705-597 BCE
In the year 705 BCE, the Great King of Assyria, Sargon II perished in battle against the Cimmerian host that had entered Anatolia around 714 BCE. Sargon II had in his reign (722-705 BCE) continued his father, Tiglath-Pileser III's legacy (745-727 BCE) and succeeded in harrying the advances of Urartu and Elam simultaneously. In 710 BCE, Sargon II defeated Shutur-Nahunte II of Elam (717-693 BCE) and dethroned the Chaldaen rebel king of Babylon, Marduk-apla-Iddina II (could be rendered as Mardukinapal II). Though Sargon II previously an enemy of Urartu, signed an eternal alliance with Urartu in 709 BCE. Phyrgian king Midas (732-695 BCE) previously an enemy of Assyria, submitted to Assyria in 708 BCE and joined a generalized anti-Cimmerian alliance.
This alliance succeeded in 707-705 BCE in defeating the Cimmerian incursion upon Urartu under Argishti II (714-680 BCE) and upon Assyrian lands. However, Sargon II was slain in the war and sent Assyria into a potential crisis of rule. Not yet had an Assyrian king ascended to the throne of the new dynasty peacefully. Tiglath-Pileser III had slew the entire Assyrian royalty, which had ruled Assyria for 965 years (1720-745 BCE, the Adasides) and Shalmaneser V had ascended by military force, before himself becoming murdered by Sargon II in 722 BCE after only 5 years of reign. Likewise, though Sargon II had ensured victories, his mark upon the region was short term.
Egypt, under the XXV dynasty of Kush, remained somewhat strong and fearsome. Sargon II had done only been able to offer minor reprisals to Egypt for its meddling in Judah and Israel, hence Egypt remained a looming threat. Elam under Shutur-Nahunte II had lost his powerful vassal state in Babylon, but had remained on the throne. Mardukinapal II had also despite his deposition, managed to escape on the back of a donkey to lands of the Gambulu and there to Elam where he was held as a potential weapon to strike Assyria. The nature of the 'Golden Peace' between Urartu-Assyria was also a questionable situation, should it last?
Sennacherib entered the throne of Assyria that was immediately throne into chaos upon the death of Sargon II. Though, there is little evidence for a succession crisis, it is known that upon Sennacherib's accession, though the Cimmerian host had been rebuffed, the Elamites and Egyptians sponsored rebellions against Assyria. In 703 BCE, after only a short two years of reign for Sennacherib, Shutur-Nahunte II released Mardukinapal II into Karduniash (Babylonia). Therein, Mardukinapal with an army of Elamite soldiers, Gambulu and Chaldaen mercenary and general dissatisfaction of the rural populace battled the Sukkalu of Babylon, Marduk-Zakir-Shumi II (705-703 BCE). Mardukinapal II with his allies dethroned the Sukkalu loyal to Assyria and proclaimed the restored kingdom of Karduniash before making a secret alliance with the XXV Dynasty of Egypt and sponsoring the rebellion of Hazu-Kiyeh (Hezekiah) in Jerusalem and the Egyptian capture of Philistine from Assyria.
Sennacherib faced with these great pressures in 703-700 BCE, was ailed however when Argishti II of Urartu affirmed the Golden Peace between Urartu and Assyria, assuring that no northern threat would exist for Assyria. As such Sennacherib took to rebuffing his enemies, firstly, Mardukinapal II. In 702 BCE, Sennacherib struck Karduniash and its Elamite ally in Dur-Kurigalzu and then proceeded to strike Sippar and then Nippur. Mardukinapal II fled once more after his armies rapidly melted against the Assyrian onslaught, fleeing once more to Elam, Shutur-Nahunte II once more kept his potential weapon close to his chest to use when Assyria showed weakness. In 701 BCE, Sennacherib placed Bel-Ibbini as Sukkalu of Babylon before marching to the Levant.
From 701-699 BCE, Assyria engaged Egypt and its allies in the Levant. Most of the Phoencian cities remained loyal to Assyria and joined Assyria in destroying the rebellious internal cities and tribes. Moab fell in 701 BCE and soon after, Assyria had destroyed rebels across southern Syria, retook Byblos with the help of Tyre and defeated the Egyptian army at Accra before proceeding to Judah. Hazu-Kiyeh surrendered immediately upon Assyrian arrival and submitted to vassalage to Assyria once more. In the later parts of 699 BCE, Sennacherib marched into Philistine and destroyed the Egyptian army holding the region before circumstances forced the Great King to return to the east.
