The Burning Cauldron: The Neo Assyrian Empire Defended

[John7755 يوحنا]

601 BCE/4151 AY

The Southern Counter

As the succession war was raging in Assyria, the Southern Protectorate, to some degree a country-power unto itself, gathered an army of Arabs-Qedar-Nabtu (Nabataens) in Tima and coordinating loosely with Dugul-Naboo, field marshal, and closely with Yoshi-Dagon, king of Moab, invaded and struck Edom in January of 601. This attack was meant to break the Edomite power that had betrayed Assyria in the prior years and destroyed Jerusalem alongside Necho II. Moab had attacked Edom in the year prior yet was unable to make significant gains and thus required assistance from its southern lord, the Southern Protectorate. As such,t eh protector of the south, Puzur-Adad had gathered a hardened force of 3,000 Akkadian soldiers, mostly light cavalry, several brigades of Jewish mercenary who wished for revenge upon Edom, a throng of around 5,000 Nabtu and Qedar levies and a small contingent of some 700 Cimmerians recently deported to the area and ordered to serve as horse archers and enforcers for the protectorate. This diverse army however was quite eager to make gains, after rumors had circulated of the great wealth that the Edomites had captured in their sacking of Jerusalem and the lavish riches that Necho II had garnered upon them. The Arabs had scouted the area prior and knew the Edomoites were relatively weak and as such dancing and parties began upon the movement north of Puzur-Adad and his army, the soldiery knew well their wealth could be gained.

Meanwhile, the raids and skirmishes between Moab and Edom continued with the Edomites holding the edge in said skirmishes, even striking deep into the territory of Moab and putting many villages to the flames. Kas-Malaka II had in recent days upon the victories made in the first month of 601 BCE, proclaimed himself the Arm of Ptah and the "Friend of Horus, Destroyer of Chaos." A seeming period of Edomite supremacy was developed in the first weeks of February and as such the Egyptian general Saibes in Jerusalem gifted the Edomite king an amber necklace for his service and gave him a sceptre with which to use in a conquest of Moab and Arabia. This jubilation and coalition victories in the south was soon to come to an end....

The War of Assyrian Succession

As the siege of Assur continued, the army of Ipanqazzu arrived on February 2nd. Word had reached through the siege lines of the arrival of the army for days and the young king and his protector had become filled with vigor, the populace as a whole had been incensed by the approaching army, which from a distance a scout brought word into the city, had prepared a litter with the armor of the late Great King enthroned in a great chair. They held a slogan as they marched:

"Death to the Brother who betrays the wishes of the Great King! Deny the throne to those who lack filial piety! Stand by the Righteous and Divine Progeny!" -Kalhu Codex

The spies of Maniuqappu planted within the army had built within them a deep seated love of the Great King who had passed and instilled a propaganda of Divine Progeny, the notion that the young King crowned, was the image and phantom of the Great King revived and in fact, was a divine figure with whom total loyalty was to be given in times of turbulence. The most hearty warrior of the force and devout of this new view, Ipanqazzu began to speak in range of his soldiers and in short sight of the city of Assur with a loud voice:

"We are reaching the great holy city, the city of the Great God of our land places his Merciful Aura of Protection. Let us battle and flay alive all who stand between us and protecting the Divine Majesty of the Great King and let us battle with memory of the Lord of the Worlds, Sinsharishkun, to whom we owe our loyalty evermore! Truly the Lord of Assur, Sinbanipal is the Elected of the Great Gods and is Divine, let us rally behind him and flay the usurper!" -Kalhu Codex

Assur-Uballit sent forth envoys in order to sway the enemy army but to no avail and decided with his intention to eventually take the throne to move east and attempt to strike the enemy army prior to their arrival at Assur proper and destroy them before their army could break the siege. Despite this attempt, the army of Assur, a collection of militia and guards, sallied forth from the city and attacked peridoically in the night the army of Assur-Uballit and caused a great panic in the army as the army's intentions of support for Assur-Uballit waned. In order to control the ensuing panic, Assur-Uballit resorted to draconian methods, having a dozen Gambulu captains flayed alive in front of the gates of Assur before his army and ordered a general march while the enemy in Assur hailed them with shouts of insults.

Sinbanipal standing at the foot of the walls on his chariot was lauded by the cupbearer, 'He who Guards the Household' and that he had sent his traitorous uncle in flight before him and advised him to sally forth with his armor fitted for a 13 year old and the army of militia and join the conflict as Great King. The young king agreed, resolving himself to be 'He who Chases the Brigand.' Nevertheless, the Sukkalu had moved east and prepared his army to strike the army of Ipanqazzu who had positioned itself to move against Assur-Uballit under secret orders from Maniuqappu, so as to destroy the usurper and not allow his flight back to Babylon or toward Elam. Ipanqazzu marched his army towards Assur-Uballit and proclaimed with an outstretched ax upon his steed, that today he would slay the usurper on behalf of the Great King and present the head to the King alongside the flayed skins of the enemy warriors and devote them to the Great Gods Nergal, Sin, Assur, Ninurta and Ishtar.

"By the Great God Nergal, I will have the skin of all who stand before the Great King. Outstretched is the ax of fury, the ax of the Great King has been bestowed to me, to take the heads of his foes and a knife of torment has been levied to my personage so that I may cut their skin from the body and shame them for their transgressions. All who does not surrender before us will be slain and their skin ripped apart! Run before men for when I ride toward thee, the ax of heavens is upon thine hands to cut a swath through the hordes of mischievous traitors!" -Kalhu Codex

As the armies lined up to do battle, a smaller force moved to meet Ipanqazzu led by Sinbanipal enthroned on a chariot and protected by the personal guard of Maniuqappu. His force numbered only 500 warriors but his arrival heralded great leaps of praise from the army that met him and a parade was given in the camp where Ipanqazzu presented the young king with the jeweled sword of the Great King and a great shield with amber embossed upon its sides. Ipanqazzu and the captains of the army did prostration before the king: bowing whilst standing, bow on their knees, bow with their forehead touching the ground and finally, fully placing their stomach and face on the ground. Symbolizing the submission of the general and his army. Sinbanipal took command of the army but placed Ipanqazzu as the protector of the army and viceroy. Creating a new office on the spot:

