From the article archive
Writing Practice, Dec. 7th 2001
The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate
Part Six: Babylon Triumphant
Ægypt was exhausted. The long struggle against Assyria had emptied her treasuries and bankrupted her economy. Raiders from Lybbos were ranging freely over her western lands, and the Nubians had effective control over her southern reaches. At a time when she needed to be united, her generals and politicians were squabbling over the Double Crown. Pharoah didn't even have time to celebrate his victory when he was overthrown. Yet again the Valley of the Nylle was plunged into civil war.
Babylon was quick to take advantage of the situation. With the Medes occupied by the Persian uprising the Chaldeans were free to move west, conquering lands but recently freed from Assyrian rule. With no substantial opposition, Babylon soon reached the shores of the Mare Librum. Without her Ægyptian allies Judea could not effectively resist the Babylon attack. Not that that stopped her. Jerusalem fell with almost preternatural ease, and the Judeans were deported to Babylon itself. With the Levant safely in her hands Babylon was free to move south into Afrika.
For millennia Mesopotamian conquerors had dreamt of this day. Sargon of Akkad, the first Babylonians, and the Assyrians had all dreamed of making the land of Pharaoh, the Valley of the Nylle, the Twin Kingdoms, Ægypt a part of their realms. Now the land of Khem lay open before the Chaldeans.
By now the various factions had exhausted themselves fighting for the Ægyptian throne. Many a claimant had taken the Double Crown, only to be overthrown by another. Despair stalked the land. If anything, the Babylonian invasion came as something of a relief. For the first time in years someone had come with the strength and the will to bring peace.
The Babylonian conquest was more a triumphal procession than a war. City after city opened their gates to the Chaldeans. The Lybbossian raiders fled back to their own land. The Nubians retreated to their highland fastnesses. In less than five years Babylon was lord of the Nylle.
All that remained now was to conquer the Medes, or the Persians, depending on who had won the Iranians' civil war. With that done the rest of the world lay open. The primitive Greeks, savage Atlantlans, or alien Chinese certainly posed no threat to the pinnacle of civilization.
The Persians had other ideas.
The fighting was bitter, but now it was over. The Medes had submitted to Persian rule. The Iranian people now turned their attentions to mighty Babylon. With most of the Chaldean forces off pacifying Ægypt the Persians felt confident they would soon have the Chaldean capitol in their possession. The world would follow.
Babylon had stripped her defenses to conquer Ægypt, except for a few professional units, she had only militia and forced drafts to defend the capitol. The fact she was able to mount a defense is considered a remarkable feat by itself.
The ragtag Babylonian force met the Persians at a point some 20 miles north of Babylon on the Tigris river. In a day of hard, bitter fighting this army of "castoffs, old women, and youths with hairless balls" (as the Persians dubbed it) fought the Favored of Ahura Mazda to a stand still.
The Persians were about to rejoin the battle the next day, but word came that their northern expedition had run into trouble in the kingdom of Lydia. Babylon could wait for another day, Persia itself lay open to invasion. The battered, but unbroken Persians marched north. The Peacock Throne would triumph over her enemies in central and northern Anatolia, in due time to reach the Ægean sea and the land of the Greeks. They would never have time to deal with the Chaldeans.
There has been much speculation, many theories offered as to just how the vastly overmatched Babylonians did so well, when so many (even in Babylon) were predicting utter defeat and the end of Babylon as a city. Probably the best explanation of all came from an Assyrian lad, one of those swept up by Babylonian press gangs who said, "They were determined, we were more determined. We beat 'em."
*******
Coming up: Nubians to the rescue, the Persians have troubles, and Marduk gets an Idea
Part Six: Babylon Triumphant
Ægypt was exhausted. The long struggle against Assyria had emptied her treasuries and bankrupted her economy. Raiders from Lybbos were ranging freely over her western lands, and the Nubians had effective control over her southern reaches. At a time when she needed to be united, her generals and politicians were squabbling over the Double Crown. Pharoah didn't even have time to celebrate his victory when he was overthrown. Yet again the Valley of the Nylle was plunged into civil war.
Babylon was quick to take advantage of the situation. With the Medes occupied by the Persian uprising the Chaldeans were free to move west, conquering lands but recently freed from Assyrian rule. With no substantial opposition, Babylon soon reached the shores of the Mare Librum. Without her Ægyptian allies Judea could not effectively resist the Babylon attack. Not that that stopped her. Jerusalem fell with almost preternatural ease, and the Judeans were deported to Babylon itself. With the Levant safely in her hands Babylon was free to move south into Afrika.
For millennia Mesopotamian conquerors had dreamt of this day. Sargon of Akkad, the first Babylonians, and the Assyrians had all dreamed of making the land of Pharaoh, the Valley of the Nylle, the Twin Kingdoms, Ægypt a part of their realms. Now the land of Khem lay open before the Chaldeans.
By now the various factions had exhausted themselves fighting for the Ægyptian throne. Many a claimant had taken the Double Crown, only to be overthrown by another. Despair stalked the land. If anything, the Babylonian invasion came as something of a relief. For the first time in years someone had come with the strength and the will to bring peace.
The Babylonian conquest was more a triumphal procession than a war. City after city opened their gates to the Chaldeans. The Lybbossian raiders fled back to their own land. The Nubians retreated to their highland fastnesses. In less than five years Babylon was lord of the Nylle.
All that remained now was to conquer the Medes, or the Persians, depending on who had won the Iranians' civil war. With that done the rest of the world lay open. The primitive Greeks, savage Atlantlans, or alien Chinese certainly posed no threat to the pinnacle of civilization.
The Persians had other ideas.
The fighting was bitter, but now it was over. The Medes had submitted to Persian rule. The Iranian people now turned their attentions to mighty Babylon. With most of the Chaldean forces off pacifying Ægypt the Persians felt confident they would soon have the Chaldean capitol in their possession. The world would follow.
Babylon had stripped her defenses to conquer Ægypt, except for a few professional units, she had only militia and forced drafts to defend the capitol. The fact she was able to mount a defense is considered a remarkable feat by itself.
The ragtag Babylonian force met the Persians at a point some 20 miles north of Babylon on the Tigris river. In a day of hard, bitter fighting this army of "castoffs, old women, and youths with hairless balls" (as the Persians dubbed it) fought the Favored of Ahura Mazda to a stand still.
The Persians were about to rejoin the battle the next day, but word came that their northern expedition had run into trouble in the kingdom of Lydia. Babylon could wait for another day, Persia itself lay open to invasion. The battered, but unbroken Persians marched north. The Peacock Throne would triumph over her enemies in central and northern Anatolia, in due time to reach the Ægean sea and the land of the Greeks. They would never have time to deal with the Chaldeans.
There has been much speculation, many theories offered as to just how the vastly overmatched Babylonians did so well, when so many (even in Babylon) were predicting utter defeat and the end of Babylon as a city. Probably the best explanation of all came from an Assyrian lad, one of those swept up by Babylonian press gangs who said, "They were determined, we were more determined. We beat 'em."
*******
Coming up: Nubians to the rescue, the Persians have troubles, and Marduk gets an Idea
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