In 698 BCE, Elam had sponsored more rebellions before sneaking Mardukinapal II back into Kardunaish. Further, Elam had supported a queen Te'el Huna, queen of the Qedarite Arabs who arose and invaded Assyria under Elamite support. Sennacherib rushed to Assyria and sent one of sons, Assur-Nadin-Shumi with an army to subdue the rebellion and become the new Sukkalu, relegating Bel-Ibbini as a viceroy. Sennacherib sending his son to Kardunaish, marched with an allied army of Assyrians and Urartu into Media to destroy the Median confederation.
In 697, Argishti II annexed much of Northern Media and the remaining Median confederates were made into Assyrian vassals after the join Urarto-Assyrian campaign of 698-697 BCE. In 696, the Cimmerians under an unknown king, attacked Phrygia and defeated Midas at the Battle of Gordium before taking the city and destroying it, slaying Midas in the process. As Phrygia was turned to rubble, Sennacherib sent in 695 BCE an army to give reprisals to the Cimmerians for destroying the Assyrian vassal in Phrygia. Assyrian forces asserted their northern border and by early 694 BCE, had captured Ankuwa and much of the Land of Hatti, but had stalled out near Gordium before returning with loot and assurances of Cimmerian fealty.
In 695 BCE, though Assur-Nadin-Shumi had been able to more or less consolidate the city of Babylon, Mardukinapal II had captured the lower Tigris river with his army of Elamite and Gambulu allies, establishing himself at Lagash as his provincial capital. Sennacherib thus in middle 694 BCE, gathered a massive fleet hauled from Phoenicia, an army of supposedly 100,000 warriors from across the world and prepared to launch a grand invasion upon Mardukinapal II and then erase Elam. However, the prep for this massive army was noticed by Elam, who countered by using its Arab allies and transporting an Elamite army to the Euphrates through the Sea, advanced up toward Babylon with Te'el Huna and the a certain Elamite general at the helm of the expedtion, named Ishme-Jabru.
Sennacherib trusting his son to gain victory, continued his advance towards Mardukinapal II and then to Elam as planned. However, in late 694 BCE, Ishme-Jabru defeated Assur-Nadin-Shumi, executing him and placing Nergal-Ushezib as King of Karduniash before the Elamite army marched toward the Tigris. Mardukinapal II did not attempt to flee from Sennacherib in 694 and instead engaged him and was defeated and slain by the Assyrians on the Tigris River. Sennacherib torn by the loss of his dear son, marched towards Babylon to enact vengeance.
Assyria reached Borsippa in 693 BCE and defeated Ishme-Jabru and drove the Qedarites out of the area throughout middle 693 BCE, before marching upon Babylon. Once there, the Babylonian nobility revolted and deposed Nergal-Ushezib and sent his head to Sennacherib and assisted in driving the remaining Gambulu soldiers from the city. After this enormous victory, Sennacherib and his massive army split into two, one to chase Te'el Huna of the Arabs south and another to attack Shutur-Nahunte. In late 693 BCE, Assyrian soldiers cross the Tigris and attacked Elam and Der where the Assyrian forces decisively defeated Shutur-Nahunte II, who was slain and his head taken by the Assyrian army. Shutur-Nahunte was succeeded rapidly by Katir-Nahunte, who had a short reign of only several months before he was succeeded by Humban-Numena (692-687 BCE), who resumed Elamite attacks. In 692 BCE, the Assyrian army defeated the Arabs once more and the queen of Qedar fled to Jawf, deep within the desert. As 691 approached, Sennacherib marched into the desert with his army now rejoined.
Sennacherib was able from 692-691 to completely destroy the Qedarite kingdom and sent Te'el Huna once more running south, where she fled to the lands of the Nabtu in the city of Tima, where she was killed by the Nabtu for bringing Assyrian ire. Nabtu confederates would then pay tribute to Assyria and beseech protection from them against Egypt.
All was not well however, Assyrian armies long away from Karuduniash in Arabia, faced a second Elamite invasion as the Elamites gathered an army of Median and other Eastern mercenary and attacked the area once more and captured Lagash, Nippur, Uruk and then Babylon-Borsippa and installed Mushezib-Marduk as king of Karduniash and began reprisals to the Babylonian nobles and merchant class who had sided with Assyria against Elam. Blood filled the streets as the Elamite and their mercenary devastated the city to establish order. Forcing his army mad in a whirlwind, Sennacherib who had not been home for more than a year in over 9 years, marched his army from Arabia into Karduniash.