"Sinbanipal, the Great King did place upon Ipanqazzu a new title: 'The Great King is a Holy Bolt, he illuminates the world with his aura, Assur is the Radiant Guider of the Bolt, Sin is He who Gives the Bolt and Ninurta Resounds the Name in Combat. Truly, the righteous general, is the Slave of the Bolt!' said a poet in the ranks of the Great King who accompanied him. Thus, Sinbanipal as his second true act, declared a new office of the bureaucracy, Puzur-Birqa (Servant of the Bolt/Thunder). The crowd erupted in jubilation, the Great King has a voice that cracks as the whip and the manifold faces light in admiration: truly the Lord of the Universe is a Master of all Arts." -Kalhu codex

Heavy hearts gathered and tears filled the soldiery as the army turned its attention to the coming battle, with the Guardian of the Bolt (Puzur-Birqa) and the King marching front of the army and the force pushing towards the enemy army. We will allow the Kalhu codex to describe the battle further:

"The air was heavy with the smell of perfume and the Great King stood atop the Radiant Red Chariot, He is King of all things and the Divine Bolt upon the Earth, striking them with the sword of grandeur, infused of the sparkling power of the Great Gods. He is the Sharu of Mankind and under his feet is conquered land whether he walks east, west, south or north, he is Lord of Lords, King of Kings.

Ashur-Uabllit rallied his army opposite of the Great King and made postures, a great warrior of many repute his army moved forward with arrow showers and blazing horns. Horse archers of both armies battled upon the sides and the infantry marched toward one another whilst the archers blasted one another. An omen appeared in the sky before the battle as it progressed, all attested a great whisper upon the ears of all in attendance:

'I am Sin, the Lord of all Things of the World Above, Listen to the Holy Words! A Mighty King shall arise from this bloody confront, a warrior will engage in a duel, both shall fall from atop their mount yet one shall rise as King.'

The forces of two armies crashed into each other in a melee of carnage, fires of war raged and Ishtar was upon the face of the madness. Assyrian slew Assyrian and the Eyes of Assur Gleaned much in an instance of bloody strife. Ipanqazzu, the Guardian of the Bolt rushed head first upon a red steed, his horse from the great north, it was a masterful horse of prowess likened to none other. He rode through the enemy taking heads as a man who rides upon the cloud of Adad, he fired lighting from his ax and the enemy trembled but to fear the might of the captain and his lancers (in effect, the Assyrian loyalist lancers crashed the centre of the rebel army infantry)! Calling from the side, seeking to restore footing in the trial of combat, Assur-Uballit who had slain many warriors, rode forth and called out:

'Engage me o'slave of a child! We shall do battle!'

Thus the Sukkalu rode with lance extended toward the Guardian of the Bolt and the Guardian turned his mount and brigade and charged to a bloody front. As this was transpiring, the Young Great King was to meet the prophecy of the Great God Sin, his chariot churned forward, firing arrows of brilliant standard and letting lose a many strikes. When suddenly, a spearman stuck upon the steed of the Great king a pole arm and caused likewise panic and the chariot crumbled into a mess as the Great King fell upon the ground.

Upon the other end of the conflict as if by notice of a noise of the tumble, Assur-Uballit took heart and in his charge was confident in his joust, did he assume he would be the one who rose from a tumble? Thus did the two great warriors charge and in a rapid exchange of a moment of broken yells, the words of of taunt went silent when the rebel fell from his horse:

'We have slain the rebel, attest to the ax lain upon his skull!'

Ipanqazzu with a great block of the shield to the lance of his foe, slashed the enemy with his ax upon the tip of his head, crushing the rebel on the spot. Assur-Uballit fell from his steed with an ax donned upon his skull and blood gushing upon the ground. Surely Ninurta laid a trial and the rebel was found lacking. If not in the same moment, but a moment after, the Great King arose from the heap, with a golden dagger embossed with an amber crust, he howled as if possessed by Ishtar, he is a King of vicious composure, Fear 'He Who Rises from a Heap.' Upon the great yell of the Guardian, the rebel army took foot and ran south and east and all were attacked by the army of His Majesty, they were hunted by the Gods themselves!" -Kalhu Codex


Sinbanipal, has slain his uncle and assured his reign, now with victory gained he positioned his camp to enjoy the victory. Whence did the Guardian Ipanqazzu arrived with the head of Assur-Uballit, still with an ax stuck upon his skull, alongside his body. Sinbanipal ordered the body burned in the city of Assur to great celebration and the head of the rebel placed with the ax still attached as a public display in the city. Sinbanipal for his third order, claimed the title, 'He who Rose from a Tumble' and then declared himself King of Babylon and King of the Universe.

War of the Western Coalition

Necho II crossed the Euphrates with little issue as Dugul-Naboo called his army together to march to engage the Egyptians in a general army. When he left the city of Harran to do battle against the Egyptians, word had not reached him of the fall of Assur-Uballit. Then, a supposed miracle occurred:

"Looking toward the sky after a march from Harran, He of the Grey Eyes (Dugul-Naboo), pondered the sight he saw, a great Ax surrounded by a bolt of light appeared in the sky. The warriors looked and the priests and astrologists wondered the meaning before proclaiming that the Marshal was the Ax of the Heavens, he will tear the enemy's armor away as is chipping away at the root of a tree!" -Kalhu Codex

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Thus ends this update! Sorry for such a short update, we will have a new update very shortly!

 

[trajen777]

Very nice updates

 

[Mort the Reaper]

Thus ends this update! Sorry for such a short update, we will have a new update very shortly!

It's fine. Good to know there's more in the works.

 

[Samm]

It seems that all this child king stuff might effect the ideology of Kingship going forward. Or does it have equivalents in our own timeline?

