The Assyrian Empire vs. Greece
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The Assyrian Came Down...
I am posting a newly revised and expanded version of the first installment of the timeline. In my next post, I will post the events of the reign of King Esarhaddon (681-661 BC).
THE ASSYRIAN CAME DOWN
A timeline of the Assyrian Conquest of Greece and it’s Aftermath
By Robert Perkins
PART ONE: 823 BC TO 681 BC
(From the death of Shalmaneser III to the death of Sennacherib).
823-745 BC--King Shalmaneser III of Assyria dies in 823 BC. Upon his death, the Assyrian Empire is rent by civil war. He is succeeded by Shamshi Adad V, the final victor in the civil war, who will be the first of a nearly unbroken succession of weak rulers who will nearly ruin Assyria over the next several decades. Poor leadership and increasing pressure from the Kingdom of Urartu (based in the mountains north of Assyria) mostly prevent Assyria from expanding outside its core area during this period.
815 BC--Carthage is founded by a Phoenician expedition from Tyre.
814 BC--Death of Jehu, King of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Jehoahaz. Most of Jehoahaz’s reign will be spent at war with King Hazael of Damascus.
811 BC--Death of King Shamshi Adad V of Assyria. He is succeeded as King by Adad Nirari III.
811-782 BC--Reign of King Adad Nirari III of Assyria. He is succeeded as King by Adad Nirari III. Adad Nirari III will be the sole exception to the parade of weak rulers of Assyria during this period of history. During his long reign, he will capture Damascus, bring Syria and Palestine under tribute, and campaign against the Medes and Urartians, penetrating as far as the Caspian Sea.
801 BC--Death of King Jehoahaz of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Jehoash. Like his father, Jehoash will war with Hazael of Damascus.
800 BC--Death of King Jehoash of Judah. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Amaziah.
c. 800 BC onward--Greece is gradually emerging from the Dark Ages following the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. An increase in trade and the establishment of governmental defense fortifications allows for the emergence of Greek city-states (the Polis) from tribal communities. These grow up around marketplaces and include cities such as Athens, Thebes, Sparta, Corinth and Megara on the Greek mainland. Soon afterward, overpopulation will lead to these city-states sending out colonization expeditions to many places around the Mediterranean. The Phoenician alphabet is also adapted for the Greek language at this time.
c. 800 BC--First Phoenician presence in Sardinia. Proto-Celtic peoples develop the first Iron Age societies (the Hallstatt Culture) in central Europe.
796 BC--Death of King Hazael of Damascus. He is succeeded by his son, who rules as King Ben Hadad III. Ben Hadad, like his father, will be frequently at war with Assyria, Israel, and Judah.
c. 794 BC--King Amaziah of Judah declares war against Israel, but is defeated and captured by King Jehoash of Israel. He will remain a prisoner of Jehoash until the latter’s
death in 786 BC. His sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah, is named King in his stead.
c. 790 BC--Greek trading settlement established at Al Mina in Syria.
786 BC--Death of King Jehoash of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Jeroboam II. King Amaziah of Judah is released from captivity in Israel, and returns to Jerusalem to take up the kingship again. Amaziah will, over the succeeding years, campaign successfully against the Edomites and Philistines.
782 BC--Death of King Adad Nirari III of Assyria. He is succeeded by Shalmaneser IV.
782-772 BC--Reign of King Shalmaneser IV of Assyria. Little of note happens during his reign, although Shalmaneser does conduct several campaigns against the Urartians, without much success. During his reign, the power of the King begins to be severely limited by that of powerful court dignitaries.
776 BC--First Olympic Games.
772 BC--Death of King Shalmaneser IV of Assyria. He is succeeded by Ashur Dan III.
772-754 BC--Reign of King Ashur Dan III of Assyria. Ashur Dan’s reign is a difficult age for the Assyrian monarchy. The declining power of the kingship due to the increasing influence of court dignitaries such as the commander-in-chief of the army, which had begun under the regin of Shalmaneser IV, continues unabated during Ashur Dan’s reign. Assyria is also hit by a series of disasters during his reign. In 765 BC Assyria will be hit by a plague. Then, in 763 BC, a revolt will break out, which will last until 759 BC, when another plague hits the land.
770 BC--Founding of the Phoenician settlement at Gadir, the gateway to Spanish Silver.
c. 770 BC--King Ben Hadad III of Damascus dies, and is succeeded by Tab-El.
769 BC--King Amaziah of Judah has fallen into idolatry, worshipping the gods of the Edomites which he captured and brought to Jerusalem after his successful campaigns against them, and the people of Judah revolt against him. Amaziah flees to Lachish, where he is murdered. He is succeeded by his son, Uzziah. Like his father, Uzziah is a great administrator and politician. He will defeat the Philistines in battle and subjugate the Ammonites during his long reign.
760 BC--Foundation of Cumae, in southern Italy, by Greek colonists from Cumae.
754 BC--Death of King Ashur Dan III of Assyria. He is succeeded by Ashur Nirari IV.
754-744 BC--Reign of Ashur Nirari IV of Assyria. Ashur Nirari’s reign is marked by continuing decline of royal power at the hands of the powerful court dignitaries, and will also see several revolts break out. The most serious of these breaks out in 746 BC, and ends when Ashur Nirari is slain and the throne is usurped by an army general.
753 BC--Traditional date of the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus. After killing his brother, Romulus becomes the first King of Rome. Rape of the Sabine Women.
c. 750 BC--Etruscan voyages towards southern Tyrrhenian Sea and start of Etruscan 'thalassocracy.' Etruscan sea power and merchant trading begins to make itself felt all
over the western Mediterranean. Also at this time, Euboean Greeks found Naxos and Megarian Greeks found Megara Hyblaea in Sicily. Also at about this time, King Uzziah of Judah is struck down with Tzaraath (a skin disease of uncertain type, sometimes equated with leprosy, but whose symptoms, as described in the Bible, do not match those of leprosy as understood by modern medical science). His son, Jotham, rules as regent in his stead from this time onward.
746 BC--Death of King Jeroboam II of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns, briefly, as King Zechariah.
745 BC--King Zechariah of Israel is murdered by an army general named Shallum, who usurps the throne. Shallum will reign only a month, before he himself is murdered by another army general named Menahem, who takes the throne for himself.
744 BC--Death of King Ashur Nirari IV of Assyria. He is succeeded by Tiglath Pileser III.
744-727 BC--Reign of King Tiglath Pileser III. Tiglath Pileser was originally named Pulu, and was an army general who was the governor of the city of Kalhu (Nimrud), south of Nineveh, and one of the major rebels against the rule of Ashur Nirari IV. Pulu claimed to be a son of King Adad Nirari III, but this is unlikely, and he was probably a commoner or only distantly related to the royal house. When Pulu staged his successful coup, he had the entire royal family slaughtered. Thus his reign marks the beginning of a new dynasty in Assyria, and the foundation of will be known to history as the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
Tiglath Pileser III will be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, kings Assyria will produce. He will institute reforms of the governmental structure of the kingdom which will restore the power of the monarchy and finally break the power of the court dignitaries which had been disrupting the stability of the Empire since the reign of Shalmaneser IV. He also reforms the army, incorporating, for the first time, large numbers of non-Assyrians into the army (the non-natives will provide most of the infantry for the army, while the native Assyrians will, henceforth, primarily serve as cavalry and chariotry), thus allowing a great expansion of Assyrian military forces and giving them an army which can operate all year long (previously, the Assyrian army campaigned only in the summer).
744-740 BC--King Tiglath Pileser III deals a heavy defeat to the Kingdom of Urartu, breaking the power of this kingdom for some time to come. He also campaigns against the Medes, the Neo-Hittite cities in Syria, and Phoenicia during this period.
740 BC--Tiglath Pileser III takes Arpad (near Aleppo in Syria) after a 3 year siege, and subjects the Aramean kingdom of Hamath to tribute. He also defeats King Uzziah of Judah in this year, and exacts a tribute of 1,000 talents of silver from King Menahem of Israel. King Uzziah of Judah dies this year, and is succeeded by his son, Jotham. Jotham will have short but mostly successful reign, strengthening the fortifications of many cities in his kingdom, and militarily defeating the
Ammonites.
c. 740 BC--Rezon II succeeds Tab-El as King of Damascus. He will be the last king of an independent Aramaean Damascus.
738 BC--Death of King Menahem of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Pekahiah.
737 BC--King Pekahiah of Israel is murdered by an army general named Pekah, who usurps the throne.
735-710 BC--Spartan conquest of Messenia. The Messenian population is enslaved, becoming the “helots” who will form the economic basis of Spartan society.
735 BC--Death of King Jotham of Judah. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Ahaz. Ahaz is remembered as an evil king who sacrificed his own son to pagan gods, and set up pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord. He also paid tribute to Assyria, and allied with it.
734 BC--The earliest known Greek colony on the island of Sicily, Naxos, is founded. The absorption of eastern Sicily into Magna Graecia (Greater Greece) begins. Syracuse (Siracusa) is also founded by Greek colonists from Corinth.