In 690 BCe, Sennacherib defeated Elamite field armies and also a collection of Western Semitic rebels while gathering additional support from local cities such as Nippur which had reversed Elamite control prior. Sennacherib besieged Babylon in December of 690 BCE and the siege ended in October of 689 BCE, as the reprisals that Sennacherib promised to the city emboldened its captors and made the Babylonian populace, already disheveled, into the hands of the Elamites. The siege turned in Assyria's favor and the city fell and Assyria unleashed mayhem upon Babylon.
Never before had Assyria enacted destruction upon an Akkadian city and the issue would become a superstitious curse upon Sennacherib in his later years. He openly upon capture of Babylon, proclaimed that his solution to rebellions was the complete eradication of Babylon. Sennacherib did his act to the letter, the city populace was forced to leave, most of whom traveled on foot to the nearby city of Borsippa, the cult centre of Naboo and many more to Nippur and to Kutha, both major cult centres. Sennacherib returned to Assyria where he would spend the last part of his reign of 7 years conspiring against his wives, sons, bureaucrats and also making all sorts of scandalous inscriptions that the scribes came to revile him for.
After Sennacherib seemingly conspired to isolate his second son, Assur-Hadon, to deprive his mother of power, was assassinated by his sons while in the palace. Ultimately, Sennacherib lived a fast life and his time at war bred him a certain alliance with his eunuchs and soldiers. This alliance ultimately depicted itself in his secular approach to rule and his famed irreverence that led to his constant intrigue with his family, scribes, priests and the nobility. His rule was one of constant and perpetual chaos.
Assur-Hadon (681-669 BCE) was the crown prince due to his mother and her strong alliance to the cup-bearer and other collections of anti-Sennacherib factions and when his mother and his brothers slew the Great King, Assur-Hadon was returned in haste to Assyria. There, six brothers battled for the crown, but Sennacherib's old supporters decidedly joined Assur-Hadon and the prince killed all of his older brothers in a succession crisis that lasted only a few months in 681 BCE.
In 680 BCE, as part of Assur-Hadon's mother's agreement with the priests of Assyria and Karduniash, Babylon was to rebuilt and the populace to be compensated for the madness of Sennacherib. Assur-Hadon completed this from 680-679, with Babylon rapidly returning to its pre-war status ad the various idols taken by Sennacherib, were restored in Babylon. Further, Babylonian nobles were given compensation, merchants received a pension and lower classes were forgiven of their debts.
Assur-Hadon after completion of Babylon, marched north for his first campaign. The Cimmerians had been paying tribute to Assyria from 696-680 when in 679, feeling Assur-Hadon weak for not launching a campaign in his first regnal year (Assur-Hadon spent his first regnal year in peace), rebelled against Assyria and attacked Assyrian lands in Tabal. Assur-Hadon advanced north and reasserted Assyrian Tabal and Anatolia before marching to Gordium, where he placed an eunuch over the city and drove the Cimmerians north and received tribute from the Lydian king Kanhatawailes (Kandaules, the legendary demi-god king of Lydia, 713-687 BCE). Argishti II, the great king of Urartu passed in 680 BCE, and was succeeded by Rusas II, 'the peaceful king.'
In 678, Assur-Hadon returned to Ninevah and dedicated his victory to Assur and the Great Gods and was proclaimed the ideal king by his subjects fro his piety. His piety was noted through the entirety of his reign and would become his defining mark.
In 677 BCE, a local king of Sidon named Abdi-Mikulti proclaimed himself to be the king of Phoenicia and rose in rebellion with several allies, likely all supported by Egypt, under Pharaoh Taharqa (694-664 BCE). Assur-Hadon marched to Phoenicia in late 677 BCE and with the alliance of his Tyre and other Phoenician cities, subdued Sidon and slew Abdi-Mikulti and established a puppet king over Sidon. Meanwhile, the Cimmerians attacked Phrygia once more and deposed the Assyrian puppet state in the land, but otherwise did not encroach upon Assyrian direct holdings.
In 676 BCE, Assur-Hadon alongside Urartu destroyed a Mannaen rebellion in the land of Zamua and Assur-Hadon proceeded east into Media to subdue varied rebellious entities among the Medes. This campaign of Assur-Hadon became enormously successful, defeating every Median rebel and installing or affirming Median chiefs who were loyal to Assyria. By the later stages of the invasion, Assur-Hadon reached Parthia where he defeated a Scytho-Dahae army and gathered tribute from various nomads there and ordered a fort constructed in Media to protect his lands from nomadic incursions.