 

[Falecius]

In theory, Sinbanipal has now a potentially very long reign ahead. This may be good for stability (Assyria would be spared internal conflict for decades if he lives). The boy seems also very determined to find victory, glory, conquest. This is going to be horribly costly, but that's not like Mesopotamian ruling elites ever cared much: it was the conquered people who were supposed to bear those costs for the most part. With Urartu subservient and definitely obliterated as a threat for the long term, challenges are nonetheless remaining or re-appearing from all sides. While Assyria has proved repeteadly that enemies such as Media, Elam and Egypt can be crushingly defeated, permanent control of any of those proved elusive historically and still does ITTL so far. Assyria never directly fought Lydia historically, but the same dynamic happened with Phrygia, so the Lydians are also a serious problem.
Sinbanipal's victory makes Elam no longer a reliable subordinate ally, and loyalties in Babylon may be looser as well in the short term. Consolidation of the south-eastern flank will be in order shortly, as soon as the Western threat is at least contained.
I imagine that Assyrians will want to restore tighter control over at least Egypt as soon as they muster the strength to do so, but while expelling Necho from the Levant seems a fairly feasible task, actually controlling Kemet is more problematic (it was a long-term recurrent challenge even for the Persians, who had far more resources and an administrative system much better suited to manage far-flung provinces; OTOH, Assyria is closer to Egypt than Achaemenid power-centres).
Elam will be a thorn I think. Both ideological and practical reasons require the place to be put under a tight leash, which in turn enables further operations in the difficult terrain of Media. Sinbanipal would want to cement his father's legacy by restoring the Eastern Protectorate and make it stabler, thus also removing Media as long-term potential rival. This is also a daunting (but not impossible) task.
Then, there's Lydia. Assyrian ideology and strategic interests also require them to be subjugated, at least to the point they cannot threaten the Fertile Crescent imperial core any longer.
This is logistically hard to do, but I can see repeated campaigns in Anatolia.
This, of course, assuming that Sinbanipal manages to successfully emerge from the current intersection of crises.

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

It seems that all this child king stuff might effect the ideology of Kingship going forward. Or does it have equivalents in our own timeline?

The otl equivalent is the growth of divine kingship in the ancient Akkadian empire and its odd restoration in the later Assyrian and Babylonian periods around this time otl. The last Babylonian king for instance, Nabonidus is noted for this development. Regardless, the key to some of this, is the later part of Sinsharishkun’s reign and particularly his stay in the city of Haran, the holy city for the God Sin, the god most acutely associated with deification of kings in Mesopotamian history: both for Naram-Sin, Sharkalishari, the Sumerian renaissance and the late kings of Babylon.

 

[Falecius]

The otl equivalent is the growth of divine kingship in the ancient Akkadian empire and its odd restoration in the later Assyrian and Babylonian periods around this time otl. The last Babylonian king for instance, Nabonidus is noted for this development. Regardless, the key to some of this, is the later part of Sinsharishkun’s reign and particularly his stay in the city of Haran, the holy city for the God Sin, the god most acutely associated with deification of kings in Mesopotamian history: both for Naram-Sin, Sharkalishari, the Sumerian renaissance and the late kings of Babylon.

To be fair, it's not like the Babylonian elites approved of Nabonidus' theopolitics, to put it mildly. Although the fact that he lost big time clearly has a lot to do with the way later scribal traditions blackened his memory. Just to say that renewed trend to deification of kings you rightly note remained an extremely controversial element of Mesopotamian theopolitical culture.
On the other hand, it would arguably re-emerge in a modified form in the post-Alexandrian context again, with Alexander himself and the Seleukids, and to an extent again it could be said to be active in the Roman period. But here it gets complicated: I would consider the Iranian sacred kingship under the Sasanians as only tangently related instead, and perhaps divinization of emperors in the Roman East is also more traceable to Egyptian, not Mesopotamian, models, though in the end the Hellenistic mix makes this sort of assertion difficult to substantiate; there's also the Platonic-Aristotelian view of virtuous rulers as somewhat "godlike", but in a completely different way from either Mesopotamian or Pharaonic approaches.

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

To be fair, it's not like the Babylonian elites approved of Nabonidus' theopolitics, to put it mildly. Although the fact that he lost big time clearly has a lot to do with the way later scribal traditions blackened his memory. Just to say that renewed trend to deification of kings you rightly note remained an extremely controversial element of Mesopotamian theopolitical culture.
On the other hand, it would arguably re-emerge in a modified form in the post-Alexandrian context again, with Alexander himself and the Seleukids, and to an extent again it could be said to be active in the Roman period. But here it gets complicated: I would consider the Iranian sacred kingship under the Sasanians as only tangently related instead, and perhaps divinization of emperors in the Roman East is also more traceable to Egyptian, not Mesopotamian, models, though in the end the Hellenistic mix makes this sort of assertion difficult to substantiate; there's also the Platonic-Aristotelian view of virtuous rulers as somewhat "godlike", but in a completely different way from either Mesopotamian or Pharaonic approaches.

It was not popular in Babylon itself, but it was enthusiastically popular in Nabonidus' place of birth, the city of Haran and it was popular in the cities of Ur, Nippur, Uruk and so forth, Nabonidus despite his fall, was a very skilled ruler and his pivot away from Babylon had as much to do with his personal preference as well as a legitimate move towards a more stable monarchical system that had been tried in past eras. The branding of Nabonidus as a poor ruler, is as you note, a decision of the scribal class, who wrote many kings who ere great kings, to be poor ones for their reasons. Naram-Sin, who in many ways was the greatest of the Mesopotamian kings of the early age (greater than Sargon), was turned into the prototypical tyrant by the scribes for his deification process and his snubbing of omens. They even falsely ascribed the Gutian invasion to his period, when it in fact was most likely an occurrence of the reign of his son, Sharkalishari. In the same manner, the Babylonian custom is that Nabonidus was a revived Naram-Sin, an innovator and one who snubs the divine commands and mixes deification processes with a secularizing agenda.

The Achaemenids oddly did not utilize the Akkadian deification process nor did they attain to the levels of Babylonian or Assyrian viceroyalties. As mentioned before, the Achaemenid kings utilized the title of Great King in Akkadian and simply 'King' in Aramaic, Persian and most importantly, in their preferred formal language, Elamite, they were simply king of kings and so forth, not 'Great King.' Though, as far as I know, no Persia, Median, Scytho-Dahae monarch ever claimed to be a god or even many of the godlike titles that Assyrian or Babylonian kings took:

'King of all Breeds'
'King of all Lands'
'Great Governor of the Great Gods'
or
'God' as an affix, such as 'Divine Nabonidus, God of the Lands and Rivers' or 'Naram-Sin (beloved of Sin), God of Akkad, Divine King' etc etc etc.... Note, as I understand Egyptian divine Kingship, the Pharaoh was the image or body of the God Horus (correct?) meaning the Pharaoh was an existing god that was known by the people. While, the Akkadian-Sumerian conception was totally different, the Divine King was a new god entirely, as if he became a God and he is new if you like.