733 BC--King Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria conquers Philistia, on the coast of Palestine.
732 BC--King Piye (Pyankhi) of Kush attacks Egypt, which has been, for the past century, divided into several competing kingdoms. Taking advantage of this division among the natives, Piye’s armies establish Kushite rule over most of Egypt. However, the 24th Dynasty, based at Sais in the Nile delta region, remains independent. Also in this year, King Pekah of Israel allies with King Rezon II of Damascus against King Ahaz of Judah, who is an ally of Assyria, the allied kings laying siege to Jerusalem. Ahaz calls on his ally, King Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria, for aid. Tiglath Pileser conquers Damascus, razing it to the ground and executing its king, Rezon II. He then attacks the kingdom of Israel, taking most of it’s territory and converting it into Assyrian provinces. Tiglath Pileser deposes King Pekah of Israel, replacing him with Hoshea, from whom he extracts a tribute of 10 talents of gold and 10,000 talents of silver. Hoshea has Pekah executed. First large deportation of members of the ten northern Israelite tribes to other parts of the Assyrian Empire. Hoshea will continue to pay tribute to Assyria for the next decade.
730 BC--Zankle-Messene (Messina) founded by Greek colonists from Kyme and Chalcis. Founding of the city of Rhegium by Greeks from Chalcis.
729 BC--Katane (Catania) founded by Greek colonists from Chalcis. King Tiglath Pileser III conquers Babylon and installs himself as King, where he reigns under the name of King Pulu.
727 BC--Death of King Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria. He is succeeded as King by Shalmaneser V. King Luliya of Tyre, hoping to take advantage of a moment of Assyrian weakness, revolts against his Assyrian overlords in alliance with other regional kings. King Shalmaneser V devastates Phoenicia, but fails to capture Tyre.
727-721 BC--Reign of King Shalmaneser V of Assyria. Shalmaneser will campaign in Phoenicia and Palestine during his short reign.
c. 725 BC--Hesiod writes the THEOGONY. Homer writes THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY.
725 BC--Tyre is again in revolt against Assyria. Tyre wins a naval battle against the Sidonian allies of the Assyrians, and withstands a five year siege.
724 BC--King Hoshea of Israel makes an alliance with Pharaoh Osorkon IV of Egypt (who is one of four competing Pharaohs in Egypt at the time and actually rules only the area around Tanis, in the Nile Delta of Egypt), and stops sending tribute to his Assyrian overlords. King Shalmaneser V invades Israel and lays siege to Hoshea’s capital at Samaria. Hoshea’s pleas to his Egyptian ally go unanswered, and he is left to face the wrath of Assyria alone.
721 BC--King Shalmaneser V of Assyria is assassinated while besieging the Israelite capital at Samaria. One of his generals usurps the throne. He rules as King Sargon II. Sargon completes the successful siege of Samaria, destroys the city, and deports approximately 30,000 Israelites. King Hoshea is taken into captivity with his people, and is heard from no more (most likely executed by Sargon). The Kingdom of Israel is no more. Also in this year, Marduk-apal-iddina, a Chaldean Chieftain, in alliance with Elamite King Ummanigash, takes Babylon and establishes himself there as King.
720 BC--Sargon II moves against Elam, but is defeated at the Battle of Der. However, the victory is very costly to the Elamites, who will remain quiet for some time to come. Later that same year, he defeats a Syrian coalition at Qarqar, gaining control of Arpad, Simirra, and Damascus. He then moves against Palestine again, where an alliance with the Philistines and Egyptians is attacking King Ahaz of Judah, who is allied to Assyria. Sargon defeats the enemy coalition and destroys the Philistine cities of Gaza and Raphia. Assyrian rule is firmly established over all of Palestine. Also at about this time, the Cimmerians, an Indo-European tribe living in the region of the Crimea, are defeated by the Scythians and begin to migrate south through the Caucasus Mountains into Anatolia, where they attack the kingdom of Urartu. The Urartians, Assyria's most powerful enemy, will be sorely beset by these tribesmen for some time to come.
718-712 BC--Reign of Pharaoh Wahkare (Bocchoris), last ruler of the Saite 24th Dynasty. Wahkare abolishes debt slavery, and grants to the tenants who farm the royal lands title to the lands they farm, establishing a class of land-owning bourgeoisie called the "nemhu."
717 BC--Sargon II of Assyria takes Carchemish, the last major independent Hittite city, located on the upper Euphrates.
717-715 BC--Sargon II campaigns in Iran. Among the tribes he subjugates are the Medes and the Parsuash, ancestors of the Persians, who at the time lived near Lake Urmia.
716 BC--Romulus, the legendary founder and first King of Rome, dies. Numa Pompilius becomes king of Rome. Death of King Piye of Kush. He is succeeded by his brother, Shabaka. Shabaka begins making plans for the final conquest of Egypt.
715 BC--King Ahaz of Judah dies. His son, Hezekiah, is not content to be an Assyrian vassal, and begins scheming with the Egyptians and other surrounding states.
714 BC--The Cimmerians inflict a major defeat on the forces of Urartu, capturing and burning the city of Mushashir. King Sargon II of Assyria, taking advantage of the overthrow of Assyria's great enemy, invades Urartu. He decisively defeats the Urartian army at Lake Urmia, killing King Rusas I. Urartian power is completely broken, although the kingdom will survive until it is finally destroyed by the Scythians and Medes in 612 BC.
713-709 BC--In 713 BC, having learned of illicit aid by King Midas III of Phrygia given to King Rusas I of Urartu during the recent campaign, Sargon II leads the Assyrian army into Anatolia in the first of several yearly campaigns. During these campaigns he conquers the last of the independent Hittite cities, destroys Phrygia, as well as decisively defeating the Cimmerians, who had settled in the bend of the Halys River. King Midas III commits suicide as his capital city, Gordium, falls to the Assyrians in 709 BC. Thousands of Hittites, Phrygians, and Cimmerians are deported to Assyria, and thousands of other conquered peoples are transported to Anatolia. The Assyrians grant independence to the Phrygian vassal state of Lydia, whose king, Gyges, had allied himself with Assyria against his Phrygian overlord.
712 BC--King Shabaka of Kush invades Egypt and conquers the entire country. Pharaoh Wahkare, last Pharaoh of the 24th Dynasty at Sais and the last remaining independent native Egyptian king, is captured and burned alive at Shabaka‘s orders. Beginning of the Kushite 25th Dynasty.
711 BC--A Palestinian coalition, consisting of the Philistine King of Ashdod, King Hezekiah of Judah, and the kings of Moab and Edom, rises in rebellion against Assyria. This coalition has the support of Shabaka, the Kushite Pharaoh of Egypt. An Assyrian army (commanded by one of his generals, as King Sargon himself is in Anatolia) defeats the coalition outside of Ashdod. The rebels surrender and once again swear allegiance to Assyria.
710 BC--With the conquest of Phrygia virtually complete, King Sargon II of Assyria returns to Assyria, where he begins planning a new campaign against his arch-enemies, Babylonia and Elam. One Assyrian army moves against Elamite King Shutruk-Nahunte II and another moves against King Marduk-apal-iddina of Babylon. Sargon lays siege to Babylon, which surrenders later that year. Marduk-apal-iddina flees the city, but is captured and executed. Sargon is proclaimed King of Babylonia. Meanwhile, his army also inflicts a major defeat on the Elamites, who sue for peace and will not threaten Assyria for many years. Also in this year, the city-states of Cyprus submit to Assyria, and Cyprus is incorporated into the Assyrian Empire.
c. 710 BC onward--The Lelantine war between Eretria and Chalcis. Over the succeeding years, most of the city states of Greece will take sides and, either actively or inactively, participate in this conflict.
c. 710 BC--Achaean Greeks found Sybaris and Croton, Laconians (Spartans) found Tarentum, all in southern Italy. Also at about this time, the Etruscans adopt the Euboean Greek alphabet.
705 BC--King Sargon II of Assyria is killed in battle with the Cimmerians, who had rebelled against Assyrian rule. His son, Sennacherib, takes the throne.
704 BC--The son of the Babylonian king who had been captured and executed by Sargon, siezes the throne of Babylon, where he rules as King Marduk-apal-iddina II.
703-702 BC--King Sennacherib of Assyria marches against Babylon and it's ally, the King of Elam, defeating them and capturing Marduk-apal-iddina of Babylon, who he has flayed alive. Sennacherib installs another Chaldean prince, Bel-Ibni, on the throne of Babylon. 208,000 Babylonians and Chaldeans are deported.
701 BC--King Hezekiah of Judah forms an alliance with Pharoah Shabaka of Egypt and the kings of various other Phoenician and Palestinian states. King Sennacherib of Assyria defeats the combined forces of the coalition at the Battle of Eltekeh in Syria. King Luli of Sidon is forced to abandon his city to the Assyrians (Luli escapes to Cyprus, where he will perish). Sennacherib then advances into Palestine, where he sacks several of the cities of Judah and places Jerusalem under siege. Fortunately for Hezekiah, he had foreseen this eventuality and had a 533 meter long tunnel dug through solid rock so as to give Jerusalem access to the Spring of Gihon, thus ensuring a safe water supply for the city. He then ordered the springs outside the city poisoned, so that the besieging Assyrians would have no water. Nevertheless, the Assyrians press the siege, and seeing impending doom, King Hezekiah offers Sennacherib a huge tribute of 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Sennacherib accepts Hezekiah's submission...and the tribute...and retires, leaving Hezekiah still on his throne.
c. 700 BC--Motya and Panormos (Palermo) founded by Phoenician colonists from Carthage. The Phoenicians establish their own colonies in western Sicily in response to pressure from Greeks. Also, Greek colonists from Miletus (in Anatolia) begin colonizing the Black Sea region. Etruscan city states unite in a loose confederation which begins to dominate northern and central Italy.
700 BC--Death of Pharaoh Shabaka of Egypt. He is succeeded by Sabataka (called Shebitku in many sources).
699 BC--King Sennacherib of Assyria, suspecting King Hezekiah (probably rightly) of once again plotting with the Egyptians, invades Judah. Once again he sacks several Judahite cities and besieges Jerusalem. But a plague strikes his army, forcing him to abandon the siege. King Hezekiah celebrates the miracle, claiming it as the intervention of the Lord, but he clearly knows he has had a close call. He does not rise against Assyria again.
