the same time peoples living under Assyrian rule could be persuaded to rise in revolt against their cruel masters. Without exception those revolts were crushed, and crushed with increasing cruelty. Until the Chaldeans rose up.
*******
Coming Up: The Chaldeans arise and Assyria falls. Babylon is reborn, threatened by the Persians, and survives the crisis. The fall of Ægypt. Till then.
Alan
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