Seleucid kings however, did claim a title such as, 'Lord Savior,' which may be similar to the Divine Kingship of the later Babylonian king Nabonidus. To a topic I know more of, the Kushan kings took the title of 'Lord Savior' and int heir coinage, kings such as Kanishka were depicted as the Greek God Apollo or Hercules, the same goes for earlier kings. Some kings even depicted themselves as a combination of the god Winshu, the Bactrian wind god, Zeus (or Indra) and Hercules. This was not something that the Arsacids were known for and my suspicion is that it is a Greco-Bactrian innovation from that of the Seleucids and generally eastern Greek tradition.

 

[Falecius]

It was not popular in Babylon itself, but it was enthusiastically popular in Nabonidus' place of birth, the city of Haran and it was popular in the cities of Ur, Nippur, Uruk and so forth, Nabonidus despite his fall, was a very skilled ruler and his pivot away from Babylon had as much to do with his personal preference as well as a legitimate move towards a more stable monarchical system that had been tried in past eras. The branding of Nabonidus as a poor ruler, is as you note, a decision of the scribal class, who wrote many kings who ere great kings, to be poor ones for their reasons. Naram-Sin, who in many ways was the greatest of the Mesopotamian kings of the early age (greater than Sargon), was turned into the prototypical tyrant by the scribes for his deification process and his snubbing of omens. They even falsely ascribed the Gutian invasion to his period, when it in fact was most likely an occurrence of the reign of his son, Sharkalishari. In the same manner, the Babylonian custom is that Nabonidus was a revived Naram-Sin, an innovator and one who snubs the divine commands and mixes deification processes with a secularizing agenda.

The Achaemenids oddly did not utilize the Akkadian deification process nor did they attain to the levels of Babylonian or Assyrian viceroyalties. As mentioned before, the Achaemenid kings utilized the title of Great King in Akkadian and simply 'King' in Aramaic, Persian and most importantly, in their preferred formal language, Elamite, they were simply king of kings and so forth, not 'Great King.' Though, as far as I know, no Persia, Median, Scytho-Dahae monarch ever claimed to be a god or even many of the godlike titles that Assyrian or Babylonian kings took:

'King of all Breeds'
'King of all Lands'
'Great Governor of the Great Gods'
or
'God' as an affix, such as 'Divine Nabonidus, God of the Lands and Rivers' or 'Naram-Sin (beloved of Sin), God of Akkad, Divine King' etc etc etc.... Note, as I understand Egyptian divine Kingship, the Pharaoh was the image or body of the God Horus (correct?) meaning the Pharaoh was an existing god that was known by the people. While, the Akkadian-Sumerian conception was totally different, the Divine King was a new god entirely, as if he became a God and he is new if you like.

Seleucid kings however, did claim a title such as, 'Lord Savior,' which may be similar to the Divine Kingship of the later Babylonian king Nabonidus. To a topic I know more of, the Kushan kings took the title of 'Lord Savior' and int heir coinage, kings such as Kanishka were depicted as the Greek God Apollo or Hercules, the same goes for earlier kings. Some kings even depicted themselves as a combination of the god Winshu, the Bactrian wind god, Zeus (or Indra) and Hercules. This was not something that the Arsacids were known for and my suspicion is that it is a Greco-Bactrian innovation from that of the Seleucids and generally eastern Greek tradition.

You are correct about the Pharaonic tradition, at least as I understand it. The Kings of Kemet were meant to be worldly manifestations of Horus, albeit details are complex and changed with time. They were not "deified" in the way Naram-Sin (for example) tried to present himself, as they were regarded as already divine.
I fully agree with the rest of you post, and in particular, the point you make about Nabonidus' political theology being rooted in the ideology of Harran's "Assyrian" sacerdotal milieu is significant.

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

You are correct about the Pharaonic tradition, at least as I understand it. The Kings of Kemet were meant to be worldly manifestations of Horus, albeit details are complex and changed with time. They were not "deified" in the way Naram-Sin (for example) tried to present himself, as they were regarded as already divine.
I fully agree with the rest of you post, and in particular, the point you make about Nabonidus' political theology being rooted in the ideology of Harran's "Assyrian" sacerdotal milieu is significant.

An important point to note also, is that it is not only Harran, but the the ancient cities of Ur, Uruk and Nippur which were bastions of the worship of Sin. I cannot stress enough, that in almost every case, that I know of wherein Divine Kingship is invoked, it has some connection to the Great God Sin, the God of the Moon and according to the Sumerian renaissance and Harran tradition, is the highest of the Gods and the King of the Gods.

As a reply to some other of your comments in the thread:

1. Sinbanipal could most certainly be in for quite a long reign. Luckily for him, he is heir of a valued tradition of reform from his father and under the protection of the very capable Maniuqappu. The main issue is, whether his Field Marshal remains loyal. Ipqu-Aya might be an issue short term, however, he is slightly the elder of Maniuqappu and as such, may be unable to last much longer in age or his role. Thus, the role of chamberlain can be given to a more amiable party. Of course, Sadyattes and Necho II are major issues; though as you may have assumed, the Assyrian army will most likely gain total victory defensively. This is partly gained from the larger percentage of Assyrian soldiers ready and also the trepidation Necho held in pushing forward.

2. The invasion of Anatolia has precedence however. Assyrian merchants prior to the Scythian invasion, seemed to have been the most prominent merchants in Cappadocia and it has led some scholars to even claim that Cappadocia was ruled directly by Assyria during the reign of Sennacherib until Assurbanipal's later rule. Certainly too, all Assyrians of learning knew of the great conquests of the lands to the north by Sargon of Akkad and Naram-Sin of Akkad. Both claimed to be lords of the lands to the north and Assyrian ideology demands them to push the limits of the empire ever more north, south, west and east. The initial goals, would be the Assyrian conquest of Cappadocia which had long eluded them due to Urartu. With Urartu destroyed and the nomadic contingent gone; the region lies open for conquest. Afterward, the north and west will be valued for its resources, namely amber, horses and gold, some of the most beloved items in Assyria. Lydia will be targeted most certainly, eventually.