694-692 BC--King Gyges of Lydia begins raiding the Greek cities along the coast of Anatolia. The sorely pressed Greeks call on their mainland brethren for aid. King Eryxias of Athens, King Pheidon II of Argos, and the aristocratic oligarchy ruling Corinth all respond to this request with troops and ships. They defeat the Lydians, and lay siege to the capital of King Gyges at Sardis. Gyges appeals to his Assyrian allies for aid, but King Sennacherib, heavily involved in a war against the Elamites and the Babylonians, sends his regrets, but no aid. Sardis falls in 692 BC, and Gyges flees to the court of Sennacherib.
694-689 BC--King Bel Ibni of Babylon, in alliance with the Elamites, declares the independence of Babylonia in 694 BC. King Sennacherib invades, and in 691 BC, defeats the Babylonians and Elamites at the Battle of Hallulina. The war goes on, however, and finally Sennacherib lays siege to Babylon itself, which he captures and destroys in 689 BC. Sennacherib deports thousands of Babylonians and carries god Marduk off to Assyria.
689 BC--Having finally dealt a crushing blow to the Elamites and destroyed Babylon, Assyria's southern frontier is secure, and Sennacherib can now spare a glance toward his Anatolian frontier, where Greek pirates are now raiding the cities on the coast and a Greek army controls Lydia, in a position to threaten the Assyrian provinces in Phrygia and Cilicia. On the pretext of restoring his ally, Gyges, to the throne of Lydia, King Sennacherib declares war on the Greeks.
688 BC--Gela, in Sicily, founded by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete. Death of Pharaoh Sabataka of Kush/Egypt. He is succeeded by his brother, Taharka.
688-682 BC--The Greek Campaigns: In 688 BC, having gathered a huge army and secured the services of a powerful fleet of Phoenician and Cypriot ships, King Sennacherib moves against the troublesome Greeks. He enters Greece at a time when much of it is embroiled in the Lelantine War, thus preventing the Greeks from uniting in common cause against the Assyrians. He first advances into Lydia, where he defeats the Greek armies encamped there, and then he besieges and takes the Greek cities on the Ionian coast. Using these cities as a base, he then transports an army by sea to Athens. Landing on the plain of Marathon in 685 BC, he defeats the Athenian army and lays siege to the city, which falls by the end of the year. Sennacherib destroys the city and deports most of the population to Babylonia and Palestine. In the following years, he takes and destroys the cities of Thebes, Corinth, Argos, and Sparta, deporting large portions their populations as he did that of Athens. Forbidden to rebuild their homes, most of the remaining populations of the destroyed cities take ship to the west, where they settle in the budding cities of Magna Graecia (Sicily and southern Italy). The other Greek cities, seeing the Assyrian coming down on them "like the wolf on the fold," sue for peace and submit to Assyrian rule. Assyrian governors are installed, and the process of integrating the newly conquered territory into the Assyrian empire begins.
687 BC--Death of King Hezekiah of Judah. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Manasseh. Manasseh, unlike his father, will be a staunch ally of Assyria, even to the extent of installing Assyrian idols in the Temple of Yahweh at Jerusalem. He will also campaign with King Esarhaddon against the rebellious King of Sidon in 677 BC.
682 BC onward--There is a major population movement from Greece to the colonies of Magna Graecia. Survivors of the destructions of Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos all found colonies in southern Italy or Sicily…out of reach of the vengeful Assyrians…over the next few years. In mainland Greece, smaller cities which previously had lived in the shadows of these great cities now find new economic and political opportunities for themselves, and many experience rapid growth. Among these is Megara, which had sided with Assyria in its invasion and largely as a result of Assyrian patronage and favor, over the succeeding period becomes the most powerful Polis in mainland Greece. As for the survivors of the destroyed cities, they attempt to re-create their lost cities in a new land, and continue the political and cultural traditions they were forced to abandon at the loss of their home cities.
681 BC--While offering prayers of thanks for the recent victory over the Greeks to the god Ninurta in Nineveh, Sennacherib is assassinated by his sons, Arda Mulissi (called Adramelech in the Bible) and Sharezer. These two are soon forced to flee by their younger brother, who assumes the throne as King Esarhaddon.
I am posting a newly revised and expanded version of the first installment of the timeline. In my next post, I will post the events of the reign of King Esarhaddon (681-661 BC).
THE ASSYRIAN CAME DOWN
A timeline of the Assyrian Conquest of Greece and it’s Aftermath
By Robert Perkins
PART ONE: 823 BC TO 681 BC
(From the death of Shalmaneser III to the death of Sennacherib).
823-745 BC--King Shalmaneser III of Assyria dies in 823 BC. Upon his death, the Assyrian Empire is rent by civil war. He is succeeded by Shamshi Adad V, the final victor in the civil war, who will be the first of a nearly unbroken succession of weak rulers who will nearly ruin Assyria over the next several decades. Poor leadership and increasing pressure from the Kingdom of Urartu (based in the mountains north of Assyria) mostly prevent Assyria from expanding outside its core area during this period.
815 BC--Carthage is founded by a Phoenician expedition from Tyre.
814 BC--Death of Jehu, King of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Jehoahaz. Most of Jehoahaz’s reign will be spent at war with King Hazael of Damascus.
811 BC--Death of King Shamshi Adad V of Assyria. He is succeeded as King by Adad Nirari III.
811-782 BC--Reign of King Adad Nirari III of Assyria. He is succeeded as King by Adad Nirari III. Adad Nirari III will be the sole exception to the parade of weak rulers of Assyria during this period of history. During his long reign, he will capture Damascus, bring Syria and Palestine under tribute, and campaign against the Medes and Urartians, penetrating as far as the Caspian Sea.
801 BC--Death of King Jehoahaz of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Jehoash. Like his father, Jehoash will war with Hazael of Damascus.
800 BC--Death of King Jehoash of Judah. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Amaziah.
c. 800 BC onward--Greece is gradually emerging from the Dark Ages following the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. An increase in trade and the establishment of governmental defense fortifications allows for the emergence of Greek city-states (the Polis) from tribal communities. These grow up around marketplaces and include cities such as Athens, Thebes, Sparta, Corinth and Megara on the Greek mainland. Soon afterward, overpopulation will lead to these city-states sending out colonization expeditions to many places around the Mediterranean. The Phoenician alphabet is also adapted for the Greek language at this time.
c. 800 BC--First Phoenician presence in Sardinia. Proto-Celtic peoples develop the first Iron Age societies (the Hallstatt Culture) in central Europe.
796 BC--Death of King Hazael of Damascus. He is succeeded by his son, who rules as King Ben Hadad III. Ben Hadad, like his father, will be frequently at war with Assyria, Israel, and Judah.
c. 794 BC--King Amaziah of Judah declares war against Israel, but is defeated and captured by King Jehoash of Israel. He will remain a prisoner of Jehoash until the latter’s
death in 786 BC. His sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah, is named King in his stead.
c. 790 BC--Greek trading settlement established at Al Mina in Syria.
786 BC--Death of King Jehoash of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Jeroboam II. King Amaziah of Judah is released from captivity in Israel, and returns to Jerusalem to take up the kingship again. Amaziah will, over the succeeding years, campaign successfully against the Edomites and Philistines.
782 BC--Death of King Adad Nirari III of Assyria. He is succeeded by Shalmaneser IV.
782-772 BC--Reign of King Shalmaneser IV of Assyria. Little of note happens during his reign, although Shalmaneser does conduct several campaigns against the Urartians, without much success. During his reign, the power of the King begins to be severely limited by that of powerful court dignitaries.
776 BC--First Olympic Games.
772 BC--Death of King Shalmaneser IV of Assyria. He is succeeded by Ashur Dan III.
772-754 BC--Reign of King Ashur Dan III of Assyria. Ashur Dan’s reign is a difficult age for the Assyrian monarchy. The declining power of the kingship due to the increasing influence of court dignitaries such as the commander-in-chief of the army, which had begun under the regin of Shalmaneser IV, continues unabated during Ashur Dan’s reign. Assyria is also hit by a series of disasters during his reign. In 765 BC Assyria will be hit by a plague. Then, in 763 BC, a revolt will break out, which will last until 759 BC, when another plague hits the land.
770 BC--Founding of the Phoenician settlement at Gadir, the gateway to Spanish Silver.
c. 770 BC--King Ben Hadad III of Damascus dies, and is succeeded by Tab-El.
769 BC--King Amaziah of Judah has fallen into idolatry, worshipping the gods of the Edomites which he captured and brought to Jerusalem after his successful campaigns against them, and the people of Judah revolt against him. Amaziah flees to Lachish, where he is murdered. He is succeeded by his son, Uzziah. Like his father, Uzziah is a great administrator and politician. He will defeat the Philistines in battle and subjugate the Ammonites during his long reign.
760 BC--Foundation of Cumae, in southern Italy, by Greek colonists from Cumae.
754 BC--Death of King Ashur Dan III of Assyria. He is succeeded by Ashur Nirari IV.
754-744 BC--Reign of Ashur Nirari IV of Assyria. Ashur Nirari’s reign is marked by continuing decline of royal power at the hands of the powerful court dignitaries, and will also see several revolts break out. The most serious of these breaks out in 746 BC, and ends when Ashur Nirari is slain and the throne is usurped by an army general.
753 BC--Traditional date of the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus. After killing his brother, Romulus becomes the first King of Rome. Rape of the Sabine Women.
c. 750 BC--Etruscan voyages towards southern Tyrrhenian Sea and start of Etruscan 'thalassocracy.' Etruscan sea power and merchant trading begins to make itself felt all
over the western Mediterranean. Also at this time, Euboean Greeks found Naxos and Megarian Greeks found Megara Hyblaea in Sicily. Also at about this time, King Uzziah of Judah is struck down with Tzaraath (a skin disease of uncertain type, sometimes equated with leprosy, but whose symptoms, as described in the Bible, do not match those of leprosy as understood by modern medical science). His son, Jotham, rules as regent in his stead from this time onward.
746 BC--Death of King Jeroboam II of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns, briefly, as King Zechariah.
745 BC--King Zechariah of Israel is murdered by an army general named Shallum, who usurps the throne. Shallum will reign only a month, before he himself is murdered by another army general named Menahem, who takes the throne for himself.
744 BC--Death of King Ashur Nirari IV of Assyria. He is succeeded by Tiglath Pileser III.
744-727 BC--Reign of King Tiglath Pileser III. Tiglath Pileser was originally named Pulu, and was an army general who was the governor of the city of Kalhu (Nimrud), south of Nineveh, and one of the major rebels against the rule of Ashur Nirari IV. Pulu claimed to be a son of King Adad Nirari III, but this is unlikely, and he was probably a commoner or only distantly related to the royal house. When Pulu staged his successful coup, he had the entire royal family slaughtered. Thus his reign marks the beginning of a new dynasty in Assyria, and the foundation of will be known to history as the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
Tiglath Pileser III will be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, kings Assyria will produce. He will institute reforms of the governmental structure of the kingdom which will restore the power of the monarchy and finally break the power of the court dignitaries which had been disrupting the stability of the Empire since the reign of Shalmaneser IV. He also reforms the army, incorporating, for the first time, large numbers of non-Assyrians into the army (the non-natives will provide most of the infantry for the army, while the native Assyrians will, henceforth, primarily serve as cavalry and chariotry), thus allowing a great expansion of Assyrian military forces and giving them an army which can operate all year long (previously, the Assyrian army campaigned only in the summer).
744-740 BC--King Tiglath Pileser III deals a heavy defeat to the Kingdom of Urartu, breaking the power of this kingdom for some time to come. He also campaigns against the Medes, the Neo-Hittite cities in Syria, and Phoenicia during this period.
740 BC--Tiglath Pileser III takes Arpad (near Aleppo in Syria) after a 3 year siege, and subjects the Aramean kingdom of Hamath to tribute. He also defeats King Uzziah of Judah in this year, and exacts a tribute of 1,000 talents of silver from King Menahem of Israel. King Uzziah of Judah dies this year, and is succeeded by his son, Jotham. Jotham will have short but mostly successful reign, strengthening the fortifications of many cities in his kingdom, and militarily defeating the
Ammonites.
c. 740 BC--Rezon II succeeds Tab-El as King of Damascus. He will be the last king of an independent Aramaean Damascus.
738 BC--Death of King Menahem of Israel. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Pekahiah.
737 BC--King Pekahiah of Israel is murdered by an army general named Pekah, who usurps the throne.
735-710 BC--Spartan conquest of Messenia. The Messenian population is enslaved, becoming the “helots” who will form the economic basis of Spartan society.
735 BC--Death of King Jotham of Judah. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Ahaz. Ahaz is remembered as an evil king who sacrificed his own son to pagan gods, and set up pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord. He also paid tribute to Assyria, and allied with it.
734 BC--The earliest known Greek colony on the island of Sicily, Naxos, is founded. The absorption of eastern Sicily into Magna Graecia (Greater Greece) begins. Syracuse (Siracusa) is also founded by Greek colonists from Corinth.
733 BC--King Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria conquers Philistia, on the coast of Palestine.
732 BC--King Piye (Pyankhi) of Kush attacks Egypt, which has been, for the past century, divided into several competing kingdoms. Taking advantage of this division among the natives, Piye’s armies establish Kushite rule over most of Egypt. However, the 24th Dynasty, based at Sais in the Nile delta region, remains independent. Also in this year, King Pekah of Israel allies with King Rezon II of Damascus against King Ahaz of Judah, who is an ally of Assyria, the allied kings laying siege to Jerusalem. Ahaz calls on his ally, King Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria, for aid. Tiglath Pileser conquers Damascus, razing it to the ground and executing its king, Rezon II. He then attacks the kingdom of Israel, taking most of it’s territory and converting it into Assyrian provinces. Tiglath Pileser deposes King Pekah of Israel, replacing him with Hoshea, from whom he extracts a tribute of 10 talents of gold and 10,000 talents of silver. Hoshea has Pekah executed. First large deportation of members of the ten northern Israelite tribes to other parts of the Assyrian Empire. Hoshea will continue to pay tribute to Assyria for the next decade.
730 BC--Zankle-Messene (Messina) founded by Greek colonists from Kyme and Chalcis. Founding of the city of Rhegium by Greeks from Chalcis.
729 BC--Katane (Catania) founded by Greek colonists from Chalcis. King Tiglath Pileser III conquers Babylon and installs himself as King, where he reigns under the name of King Pulu.
727 BC--Death of King Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria. He is succeeded as King by Shalmaneser V. King Luliya of Tyre, hoping to take advantage of a moment of Assyrian weakness, revolts against his Assyrian overlords in alliance with other regional kings. King Shalmaneser V devastates Phoenicia, but fails to capture Tyre.
727-721 BC--Reign of King Shalmaneser V of Assyria. Shalmaneser will campaign in Phoenicia and Palestine during his short reign.
c. 725 BC--Hesiod writes the THEOGONY. Homer writes THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY.
725 BC--Tyre is again in revolt against Assyria. Tyre wins a naval battle against the Sidonian allies of the Assyrians, and withstands a five year siege.
724 BC--King Hoshea of Israel makes an alliance with Pharaoh Osorkon IV of Egypt (who is one of four competing Pharaohs in Egypt at the time and actually rules only the area around Tanis, in the Nile Delta of Egypt), and stops sending tribute to his Assyrian overlords. King Shalmaneser V invades Israel and lays siege to Hoshea’s capital at Samaria. Hoshea’s pleas to his Egyptian ally go unanswered, and he is left to face the wrath of Assyria alone.
721 BC--King Shalmaneser V of Assyria is assassinated while besieging the Israelite capital at Samaria. One of his generals usurps the throne. He rules as King Sargon II. Sargon completes the successful siege of Samaria, destroys the city, and deports approximately 30,000 Israelites. King Hoshea is taken into captivity with his people, and is heard from no more (most likely executed by Sargon). The Kingdom of Israel is no more. Also in this year, Marduk-apal-iddina, a Chaldean Chieftain, in alliance with Elamite King Ummanigash, takes Babylon and establishes himself there as King.
720 BC--Sargon II moves against Elam, but is defeated at the Battle of Der. However, the victory is very costly to the Elamites, who will remain quiet for some time to come. Later that same year, he defeats a Syrian coalition at Qarqar, gaining control of Arpad, Simirra, and Damascus. He then moves against Palestine again, where an alliance with the Philistines and Egyptians is attacking King Ahaz of Judah, who is allied to Assyria. Sargon defeats the enemy coalition and destroys the Philistine cities of Gaza and Raphia. Assyrian rule is firmly established over all of Palestine. Also at about this time, the Cimmerians, an Indo-European tribe living in the region of the Crimea, are defeated by the Scythians and begin to migrate south through the Caucasus Mountains into Anatolia, where they attack the kingdom of Urartu. The Urartians, Assyria's most powerful enemy, will be sorely beset by these tribesmen for some time to come.
718-712 BC--Reign of Pharaoh Wahkare (Bocchoris), last ruler of the Saite 24th Dynasty. Wahkare abolishes debt slavery, and grants to the tenants who farm the royal lands title to the lands they farm, establishing a class of land-owning bourgeoisie called the "nemhu."
717 BC--Sargon II of Assyria takes Carchemish, the last major independent Hittite city, located on the upper Euphrates.
717-715 BC--Sargon II campaigns in Iran. Among the tribes he subjugates are the Medes and the Parsuash, ancestors of the Persians, who at the time lived near Lake Urmia.
716 BC--Romulus, the legendary founder and first King of Rome, dies. Numa Pompilius becomes king of Rome. Death of King Piye of Kush. He is succeeded by his brother, Shabaka. Shabaka begins making plans for the final conquest of Egypt.
715 BC--King Ahaz of Judah dies. His son, Hezekiah, is not content to be an Assyrian vassal, and begins scheming with the Egyptians and other surrounding states.
714 BC--The Cimmerians inflict a major defeat on the forces of Urartu, capturing and burning the city of Mushashir. King Sargon II of Assyria, taking advantage of the overthrow of Assyria's great enemy, invades Urartu. He decisively defeats the Urartian army at Lake Urmia, killing King Rusas I. Urartian power is completely broken, although the kingdom will survive until it is finally destroyed by the Scythians and Medes in 612 BC.
713-709 BC--In 713 BC, having learned of illicit aid by King Midas III of Phrygia given to King Rusas I of Urartu during the recent campaign, Sargon II leads the Assyrian army into Anatolia in the first of several yearly campaigns. During these campaigns he conquers the last of the independent Hittite cities, destroys Phrygia, as well as decisively defeating the Cimmerians, who had settled in the bend of the Halys River. King Midas III commits suicide as his capital city, Gordium, falls to the Assyrians in 709 BC. Thousands of Hittites, Phrygians, and Cimmerians are deported to Assyria, and thousands of other conquered peoples are transported to Anatolia. The Assyrians grant independence to the Phrygian vassal state of Lydia, whose king, Gyges, had allied himself with Assyria against his Phrygian overlord.