3. Egypt is a difficult case. Assyria generally did not attempt to rule it directly. Assurbanipal attempted to rule it indirectly by placing 26 kings in control of the lands while taking massive loots from the land. This option was positive for the time, but in the tl, it led to the outgrowth of a revisionist Egypt under Necho II, a visionary king in the image of his father Psamtik I. For now, Sinbanipal is only offering his soldiers to loot and destroy Egypt, does this include a conquest option? We will see... though, as you mention, conquest of Egypt will be notoriously difficult, it is a land of bountiful rebellions, especially without good naval access and control over the seas. We should also remind ourselves, that the remnants of the 25th dynasty in Nubia are warring among each other and may unite in Egypt's chaos to retake their throne in Egypt.... There is also the question of the many Greek colonists and mercenary filling up in Egypt as a result of Necho's reform process.

4. Certainly, the reclaiming of the Eastern Protectorate must be made and avenging of the late Sinsharishkun. Currently, Media is reforming under Gaudama, who has secured rule over Media, Hyrcania and Drangiana. Though, Media is currently in the war with Elam, who has sent with an army, the former Eastern Protector General, Tukulti-Ishtar to reclaim the throne. However, will Elamite support remain whence they learn that their ally Assur-Uballit has been slain? Elam and Media are huge dangers, more dangerous certainly than Egypt or Lydia in the long term, especially when we consider that Elam is the foundation for the Achaemenid Persian Empire....

5. As you mentioned, Urartu is more or less defeated and weakened and subservient to Assyria. Though, do not fear those lovers of Urartu and Armenia, I plan to make them a very very important part of this timeline, as many have noticed in regards to my focuses on Urartu in some of the earlier chapters. Their kingly doctrine was interesting as was many of their innovations, that whence in Assyria and molded with them as very close neighbors, could improve Assyria into a true empire exceeding the past Assyria.

 

[Falecius]

snip

Actual Assyrian control of Cappadocia was probably quite fleeting/distant, but that does not mean they ever gave up trying, and I agree that Sinbanipal would want to reassert it, possibly on firmer grounds.
Is his court aware of the long term Assyrian presence there? The commercial Assyrian presence in the region is well documented at least since the early Middle Bronze, but do they have records of that?

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

Actual Assyrian control of Cappadocia was probably quite fleeting/distant, but that does not mean they ever gave up trying, and I agree that Sinbanipal would want to reassert it, possibly on firmer grounds.
Is his court aware of the long term Assyrian presence there? The commercial Assyrian presence in the region is well documented at least since the early Middle Bronze, but do they have records of that?

Fleeting perhaps, but many conquests begin with an agenda that at the moment is unrealistic and difficult to keep, yet in near future is made tenable.

Regarding the merchants, yes we know Assyria has records of this sort of thing. In the book, "Assyria: The Imperial Mission" by Mario Liverani, it is noted that Assyrian imperial agenda/mission revolved partly around this idea of mercantile interest being the guiding target for eventual imperial conquest. Merchants seem to have been used outright as hidden spies, warriors and military guides for Assyria to exploit to gain varied reasons to invade and discretely place their influence in nearby lands to pave the way for conquest. This as you may know, was a strategy utilized famously by the Aztecs and or the European colonial powers, such as Portugal or Spain. in fact, the scribes of Assyria eluded in some texts that adherence to wars for the sake of merchants was superior to wars undertaken at the behest of military generals. Once, the scribes equated the wisdom of waging war for commercial interest with that of war for the sake of the Great Gods. War for Assyria was a commercial, civic and religious duty that made up their imperial message. As I understand, there was registers and likely more (and less due to the destruction of some documents in the recent ISIS attacks) which attested to Assyrian militaro-bureaucrats keeping records of merchants inhabiting foreign lands. This points to some sort of military agenda, as we know, no bureaucracy exists in Assyria aside from servants and slaves, who are not part of the military.

By the way, the Palace-Herald would have been in charge of such operations related to the merchants and their interests. This bureaucrat was among the four strongest government positions alongside the Cupbearer, Chamberlain and the Marshal. Palace Heralds controlled the qepu directly and distributed spies across the nearby world and to the vassals. Merchants as I noted, were sort of less overt spies, emissaries of Assyrian power, to do harm to an Assyrian or Babylonian merchant was pretexts for war. Mario Liverani even theorized alongside other scholars, that some Assyrian wars, were purely for mecantile reasons, yet were branded as religious in nature. The reign of Sargon II, we find the Assyrians invading Cyprus and attacking the Greeks therein on behalf of Phoenician merchants. There was also the idea of acquisition, Assyria was not a mercantilist empire; they had no interest in conquering lands for the sake of exporting their items to new lands. Rather, Assyrian imperial dogma was totally based upon resource acquisition. Thus, Assyria conquered lands so as to completely take said resource and if possible, relocate it to Assyria or otherwise, control the lands to ensure its transit to Mesopotamia. In this regard, Assyria was beloved by many of its subjects, especially Babylon and Suhum (lands of Mari), as Assyria would conquer tracts of lands in Arabia and then would enslave thousands and take their goods, such as camels and then relocate the resource and the populace that has experience with the resource into Babylonia, Suhum or Assyria. As such, Assyria was able to consistently keep its subjects happy by raining down upon them all sorts of cheap labor and resources from far away lands.