712 BC--King Shabaka of Kush invades Egypt and conquers the entire country. Pharaoh Wahkare, last Pharaoh of the 24th Dynasty at Sais and the last remaining independent native Egyptian king, is captured and burned alive at Shabaka‘s orders. Beginning of the Kushite 25th Dynasty.
711 BC--A Palestinian coalition, consisting of the Philistine King of Ashdod, King Hezekiah of Judah, and the kings of Moab and Edom, rises in rebellion against Assyria. This coalition has the support of Shabaka, the Kushite Pharaoh of Egypt. An Assyrian army (commanded by one of his generals, as King Sargon himself is in Anatolia) defeats the coalition outside of Ashdod. The rebels surrender and once again swear allegiance to Assyria.
710 BC--With the conquest of Phrygia virtually complete, King Sargon II of Assyria returns to Assyria, where he begins planning a new campaign against his arch-enemies, Babylonia and Elam. One Assyrian army moves against Elamite King Shutruk-Nahunte II and another moves against King Marduk-apal-iddina of Babylon. Sargon lays siege to Babylon, which surrenders later that year. Marduk-apal-iddina flees the city, but is captured and executed. Sargon is proclaimed King of Babylonia. Meanwhile, his army also inflicts a major defeat on the Elamites, who sue for peace and will not threaten Assyria for many years. Also in this year, the city-states of Cyprus submit to Assyria, and Cyprus is incorporated into the Assyrian Empire.
c. 710 BC onward--The Lelantine war between Eretria and Chalcis. Over the succeeding years, most of the city states of Greece will take sides and, either actively or inactively, participate in this conflict.
c. 710 BC--Achaean Greeks found Sybaris and Croton, Laconians (Spartans) found Tarentum, all in southern Italy. Also at about this time, the Etruscans adopt the Euboean Greek alphabet.
705 BC--King Sargon II of Assyria is killed in battle with the Cimmerians, who had rebelled against Assyrian rule. His son, Sennacherib, takes the throne.
704 BC--The son of the Babylonian king who had been captured and executed by Sargon, siezes the throne of Babylon, where he rules as King Marduk-apal-iddina II.
703-702 BC--King Sennacherib of Assyria marches against Babylon and it's ally, the King of Elam, defeating them and capturing Marduk-apal-iddina of Babylon, who he has flayed alive. Sennacherib installs another Chaldean prince, Bel-Ibni, on the throne of Babylon. 208,000 Babylonians and Chaldeans are deported.
701 BC--King Hezekiah of Judah forms an alliance with Pharoah Shabaka of Egypt and the kings of various other Phoenician and Palestinian states. King Sennacherib of Assyria defeats the combined forces of the coalition at the Battle of Eltekeh in Syria. King Luli of Sidon is forced to abandon his city to the Assyrians (Luli escapes to Cyprus, where he will perish). Sennacherib then advances into Palestine, where he sacks several of the cities of Judah and places Jerusalem under siege. Fortunately for Hezekiah, he had foreseen this eventuality and had a 533 meter long tunnel dug through solid rock so as to give Jerusalem access to the Spring of Gihon, thus ensuring a safe water supply for the city. He then ordered the springs outside the city poisoned, so that the besieging Assyrians would have no water. Nevertheless, the Assyrians press the siege, and seeing impending doom, King Hezekiah offers Sennacherib a huge tribute of 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Sennacherib accepts Hezekiah's submission...and the tribute...and retires, leaving Hezekiah still on his throne.
c. 700 BC--Motya and Panormos (Palermo) founded by Phoenician colonists from Carthage. The Phoenicians establish their own colonies in western Sicily in response to pressure from Greeks. Also, Greek colonists from Miletus (in Anatolia) begin colonizing the Black Sea region. Etruscan city states unite in a loose confederation which begins to dominate northern and central Italy.
700 BC--Death of Pharaoh Shabaka of Egypt. He is succeeded by Sabataka (called Shebitku in many sources).
699 BC--King Sennacherib of Assyria, suspecting King Hezekiah (probably rightly) of once again plotting with the Egyptians, invades Judah. Once again he sacks several Judahite cities and besieges Jerusalem. But a plague strikes his army, forcing him to abandon the siege. King Hezekiah celebrates the miracle, claiming it as the intervention of the Lord, but he clearly knows he has had a close call. He does not rise against Assyria again.
694-692 BC--King Gyges of Lydia begins raiding the Greek cities along the coast of Anatolia. The sorely pressed Greeks call on their mainland brethren for aid. King Eryxias of Athens, King Pheidon II of Argos, and the aristocratic oligarchy ruling Corinth all respond to this request with troops and ships. They defeat the Lydians, and lay siege to the capital of King Gyges at Sardis. Gyges appeals to his Assyrian allies for aid, but King Sennacherib, heavily involved in a war against the Elamites and the Babylonians, sends his regrets, but no aid. Sardis falls in 692 BC, and Gyges flees to the court of Sennacherib.
694-689 BC--King Bel Ibni of Babylon, in alliance with the Elamites, declares the independence of Babylonia in 694 BC. King Sennacherib invades, and in 691 BC, defeats the Babylonians and Elamites at the Battle of Hallulina. The war goes on, however, and finally Sennacherib lays siege to Babylon itself, which he captures and destroys in 689 BC. Sennacherib deports thousands of Babylonians and carries god Marduk off to Assyria.
689 BC--Having finally dealt a crushing blow to the Elamites and destroyed Babylon, Assyria's southern frontier is secure, and Sennacherib can now spare a glance toward his Anatolian frontier, where Greek pirates are now raiding the cities on the coast and a Greek army controls Lydia, in a position to threaten the Assyrian provinces in Phrygia and Cilicia. On the pretext of restoring his ally, Gyges, to the throne of Lydia, King Sennacherib declares war on the Greeks.
688 BC--Gela, in Sicily, founded by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete. Death of Pharaoh Sabataka of Kush/Egypt. He is succeeded by his brother, Taharka.
688-682 BC--The Greek Campaigns: In 688 BC, having gathered a huge army and secured the services of a powerful fleet of Phoenician and Cypriot ships, King Sennacherib moves against the troublesome Greeks. He enters Greece at a time when much of it is embroiled in the Lelantine War, thus preventing the Greeks from uniting in common cause against the Assyrians. He first advances into Lydia, where he defeats the Greek armies encamped there, and then he besieges and takes the Greek cities on the Ionian coast. Using these cities as a base, he then transports an army by sea to Athens. Landing on the plain of Marathon in 685 BC, he defeats the Athenian army and lays siege to the city, which falls by the end of the year. Sennacherib destroys the city and deports most of the population to Babylonia and Palestine. In the following years, he takes and destroys the cities of Thebes, Corinth, Argos, and Sparta, deporting large portions their populations as he did that of Athens. Forbidden to rebuild their homes, most of the remaining populations of the destroyed cities take ship to the west, where they settle in the budding cities of Magna Graecia (Sicily and southern Italy). The other Greek cities, seeing the Assyrian coming down on them "like the wolf on the fold," sue for peace and submit to Assyrian rule. Assyrian governors are installed, and the process of integrating the newly conquered territory into the Assyrian empire begins.
687 BC--Death of King Hezekiah of Judah. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Manasseh. Manasseh, unlike his father, will be a staunch ally of Assyria, even to the extent of installing Assyrian idols in the Temple of Yahweh at Jerusalem. He will also campaign with King Esarhaddon against the rebellious King of Sidon in 677 BC.
682 BC onward--There is a major population movement from Greece to the colonies of Magna Graecia. Survivors of the destructions of Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos all found colonies in southern Italy or Sicily…out of reach of the vengeful Assyrians…over the next few years. In mainland Greece, smaller cities which previously had lived in the shadows of these great cities now find new economic and political opportunities for themselves, and many experience rapid growth. Among these is Megara, which had sided with Assyria in its invasion and largely as a result of Assyrian patronage and favor, over the succeeding period becomes the most powerful Polis in mainland Greece. As for the survivors of the destroyed cities, they attempt to re-create their lost cities in a new land, and continue the political and cultural traditions they were forced to abandon at the loss of their home cities.
681 BC--While offering prayers of thanks for the recent victory over the Greeks to the god Ninurta in Nineveh, Sennacherib is assassinated by his sons, Arda Mulissi (called Adramelech in the Bible) and Sharezer. These two are soon forced to flee by their younger brother, who assumes the throne as King Esarhaddon.
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Part Two, The Reign of Esarhaddon
THE ASSYRIAN CAME DOWN
Part Two: 681-661 BC
(The Reign of King Esarhaddon of Assyria).
681-661 BC--Reign of King Esarhaddon of Assyria. Esarhaddon’s reign will be consumed with the suppression of rebellions in Greece, Phoenicia, and elsewhere, repelling invasions from various quarters, and, most importantly, ongoing conflict with Pharoah Taharka of Kush/Egypt. Esarhaddon will also be noteworthy because he rebuilds Babylon and restores the gods of Akkad (which had been removed to Assyria by Sennacherib) to their rightful places. His generosity in that regard will reap huge dividends in that the Babylonians will be among the most loyal of his subjects during his reign.
680 BC onward--Arda Mulissi and Sharezer, the defeated brothers of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, have fled across the Taurus Mountains, making their way to the west. King Esarhaddon, who has problems closer to home, loses track of his troublesome brethren, who end up in Greece, taking refuge with the strongest native ruler left in Greece, King Cylon of Megara. Cylon, who had allied himself with Assyria against his traditional enemy, Athens, is now chafing under Assyrian rule and looking for any opportunity to rebel. With Cylon’s help, they will begin forging a league of the remaining Greek polei, and seeking abroad for aid as well.
680 BC--Nabu-zer-kitti-lisir, son of Marduk-apal-iddina II (the Babylonian king who was captured and flayed alive in 702 BC by Sennacherib), attempts a revolt and briefly captures Ur. However, he is soon defeated by an Assyrian army sent south by Esarhaddon and flees to Elam, where he is murdered. Also at about this time, King Khshathrita (Phraortes) unites the Median tribes of north-central Iran under his rule. The Medes begin to pose a threat to Assyria.
679 BC--The Scythians, a nomadic steppe people of Iranian stock and related to the Cimmerians, come down from the Caucasus Mountains, and with the Cimmerians, invade Cilicia. King Esarhaddon of Assyria heavily defeats the nomads at the Battle of Hubushna, inflicting huge casualties. King Teushpa of the Cimmerians is killed, and the Cimmerians retreat to their lands in the bend of the Halys River and pay tribute to Esarhaddon. They are fatally weakened. The Scythians are less injured, but nevertheless are forced to retreat back into the Caucasus Mountains. However, their fighting prowess has impressed Esarhaddon, who gives an Assyrian princess in marriage to the Scythian King, Bartatua.
678 BC--Seeing an opportunity to eliminate a deadly threat to his kingdom, the restored King Gyges of Lydia attacks the weakened Cimmerians. The Cimmerians are virtually annihilated as a people as the Lydians ravage their lands. The remainder flee into the Caucasus Mountains, where they are absorbed by the Scythians. However, King Gyges is wounded by a Cimmerian arrow during one of the final battles, and dies shortly thereafter. His son, Ardys, is crowned the new King of Lydia. Like his father, King Ardys II of Lydia will be a loyal Assyrian vassal, and will rule until 624 BC.
677--King Abdi-Mikutti of Sidon rises in rebellion against Assyria. King Esarhaddon, with the assistance of allies such as the Kings of Tyre, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Judah, Askelon, Gaza, Ekron, Byblos, Arvad, and others, captures the city and razes it to the ground, deporting its population to Assyria. King Abdi-Milkutti is captured and beheaded.
676--Esarhaddon campaigns against the Mannaeans, Guti, Scythians, and Medes in Iran.
675 BC--Rebellion of the neo-Hittite cities of Milid and Tabal in southeastern Anatolia. It is crushed by Esarhaddon. Also in this year, King Khumma Khaldash II of Elam invades Babylonia. The Babylonians, grateful to King Esarhaddon for his efforts in rebuilding Babylon, raise an army on the Assyrian King’s behalf and defeat the Elamites, driving them from the land and killing Khumma Khaldash in the process. King Esarhaddon of Assyria is able to install a pro-Assyrian monarch in Elam (King Urtaku).
673 BC--King Esarhaddon names his second son, Shamash-shum-ukin as Viceroy of Pihatu Ereb Samsi, or The Province of the West, as the Assyrians have named their newly conquered lands in Europe. He names his third son, Ashurbanipal, as Viceroy of Babylon. Later this year, King Esarhaddon attempts an invasion of Egypt, but is defeated by Pharaoh Taharka. Death of Numa Pompilius, King of Rome. Tullius Hostilius becomes king of Rome. During his reign, he builds the Curia Hostilia, the Senate House.
672 BC--Shamash-shum-ukin, Viceroy of Pihatu Ereb Samsi, is murdered shortly after his arrival in his new province by agents of King Cylon of Megara and the rebel brothers of Esarhaddon, Arda Mulissi and Sharezer. With this act of defiance, the Greek polei, along with King Argaeus I of Macedon, rise in revolt. Assyrian garrisons are slaughtered throughout Greece and Macedon. King Esarhaddon is forced to abandon plans for a new attack on Egypt in order to march against the Greeks. Once there, he finds himself embroiled in a quagmire, as the Greeks and Macedonians refuse to meet his forces in open battle, but instead wage a guerilla campaign against the Assyrians. The rebels attack Assyrian supply columns and small isolated commands, bleeding the Assyrians constantly while refusing to expose their own forces to destruction. The Assyrians respond by ravaging the land and laying siege to town after town…a time consuming process which forces them to bring much of their available manpower to Europe. While Esarhaddon is thus involved in Europe, Pharaoh Taharka takes advantage of this golden opportunity and invades Palestine, laying siege to Esarhaddon’s ally, King Manasseh of Judah, in his capital at Jerusalem.
671 BC--In February, Jerusalem falls after a six month siege, and King Manasseh is carried off in chains to Egypt. Pharaoh Taharka installs Athaniah, a prince from a junior branch of the Davidic House, as puppet king of Judah. Later that year, an Assyrian army, dispatched at the orders of King Esarhaddon and commanded by the King’s Turtanu (a general holding the position of commander-in-chief), invades Palestine and engages the Kushite/Egyptian army near Megiddo. Because Esarhaddon has had to take so many troops to Europe to put down the Greek rebellion, the Turtanu finds himself outnumbered by the Kushites and Egyptians, and suffers a defeat, after which the Assyrian army retreats to Damascus.
670 BC--The Greek and Macedonian rebels have finally decided to meet the Assyrians in open battle, which is a major mistake. King Esarhaddon inflicts a major defeat on the Greek and Macedonian rebels on the plain of Plataea, after which he besieges Megara. The city falls later this same year, and King Cylon, along with Arda Mulissi and Sharezer, are captured and flayed alive. Esarhaddon decides not to destroy the city, but instead accept’s Cylon’s son, Aeson, as the new King of Megara, with an Assyrian governor over him. He does deport many of the most prominent citizens of Megara…the ones most likely to make trouble when he returns to Assyria…and sends them to Babylon. With the fall of Megara, the remaining rebel cities and Macedonia submit to Esarhaddon, and he imposes a heavy tribute on all the Greek polei who supported the rebellion, but leaves them under their native rulers as long as these pledge loyalty to Assyria. Meanwhile, Pharaoh Taharka of Kush/Egypt moves north from Palestine, sweeping along the coast and receiving the submission of the Phoenician coastal cities, except Tyre, where King Baal I chooses to remain loyal to Assyria. Taharka places Tyre under siege. Also in this year, hoping to take advantage of perceived Assyrian weakness, King Urtaku of Elam invades Babylonia, laying siege to Sippar.
669 BC--King Esarhaddon returns from Europe. He finds his empire being beset from the southwest by Kushite/Egyptian forces, the north by Scythians and Urartians, and the east by the Elamites. He decides to deal with the Elamite threat first. Esarhaddon leads an army into Babylonia and engages the Elamite host outside Sippar. King Urtaku of Elam is defeated and killed, with the remnants of his forces fleeing back to Elam. King Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak ascends to the Elamite throne. Esarhaddon then moves to the relief of his Tyrian ally, King Baal. Pharaoh Taharka advances to meet him with the Kushite/Egyptian army, and the two forces collide near Damascus. In a hard-fought and very sanguinary battle, the Assyrians are victorious and Taharka retreats southward. However, as the Assyrians are beginning their pursuit of Taharka and his beaten army, terrible news arrives. Kings Bartatua of the Scythians and King Rusas II of Urartu have formed an alliance against Assyria, and invaded the Assyrian homeland itself. Nineveh and other cities are under siege, and much of the land has been laid waste. Esarhaddon breaks off the pursuit of Taharka in order to return to Assyria with the main army. Taharka halts his retreat in Palestine, the Kushite/Egyptian host going into winter quarters in Judah and Philistia.
668 BC--King Esarhaddon meets the hosts of Scythian King Bartatua and Urartian King Rusas II outside the city of Ashur. The Assyrians are victorious, but the carnage is heavy on both sides, and the victory is not decisive. In the end, Esarhaddon manages to break the Scythian-Urartian alliance via the use of heavy bribes to King Bartatua, who is also Esarhaddon’s son-in-law. Laden with Assyrian gold, Bartatua moves north and ravages much of Urartu, and King Rusas II is forced to follow him in an attempt to save his kingdom from destruction. The Urartians are able to survive mainly because the Scythians are not very good at siege warfare, and cannot take the heavily fortified Urartian cities. Rusas II finally manages to bribe the Scythians to leave his ruined land with a heavy tribute. The power of Urartu is decisively broken, and the kingdom goes into a steady decline from which it will not recover. However, Assyria has suffered as well, and Esarhaddon has to take some time to rebuild his army and economy in Assyria before he can consider any major campaigns. His enemies will take advantage of this fact, especially Pharaoh Taharka, who has, since Esarhaddon retreated north, once again been rebuilding his military forces in Palestine and consolidating his rule over the region.
667 BC--Pharaoh Taharka of Kush/Egypt invades Syria, occupying Damascus, Hamath, and other territory nearly to the Euphrates River. Esarhaddon of Assyria is in no position to immediately respond.
666 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria concludes an alliance with King Bartatua of the Scythians, and together, the Assyrian and Scythian hosts move against Pharaoh Taharka in Syria. The Assyro/Scythian host crushes the Kushite/Egyptian army at the Battle of Hamath. Pharaoh Taharka himself barely escapes with his life, fleeing to Sidon, where he takes ship to Egypt.