Assyrian kings even frequently give us boasts like, 'King who Gathered Exotic Goods in the Land of Assur.' Assyrian kingly legitimacy could be attained by way of gaining access to resources not found in Assyria and importing it in triumphs into Babylon, Assur, Ninevah, Kalhu and so on. Assyrian efforts in this regard, left much of the lands near it a wreckage, but enriched most certainly Mesopotamia enormously, such that upon the decline of Assyria, population decline did ensue in most of Mesopotamia and much of the ecnomic benefits enjoyed in Babylonia under the Achaemenids were in fact acquisitions of Assyria (camels were first brought to Mesopotamia after Assyria warred against the Arabs and acquired their resources; this introduction of camels led to a doubling of trade incoems in shekels in Mesopotamia for merchants and coincided with greater Assyrian military campaigns, as Assyria could afford to create baggage trains and launch large campaigns, something later Middle Eastern empires would take for granted). Assyria also through the east, was able to acquire horses which revolutionized Assyrian military capabilities; according to most scholars of the topic, Assyria initially invaded Media in order to acquire horses and other lucrative goods, such as furs. Assyrian horses were renowned also, as Assyria bred them in the land of Assur and trained children in riding, instructing them in the ways of the Scythians and Medes. Such was their copies of the steppe nomads, that Assyrian soldiers almost completely abandoned sandals in favor of Scythian-like boots by the reign of Assurbanipal, adopted Scythian pants not unlike the Celtic or Germanic pants found in Europe and practiced horse archery in a manner not dissimilar to the Scythians. As you may see; Assyria was quite dynamic.

 

[Falecius]

snip

I absolutely agree on everything you say. While I already knew most of that, (having had my readings on the topic on Liverani as well; I indeed recommend his work to anyone willing to learn more about Ancient Near East) you put it very beautifully and clearly.

 

[TheShah]

so have the Judeans been decimated by Egypt & their Edomite allies, let alone deported, thus snuffed out before the captivity, or is there still hope of them fulfilling their destiny like OTL?

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

so have the Judeans been decimated by Egypt & their Edomite allies, let alone deported, thus snuffed out before the captivity, or is there still hope of them fulfilling their destiny like OTL?

Jerusalem is sacked and greatly harmed, though not destroyed. Necho II spared the temple structure but looted the palace and the populace. The population has declined immensely as the denizens have fled into the countryside or taken into slavery. Though, the Jewish people are certainly not finished, they will have their time in the sun, surely.

 

[TheShah]

Jerusalem is sacked and greatly harmed, though not destroyed. Necho II spared the temple structure but looted the palace and the populace. The population has declined immensely as the denizens have fled into the countryside or taken into slavery. Though, the Jewish people are certainly not finished, they will have their time in the sun, surely.

thats good. and in some ways better than what occured at this time in OTL

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

thats good. and in some ways better than what occured at this time in OTL

Surely. It should also be remembered, Assyria for all its fury, rewarded loyalty quite handsomely from its subject states. Those who broke loyalty, would certainly face extreme fury and rage; yet those who did not make rebellion, could receive very lucrative benefits. In this tl so far, Judah did not rebel and remained loyal and the temple has not been destroyed. This of course has enormous ramifications for Jewish society and conception without a Babylonian captivity event and without adoption of Aramaic.

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

601 BCE/4151 AY

The Battle of Alagma

As Necho II crossed the Euphrates river with his illustrious army, the Assyrian army beholding the supposed miracle of the ax, marched to engage the Egyptian army which due to its immense size and power, was able to cross the river without the local guards having the ability to stop their crossing effectively. Meanwhile, the army of Sadayattes moved likewise to cross the Euphrates and surround Carchemish on both sides, his reasoning that from both sides besieged, the city would soon submit in similar fashion to Aleppo some two years prior. Further, the great Lydian army, had been devastated by the siege of Carchemish, their forces once very impressively arrayed, the greatest army to march from north to south since the Hittite empire, yet now were craving for plunder they had been so denied of at Carchemish. Many soldiers in the Lydian army of foreign extract spoke of rebellion and or defection, especially among the Thracian and Ionian contingents who envied both the Assyrian and Egyptian armies and detested Sadyattes and his failures to capture Carchemish. Though, generally the Anatolian soldiery of both Cappadocian, Lydian, Phrygian and so forth held fair opinions of their king and were more than grateful for the victories and plunder gathered in Syria, Tabal and the soon to be gained plunder of Assyria,

The Egyptian army in contrast to the Lydian, was one of extremely high spirits. The army had not known defeat yet and were inspired by their renaissance king to push further. Necho II throughout the whole campaign had commanded an imperial presence, dominating the scene around him, he embodied his title as God Horus and personified what he considered to be the ideal Egyptian king. Necho however, was generally inexperienced, hidden behind his victories and his dignified and enlightened appearance was a deep doubt regarding his recent victories:

"The Pharaoh wore upon his crown what resembled a great feather, he was a pretentious youth. Golden was his choice color and he drifted among the midst of the army towards the Land of Assur, his desire a lust to destroy the Ideal Masters, he was a man who sew chaos unto the world. Bringing with him hordes of disgusting faces, a repugnant host who shrouded themselves in the golden veneer of grandeur. But ibex dressed in fine garments are of no match for the Ideal Lords.

O' Soldiery of Assur, fear not the trepidation of war. Let thyself ponder upon the glory of Assur, Whole Heaven. Wondrous is his ways, for he stands at the gate with proclamations of power, strength and vitality. Epic is He, the God of Assur, Lord of the Heaven, great is He that doth marvelous and unsearchable things! He is at the side of the warriors of the Holy Hands, it is He who commands the ranks to battle the chaos. Nergal is his ally, he doth flay those who strike at the side of the Lord of Assur, Heaven strikes lightning and winds blow from all direction: Adad spake through the clouds, 'Hark! Victorious is the armies of Assur, they hath our light condensed and pressed; thine majesty and words resound among them. All the Great Gods rally for a showdown, I, Adad, Lord of the Thunder, He who Walks upon the Clouds; who bestows the rain; who calls out unto the Four Corners, who breaks enemy walls asunder; He who batters the enemy with floods of torrential dispute; He who is the Trumpet of the Gods, I call to war the Masters of All to do an act of retribution upon the lands of chaos!'

Take heart, for the Great Gods have rallied and will ever more rally behind the armies of Assur. You cannot be defeated by any foe, for to rule the lands of the Rivers, that land of precious grain, the Holy Land, who is the Sacred Heart of the Gods, is to rule the Universe." -Kalhu Codex, 'an exhortation to war'

Necho II thus fearing his potential loss, decided as he had done in the past, pushed forward with a veneer of confidence, his soldiers urged him to victory and he would not allow caution to force him to fulfill the destiny of Kemet. The Assyrian army under Dugul-Naboo, mostly drawn from the noble levies, was ready for war and Dugul-Naboo, a veteran of many conflicts under Sinsharishkun pressed forth with determination to gain victory.