665 BC--King Esarhaddon spends this year re-establishing Assyrian control over Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. In Judah, he lays siege to Jerusalem, ruled by Taharka’s puppet Athaniah, who unwisely remains loyal to the man who placed him on the throne. The city falls after a five month siege. Esarhaddon destroys the city, burning the Temple of Solomon to the ground and deporting most of the upper classes, artisans, and other important people to Assyria and Anatolia. Anatolians and Assyrians are brought in to settle the land, as had happened earlier with the former Kingdom of Israel. The remaining lower-class common people of Judah, bereft of their political, cultural, and religious leadership, are gradually assimilated by the surrounding peoples over the next century. The Children of Israel are no more.
664 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria invades Egypt. Pharaoh Taharka of Kush/Egypt bravely resists, but his army is defeated at Pelusium, the Nile Delta cities fall to Assyria, and Taharka is forced to retreat to Thebes, in Upper Egypt. He dies shortly thereafter, and is succeeded by his son, who reigns as Pharaoh Tanutamun.
663 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria advances on Thebes, and Pharaoh Tanutamum is forced to flee to the Kushite capital at Napata, in what is today the Sudan. Assyria now controls all of Egypt. However, this control will not be secure, for as soon as Esarhaddon leaves Egypt and returns to Assyria, the Egyptian princes begin intriguing with Tanutamun for aid in expelling the Assyrians from Egypt.
662--King Tanutamun of Kush invades Egypt in support of a major rebellion by the Egyptian princes against Assyria. The Assyrian garrisons are thrown out, and Tanutamun re-establishes Kushite control over Egypt. King Esarhaddon is unable to immediately intervene in the situation, as he is engaged in suppressing a major rebellion in Phoenicia, lead by his former loyal vassal, King Baal of Tyre. Also in this year, the Scythians invade Anatolia and ravage Lydia. However they are unable to take the Lydian capital of Sardis, and King Ardys maintains his throne despite the devastation. Eventually, the Scythians retire with their booty back to the Caucasus Mountains.
661 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria dies while besieging Tyre. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Ashurbanipal.
THE ASSYRIAN CAME DOWN
Part Two: 681-661 BC
(The Reign of King Esarhaddon of Assyria).
681-661 BC--Reign of King Esarhaddon of Assyria. Esarhaddon’s reign will be consumed with the suppression of rebellions in Greece, Phoenicia, and elsewhere, repelling invasions from various quarters, and, most importantly, ongoing conflict with Pharoah Taharka of Kush/Egypt. Esarhaddon will also be noteworthy because he rebuilds Babylon and restores the gods of Akkad (which had been removed to Assyria by Sennacherib) to their rightful places. His generosity in that regard will reap huge dividends in that the Babylonians will be among the most loyal of his subjects during his reign.
680 BC onward--Arda Mulissi and Sharezer, the defeated brothers of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, have fled across the Taurus Mountains, making their way to the west. King Esarhaddon, who has problems closer to home, loses track of his troublesome brethren, who end up in Greece, taking refuge with the strongest native ruler left in Greece, King Cylon of Megara. Cylon, who had allied himself with Assyria against his traditional enemy, Athens, is now chafing under Assyrian rule and looking for any opportunity to rebel. With Cylon’s help, they will begin forging a league of the remaining Greek polei, and seeking abroad for aid as well.
680 BC--Nabu-zer-kitti-lisir, son of Marduk-apal-iddina II (the Babylonian king who was captured and flayed alive in 702 BC by Sennacherib), attempts a revolt and briefly captures Ur. However, he is soon defeated by an Assyrian army sent south by Esarhaddon and flees to Elam, where he is murdered. Also at about this time, King Khshathrita (Phraortes) unites the Median tribes of north-central Iran under his rule. The Medes begin to pose a threat to Assyria.
679 BC--The Scythians, a nomadic steppe people of Iranian stock and related to the Cimmerians, come down from the Caucasus Mountains, and with the Cimmerians, invade Cilicia. King Esarhaddon of Assyria heavily defeats the nomads at the Battle of Hubushna, inflicting huge casualties. King Teushpa of the Cimmerians is killed, and the Cimmerians retreat to their lands in the bend of the Halys River and pay tribute to Esarhaddon. They are fatally weakened. The Scythians are less injured, but nevertheless are forced to retreat back into the Caucasus Mountains. However, their fighting prowess has impressed Esarhaddon, who gives an Assyrian princess in marriage to the Scythian King, Bartatua.
678 BC--Seeing an opportunity to eliminate a deadly threat to his kingdom, the restored King Gyges of Lydia attacks the weakened Cimmerians. The Cimmerians are virtually annihilated as a people as the Lydians ravage their lands. The remainder flee into the Caucasus Mountains, where they are absorbed by the Scythians. However, King Gyges is wounded by a Cimmerian arrow during one of the final battles, and dies shortly thereafter. His son, Ardys, is crowned the new King of Lydia. Like his father, King Ardys II of Lydia will be a loyal Assyrian vassal, and will rule until 624 BC.
677--King Abdi-Mikutti of Sidon rises in rebellion against Assyria. King Esarhaddon, with the assistance of allies such as the Kings of Tyre, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Judah, Askelon, Gaza, Ekron, Byblos, Arvad, and others, captures the city and razes it to the ground, deporting its population to Assyria. King Abdi-Milkutti is captured and beheaded.
676--Esarhaddon campaigns against the Mannaeans, Guti, Scythians, and Medes in Iran.
675 BC--Rebellion of the neo-Hittite cities of Milid and Tabal in southeastern Anatolia. It is crushed by Esarhaddon. Also in this year, King Khumma Khaldash II of Elam invades Babylonia. The Babylonians, grateful to King Esarhaddon for his efforts in rebuilding Babylon, raise an army on the Assyrian King’s behalf and defeat the Elamites, driving them from the land and killing Khumma Khaldash in the process. King Esarhaddon of Assyria is able to install a pro-Assyrian monarch in Elam (King Urtaku).
673 BC--King Esarhaddon names his second son, Shamash-shum-ukin as Viceroy of Pihatu Ereb Samsi, or The Province of the West, as the Assyrians have named their newly conquered lands in Europe. He names his third son, Ashurbanipal, as Viceroy of Babylon. Later this year, King Esarhaddon attempts an invasion of Egypt, but is defeated by Pharaoh Taharka. Death of Numa Pompilius, King of Rome. Tullius Hostilius becomes king of Rome. During his reign, he builds the Curia Hostilia, the Senate House.
672 BC--Shamash-shum-ukin, Viceroy of Pihatu Ereb Samsi, is murdered shortly after his arrival in his new province by agents of King Cylon of Megara and the rebel brothers of Esarhaddon, Arda Mulissi and Sharezer. With this act of defiance, the Greek polei, along with King Argaeus I of Macedon, rise in revolt. Assyrian garrisons are slaughtered throughout Greece and Macedon. King Esarhaddon is forced to abandon plans for a new attack on Egypt in order to march against the Greeks. Once there, he finds himself embroiled in a quagmire, as the Greeks and Macedonians refuse to meet his forces in open battle, but instead wage a guerilla campaign against the Assyrians. The rebels attack Assyrian supply columns and small isolated commands, bleeding the Assyrians constantly while refusing to expose their own forces to destruction. The Assyrians respond by ravaging the land and laying siege to town after town…a time consuming process which forces them to bring much of their available manpower to Europe. While Esarhaddon is thus involved in Europe, Pharaoh Taharka takes advantage of this golden opportunity and invades Palestine, laying siege to Esarhaddon’s ally, King Manasseh of Judah, in his capital at Jerusalem.
671 BC--In February, Jerusalem falls after a six month siege, and King Manasseh is carried off in chains to Egypt. Pharaoh Taharka installs Athaniah, a prince from a junior branch of the Davidic House, as puppet king of Judah. Later that year, an Assyrian army, dispatched at the orders of King Esarhaddon and commanded by the King’s Turtanu (a general holding the position of commander-in-chief), invades Palestine and engages the Kushite/Egyptian army near Megiddo. Because Esarhaddon has had to take so many troops to Europe to put down the Greek rebellion, the Turtanu finds himself outnumbered by the Kushites and Egyptians, and suffers a defeat, after which the Assyrian army retreats to Damascus.
670 BC--The Greek and Macedonian rebels have finally decided to meet the Assyrians in open battle, which is a major mistake. King Esarhaddon inflicts a major defeat on the Greek and Macedonian rebels on the plain of Plataea, after which he besieges Megara. The city falls later this same year, and King Cylon, along with Arda Mulissi and Sharezer, are captured and flayed alive. Esarhaddon decides not to destroy the city, but instead accept’s Cylon’s son, Aeson, as the new King of Megara, with an Assyrian governor over him. He does deport many of the most prominent citizens of Megara…the ones most likely to make trouble when he returns to Assyria…and sends them to Babylon. With the fall of Megara, the remaining rebel cities and Macedonia submit to Esarhaddon, and he imposes a heavy tribute on all the Greek polei who supported the rebellion, but leaves them under their native rulers as long as these pledge loyalty to Assyria. Meanwhile, Pharaoh Taharka of Kush/Egypt moves north from Palestine, sweeping along the coast and receiving the submission of the Phoenician coastal cities, except Tyre, where King Baal I chooses to remain loyal to Assyria. Taharka places Tyre under siege. Also in this year, hoping to take advantage of perceived Assyrian weakness, King Urtaku of Elam invades Babylonia, laying siege to Sippar.