The two armies met at Alagma in late 601 BCE.

In the same month, as the two armies meeting at Alagma, Sinbanipal arrived near Harran and was poised to push forth and break the siege of Carchemish. Rabbi-Adad remained stationed himself at Dur-Sharrukin in the north. Maniuqappu sent envoys to many of the realms around, especially to Urartu informing the of the results of the succession war. In Ninevah, the chamberlain, Ipqu-Aya stationed his city guard across the city and solidified his own guards to protect himself from possible assassination from Maniuqappu. Ipqu-Aya resolved himself to prepare either for total submission to the cupbearer or for his own death. There too though, was a possibility to change the power dynamics, reminding the young king of his father's deep respect for the chamberlain and the policies of reform.

Tukulti-Ishtar (Eastern Protector General) and his Elamo-Gambulu army besieged Ectbatana from October 16 until November 8, when the siege was broken by Gaudama who arrived with his Median-Hyrcanian army on November 8. The battle that transpired led to a stalemate generally, yet with a technical Protectorate victory but a tactical Median victory. The Median army fell back for some time, but the army of the Protector general due to loses of supplies and resources, was forced to return to Susa. Gambulu soldiery deserted upon their return to Elam, feeling the issue lost, Humban-Kittin began to also lose interest in the issue and prepared to plan to create some sort of detente with Gaudama and the new Median hegemony rapidly emerging to his north.

Elamite in general, among the first who learned of the fall of Assur-Uballit, moved Elamite policy away from its pro-Assyrian stance and towards potentially detente with Media and restoring Elamite rule in Anshan, under a collection of Persian cities, princes and tribal federates. Though, Humban-Kittin in 601, made sure not to endanger Assyrian friendship, at least the veneer of such and thus kept Tukulti-Ishtar in his court and under protection over the Eastern Protectorate in exile.

Rusas III, already aging in the year 601 BCE, proclaimed his prince, Rusas as the co-king and began to take to performing solely religious matters. Urartu was untouched by the current conflict erupting around it and had returned to some semblance of prosperity due to the destruction of the Scytho-Cimmerians and the weakening of Median power. Rusas IV, the now co-king, shifted the affairs of the state to assist more readily the Assyrian overlord, which Rusas IV and his supporters at court, as the honored ally, first among the two equals.

The Meeting of Giants

As the two armies met and Alagma, the armies had began many skirmishes with one another, with the Assyrian side holding the clear-cut advantage. Assyrian horse archers were a true menace to the Egyptians, as they had been in the past and continued as such now. Despite this, Nubian archers and Egyptian archers with powerful bows, struck with great precision and carrying power upon Assyrian lightly armored horse archers, dealing considerable damage in the opening skirmishes. Masses of Egyptian and Greek infantry pushed forward, calling to engage in the conflict, to cut the heads of the enemies of the King. Necho held his army at bay, wishing to not rush things too greatly. Thus, the battle would be delayed another several hours, wherein Assyria attempted to disrupt the Egyptian army with horse archers and light cavalry, mostly without significant gains, due to the effective morale of the Egyptian archer divisions.

As caution prevailed for a time, the determination of Necho to gain victory rapidly to then push to Harran overtook him in the next hours and ordered his army to proceed. Within moments that seemed to be hours, the Egyptian army rushed forward, at jog, with javelins flying from both sides and the armies smashed together in the valley. Scythed chariots slammed through the Assyrian Itu warriors, routing them while doing mild damage by ramming through Greek infantry along the frontlines.

The Assyria noble levies were unfazed, they held the line and as they held the line, loud cries from the flanks emerged, as Assyrian lancers crashed into the Nubian infantry upon the Egyptian left flank, archers in the back realized the collapse of the left flank first. Unlike the armies of many Assyria faced, the Egyptian army took heart and stood the ground, though a strong faith only went so far.

Assyrian armies preferring the mobile cavalry of horse archers, brought their main advantage; lancers breaking the Egyptian left flank and temporarily forcing the Nubian mercenary to route, allowed an opening for the horse archers of Assyria to flood into the left of the Assyrian army. Assyrian lancers had one goal, to break into the back of the Egyptian army and their rear, along with the allowing the Assyrian cavalry to push into the back lines with bows and light cavalry. Necho II, who had already plunged along with his chariots into the Assyrian army, had failed to prepare for this situation. Egyptian light cavalry were wholly unprepared for the Assyrian cavalry skill and were defeated as soon as they attempted to close the widening gap upon the left flank. Soon, archers even of the most hearty style, began to falter and flee.

Necho II pulled back with his chariot to the right flank and began to signal to his army captains to retreat southwest. As hours went by, the Egyptian infantry condensed to allow the army to retreat, as the Assyrian cavalry chased the Egyptian retreating force south toward the bend of the Euphrates river. Egyptian loses became heavy as the retreat commenced. Of the 4,000+ Nubian soldiers who made up the main wing of the left flank, 3,629 were captured, slain or wounded. Assyrian victory at Alagma was short lived as Dugul-Naboo cut the chase short and proceeded to prepare a crossing of the Euphrates at the correct location to then proceed to retake Syria. Necho for his sake, was defeated, but his army remained strong relatively and with the assistance of locals, was able to cross the Euphrates rapidly south of Hamath and prepared to make haste toward Hamath and prepare to resupply his army and regain some morale.

A Lydian flight

The siege of Carchemish was proceeding smoothly as the city faltered under the many sided siege and the closing of the river, yet the defeat of Necho II and word that the Assyrian Great King was coming within striking distance, led Sadayttes to cut his gains short and retreat across the river, and make his escape northward. A mad dash of the army away from Carchemish led to a mass discontent erupting among the Ionian and Thracian mercenary and levies. Whence across the Euphrates, the malcontent soldiers, totaling 18,000 soldiers launched a mutiny against Sadyattes, led by an Ionian captain named Nicias.

The Battle of the Ionian mutineers

The mutiny erupted in November as the Lydian army was marching towards Aleppo to then proceed to more defensible Cappadocia, it erupted with a vicious fury as the mutineers pulled from behind and attacked the Lydian army and loyalists from the southwest. For many days the mutineers had held their mutiny in secret and only launched it after several days of planning. The Lydian army had delegated great autonomy to its Ionian captains and actively promoted a segregation of its forces, thus, the movement of large numbers of soldiers without official approval, was an accepted practice that did not create suspicion.

Sadyattes too wrapped in his escape, was unable to foresee the calamity and thus the Lydian army was struck with great surprise as the mutineers dealt great blows upon the Lydian army. Unprepared for such a sudden attack and surprised by the attack, the majority of the Lydian army routed north, however, some of the Lydian army in the front remained active, primarily made up of cavalry, which responded to the mutineers attack by firing bows and charging the flanks of the mutineer force while attempting to recall their grief struck army in flight. All for was naught as the army continued its flight and the mutineers pressed their gains further cutting down hundreds of Lydian warriors before they fell back as the Lydian cavalry continued to deal blows until the mutineers relented their advances and harries. Sadyattes crushed and defeated, saw the greatest Anatolian army in a millenium collapse before his eyes; he planned to make haste to Sardis and prepare to defend against retribution and likewise, enact his vengeance upon Ionia....

--------------------------------------
600 BCE/4152 AY

Victorious on both fronts, the Assyrian armies crossed the Euphrates; Dugul-Naboo had already crossed in December and marched some distance capturing villages and towns and slaying Egyptian guards and scouts. Sinbanipal only arrived at the Euphrates to cross it in the year of 600 in early January and crossed the first week. Word received both of the mutineers and their actions against Lydia, but also their new activities in Aleppo.

The Lordship of Aleppo

After captain Nicias and the mutineers had defeated the Lydian army and forced them north out of Syria, the mutineers proceeded toward Aleppo and attacked the city already destroyed and attack three times. The mutineers faced a local militia, some Phoenician mercenary and a Lydian garrison held up in the palace district, suffering from a local riot and defection of the city guard. Outnumbering drastically both sides, the mutineers attacked both sides, breaching the already destroyed walls and palisade and pushed into the city. The mutineers were able to fight through the city at great cost, losing some 3,000 in casualties as the battle over the city lasted the entire night as the mutineers captured the city house by house and wall by wall, before breaching the palace district and putting the Lydian governor and garrison all to the sword. Nicias the head of the mutineers, placed himself as prince of the city and prepared to send to the approaching Assyrian army a plead for surrender.

A Mutineer's Price

Sinabanipal arriving at Aleppo, called his marshal Dugul-Naboo toward him at Aleppo to assist in the potential siege of the city, whence he received envoys from the mutineer army.

"Greetings to the Great King, Lord of the Universe, (writing in Akkadian with certain Lydian wordings)

My name is Nicias, they call me, 'The man from Lebedos' and I am the commander of the army stationed in Aleppo.

We once took to war for the sake of the army of Sadayttes, cursed be his name, but we took heart and rebelled, brought mutiny upon the wretch and shamed him in battle. We did send him in flight, routed his army and captured his loots. Our forces then, free of our enemy, proceeded to attack his garrison in Aleppo. We did destroy the garrison of his and retook Aleppo and the people and army elected me as provisional governor of the city that we suffered for, to take. We do offer you this city, Great King and our unyielding loyalty.

Beseech you, we must, for the recognition of the city, we will not resist the Great King, we submit to His aura of power and do grant our loyalty. However, we wish to keep our wares and those items and lands we have suffered for. Also, as governor of the city, our plea is to be recognized as lord of the city, a governor under the Great King." -Kalhu Codex

Sinbanipal for his part, decided perhaps oddly, to accept the rule over Aleppo by Nicias and marched into the city and demanded Nicias perform the prostration to the Great King. The Great King then in the city, nominated Nicias to give half of his army to Dugul-Naboo, who in turn was instructed to lead his army into Tabal and retake these lands and raid into Cappadocia and Lydia. While, Sinbanipal and his army would march south toward Egypt and recapture all lands in the Levant.
-----------------------------------

So begins the second phase of this war, the tides have turned finally for Assyria. Can Necho II stop the Assyrian advance or will Egypt lose all of its newly captured lands and even Egypt itself? Too, what will be the result of the Cappadocian campaign of Dugul-Naboo? Thanks for reading, next update will be soon.

 

[Miguel Lanius]

Another glorious update to this great TL!

Dugul-Naboo's ambitions of kingship seemed to have been quietly shelved, smart man.

Urartu is recovering, interesting that.

By the way, the way the Assyrian state works in fascinating. Won't the way these Protectorates seem to be their own separate powerbases backfire in the long run? How did the Assyrians do this?

Elam and the Medians seem to be the next problem for the Assyrian state. Its Deportation Time?

Btw... aren't the italian peoples who become the germ of Etruria and then Rome, include people who came from Lydia? Does this mean Rome and many Etrurian-descended folks are butterflied by default?

I don't think Necho II is out yet. Still, Egyptian autonomy on a ticking clock here. Egypt must find a way to stand against an hegemonic power in the Middle East, or will always lose. Perhaps the future is expanding south to Nubia and Punt, maybe East to Lybia?

 

[Falecius]

Another glorious update to this great TL!

Dugul-Naboo's ambitions of kingship seemed to have been quietly shelved, smart man.

Urartu is recovering, interesting that.

By the way, the way the Assyrian state works in fascinating. Won't the way these Protectorates seem to be their own separate powerbases backfire in the long run? How did the Assyrians do this?

Elam and the Medians seem to be the next problem for the Assyrian state. Its Deportation Time?

Btw... aren't the italian peoples who become the germ of Etruria and then Rome, include people who came from Lydia? Does this mean Rome and many Etrurian-descended folks are butterflied by default?

I don't think Necho II is out yet. Still, Egyptian autonomy on a ticking clock here. Egypt must find a way to stand against an hegemonic power in the Middle East, or will always lose. Perhaps the future is expanding south to Nubia and Punt, maybe East to Lybia?

There seems to have been some sort of connection between Asia Minor and the Bronze/Iron Age transition in mid-Tyrrhenian Italy, yes, with Etruscan, Latin and Hellenic legendary material about that, but if it actually ever happened, must have been a lot earlier that TTL's timeframes.