669 BC--King Esarhaddon returns from Europe. He finds his empire being beset from the southwest by Kushite/Egyptian forces, the north by Scythians and Urartians, and the east by the Elamites. He decides to deal with the Elamite threat first. Esarhaddon leads an army into Babylonia and engages the Elamite host outside Sippar. King Urtaku of Elam is defeated and killed, with the remnants of his forces fleeing back to Elam. King Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak ascends to the Elamite throne. Esarhaddon then moves to the relief of his Tyrian ally, King Baal. Pharaoh Taharka advances to meet him with the Kushite/Egyptian army, and the two forces collide near Damascus. In a hard-fought and very sanguinary battle, the Assyrians are victorious and Taharka retreats southward. However, as the Assyrians are beginning their pursuit of Taharka and his beaten army, terrible news arrives. Kings Bartatua of the Scythians and King Rusas II of Urartu have formed an alliance against Assyria, and invaded the Assyrian homeland itself. Nineveh and other cities are under siege, and much of the land has been laid waste. Esarhaddon breaks off the pursuit of Taharka in order to return to Assyria with the main army. Taharka halts his retreat in Palestine, the Kushite/Egyptian host going into winter quarters in Judah and Philistia.
668 BC--King Esarhaddon meets the hosts of Scythian King Bartatua and Urartian King Rusas II outside the city of Ashur. The Assyrians are victorious, but the carnage is heavy on both sides, and the victory is not decisive. In the end, Esarhaddon manages to break the Scythian-Urartian alliance via the use of heavy bribes to King Bartatua, who is also Esarhaddon’s son-in-law. Laden with Assyrian gold, Bartatua moves north and ravages much of Urartu, and King Rusas II is forced to follow him in an attempt to save his kingdom from destruction. The Urartians are able to survive mainly because the Scythians are not very good at siege warfare, and cannot take the heavily fortified Urartian cities. Rusas II finally manages to bribe the Scythians to leave his ruined land with a heavy tribute. The power of Urartu is decisively broken, and the kingdom goes into a steady decline from which it will not recover. However, Assyria has suffered as well, and Esarhaddon has to take some time to rebuild his army and economy in Assyria before he can consider any major campaigns. His enemies will take advantage of this fact, especially Pharaoh Taharka, who has, since Esarhaddon retreated north, once again been rebuilding his military forces in Palestine and consolidating his rule over the region.
667 BC--Pharaoh Taharka of Kush/Egypt invades Syria, occupying Damascus, Hamath, and other territory nearly to the Euphrates River. Esarhaddon of Assyria is in no position to immediately respond.
666 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria concludes an alliance with King Bartatua of the Scythians, and together, the Assyrian and Scythian hosts move against Pharaoh Taharka in Syria. The Assyro/Scythian host crushes the Kushite/Egyptian army at the Battle of Hamath. Pharaoh Taharka himself barely escapes with his life, fleeing to Sidon, where he takes ship to Egypt.
665 BC--King Esarhaddon spends this year re-establishing Assyrian control over Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. In Judah, he lays siege to Jerusalem, ruled by Taharka’s puppet Athaniah, who unwisely remains loyal to the man who placed him on the throne. The city falls after a five month siege. Esarhaddon destroys the city, burning the Temple of Solomon to the ground and deporting most of the upper classes, artisans, and other important people to Assyria and Anatolia. Anatolians and Assyrians are brought in to settle the land, as had happened earlier with the former Kingdom of Israel. The remaining lower-class common people of Judah, bereft of their political, cultural, and religious leadership, are gradually assimilated by the surrounding peoples over the next century. The Children of Israel are no more.
664 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria invades Egypt. Pharaoh Taharka of Kush/Egypt bravely resists, but his army is defeated at Pelusium, the Nile Delta cities fall to Assyria, and Taharka is forced to retreat to Thebes, in Upper Egypt. He dies shortly thereafter, and is succeeded by his son, who reigns as Pharaoh Tanutamun.
663 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria advances on Thebes, and Pharaoh Tanutamum is forced to flee to the Kushite capital at Napata, in what is today the Sudan. Assyria now controls all of Egypt. However, this control will not be secure, for as soon as Esarhaddon leaves Egypt and returns to Assyria, the Egyptian princes begin intriguing with Tanutamun for aid in expelling the Assyrians from Egypt.
662--King Tanutamun of Kush invades Egypt in support of a major rebellion by the Egyptian princes against Assyria. The Assyrian garrisons are thrown out, and Tanutamun re-establishes Kushite control over Egypt. King Esarhaddon is unable to immediately intervene in the situation, as he is engaged in suppressing a major rebellion in Phoenicia, lead by his former loyal vassal, King Baal of Tyre. Also in this year, the Scythians invade Anatolia and ravage Lydia. However they are unable to take the Lydian capital of Sardis, and King Ardys maintains his throne despite the devastation. Eventually, the Scythians retire with their booty back to the Caucasus Mountains.
661 BC--King Esarhaddon of Assyria dies while besieging Tyre. He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as King Ashurbanipal.
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neat discussion... but... I'm a bit curious about the Greeks at this time... during the Assyrian high tide, were the Greek city states around (Athens, Sparta, and those)? Were the Greek troops the classic hoplites, or are we before that time?
Yes, the Greek polei basically coalesced during the 800s BC. By the time of Sennacherib, Sparta had already conquered Messenia, Athens was nearly ready to overthrow its Kings and establish the Oligarchy. Colonization of Ionia was well advanced, and colonization of Sicily and Italy had begun.
As for warfare, in OTL the transition to hoplite warfare began about 750 BC and was not complete until about 600 BC. It had not advanced very far by the time of Sennacherib, so at the time Sennacherib invades, he is mostly going to be facing Greeks fighting the same way they had been during the dark ages...lightly armored, not very organized, and using throwing spears primarily instead of thrusting spears.
Fantastic Installment Robert, I reallly enjoyed...It' seems as if we have a pretty unprecedented TL on our hands
...Not only are the Greeks have been pretty much expelled from the mainiland but the Israelites will have no effect on the future of this ATL. As always i do have a few questions.
1. King Ashurbanipal, Is known in OTL to be a great patron of the Arts and instituted a Library at Niveh even...So my question is over the possiblity that this alternate Ashurbanipal is alot smarter than our version and sees what a heavy burden the constant wars and rebellions are having on his empire? Might a more Nero-like Ashurbanipal want to sit down with the Kushite Pharaoh and make an alliance with him and establish firm borders btwn them?
2. What are some of the more progress of the development of Magna Graecia. Are the cities of OTL Magna Graecia simply expand or are new colonies found on the Italian East Coast? How soon will these Greeks intiate their quarrels with the Etruscans and the Latins?
3. With the Children of Israel being obliterated in TTL...Might we see a Zoroastrinism dominated world? Or what If instead an atl Siddhārtha Gautama bring his enlightened teachings to the Assyrian Empire and beyond?
And as always Keep It comming...
...Not only are the Greeks have been pretty much expelled from the mainiland but the Israelites will have no effect on the future of this ATL. As always i do have a few questions.1. King Ashurbanipal, Is known in OTL to be a great patron of the Arts and instituted a Library at Niveh even...So my question is over the possiblity that this alternate Ashurbanipal is alot smarter than our version and sees what a heavy burden the constant wars and rebellions are having on his empire? Might a more Nero-like Ashurbanipal want to sit down with the Kushite Pharaoh and make an alliance with him and establish firm borders btwn them?
2. What are some of the more progress of the development of Magna Graecia. Are the cities of OTL Magna Graecia simply expand or are new colonies found on the Italian East Coast? How soon will these Greeks intiate their quarrels with the Etruscans and the Latins?
3. With the Children of Israel being obliterated in TTL...Might we see a Zoroastrinism dominated world? Or what If instead an atl Siddhārtha Gautama bring his enlightened teachings to the Assyrian Empire and beyond?
And as always Keep It comming
...Fantastic Installment Robert, I reallly enjoyed...It' seems as if we have a pretty unprecedented TL on our hands
Yes, the bit about the Israelites is going to be interesting too. Although the Yahwist religion might survive in some form among the "Samaritan" type population which will likely result from the amalgamation of the remaining Judahites with the imported peoples and the surrounding peoples, it certainly won't be the same religion which developed in OTL.
That could be. We'll have to see in the next installment.
In some cases, the population of the existing cities has been expanded, but new settlements (the New Athens, New Sparta, New Corinth, and New Argos I have spoken about earlier) will have been founded in southern Italy and Sicily. I would imagine that quarrels between them and the Etruscans and the Latins and the Carthaginians will be coming soon.
The Zoroastrian dominated world might be more likely than having Buddhism spread west at this early date. Although, there could be other possibilities as well. One or more of the pagan cults might win out as well. Or we might even see a Yahwist cult, with strong pagan influences, as a "dark horse" candidate. We shall have to see.
On another Intresting note...What If...With the larger greek population in Italy, The Romans of TTL after throwing off their Etruscan King, decide to move something more closely similar to Athenian Democracy instead of a Res Publica? Or what If, with more Greek Allies, The Etruscans are able to keep a tight lid on the latins untill they are assimilated?
That, of course, depends on whether Athenian style democracy evolves in this timeline. I have not yet decided how that is going to play out.
I doubt that will happen...the Greeks will look like way too much of a threat to the Etruscans for them to consider allying with them. However, the early Romans might well consider the much more powerful Greek colonies of the ATL a threat and ally themselves with the Etruscans against the Greeks. Another interesting factor is how Carthage is going to fit into this dynamic. A lot of things to think about.
The Greek colonies in the Crimea were just being founded at the time the Assyrians attacked Greece. Given the fact that the Assyrians control access to the Black Sea, the vast majority of the survivors of the destroyed cities will head west rather than north, as it will be seen as safer and easier to do that. However, there might be a small portion which would head for the Crimea as well...not enough to make a major difference in the timeline, however.