Whence Assur-Hadon was in the east, a Neo-Luwian rebel named Megulla launched a popular revolt in the Tabal region with Cimmerian support. This popular revolt captured several cities before Assyrian field armies and Phoenician vassal soldiers destroyed the revolt first in Quwe and then in the Anatolian hill country, Megulla was flayed alive and taken to Carchemish to be burned as an offering to Nurgle. As well, Elamite king Urtaku (680-664 BCE) attacked Lagash where his force was attacked and dispatched by an Assyrian field army from Nippur and Uruk. Urtaku submitted to the Assyrian chamberlain and made peace with Assyria, paying tribute.
Assur-Hadon returned in 673 BCE from the east and proceeded to send an army to Egypt where the army raided Egypt before returning to Assyria with information of its defenses in preparation of a potential invasion. Sin-Iddina-Apla (Sinbanipal), the crown prince from 681-673 BCE, fell ill and died in 673 BCE and Assur-Hadon was left with two sons. The youngest, Assurbanipal was made crown prince of Assyria and as a token of friendship to the city of Babylon, Shamash-Shuma-Ukin, the eldest son, was sent to Babylon as the sukkalu of the city and King of Karduniash.
In 671 BCE, after a year of planning, Assur-Hadon with his two sons, invaded Egypt with the intention of conquest. Taharqa met the Assyrians in battle and was dispelled with ease, as the Nubo-Egyptian armies melted before the Assyrian advance down the Nile, until Assur-Hadon had annexed the entirety up to Thebes, which he destroyed. Taharqa fled to Nubia to regroup and continue his war in exile. Assyria though had conquered Egypt in less than a year. Assur-Hadon completed his conquest by sending an army to Cyrene where he subjugated the lands in only a few months. Assur-Hadon returned to Assyria in 669 BCE. However, upon his departure, Taharqa returned with remarkable speed with a new army and menaced Assyria, recapturing Memphis in 669 BCE and forcing Assur-Hadon to gather an army to march back into Egypt. Such was not meant to be, as Asur-Haddon, already suffering from chronic arthritis and illness, passed away near Harran. His general and field marshal Sha-Naboo-Shu joined crown prince Assurbanipal and proclaimed him as king of Assyria.
Assurbanipal in break of tradition upon ascension, sent the field marshal Sha-Naboo-Shu with an Assyrian army to Egypt and to destroy Taharqa in 667 after having ascended in 669 and spending 668 making deals with the Median vassals who accepted his rule in late 668 BCE, instead of his brother Shamash-shuma-Ukin, whose role remained unknown. Regardless, Sha-Naboo-Shu entered Egypt in 666 BCE and drove Taharqa from Memphis once more and defeated the Egyptian army handily before raiding and looting northern Sudan, capturing vast numbers of slaves and enslaving the Egyptian royalty. Assurbanipal ordered that Egypt be divided Egypt into a series of pricnes and placed Necho I as Pharaoh of Egypt.
However, in 665-664 BCE, Taharqa passed and Tantamti of Nubia invaded Egypt once more and refused Assyrian dominion. The Nubian army deposed Necho I in 664, beheading him. However, Assyrian reprisals were rapid, Assyria struck in less than year and Assurbanipal personally drove Tantamti south and placed 26 princes over Egypt as his direct vassals. The Nubian threat to Assyria had been silenced...
Initially, from 673-664, Elam under Urtaku had been amiable to Assyria and even frequent correspondence occurred between the two kingdoms. However, that situation changed when Elam invaded Karduniash; causing Assyria to retaliate and forcing the Elamites to flee. Urtaku then passed of age and his throne was usurped by a certain king Teuman of Elam (664-653 BCE) who fearing his position as an usurper, inspired a rebellion in the land of Gambulu and attacked Assyria. Assyrian forces responded by defeating the Elamite armies but failed to make firm advances into Elam until 655 BCE, where Assyria reached the Ulaya canal and defeated Teuman and for the next two years, Assyria devastated Elam, ravaging it near completely. Teuman committed suicide and his head was taken by Assyrian soldiers and displayed in Ninevah. In later 653, Dundanu, the chief of the Gambulu, who had been in hiding after being defeated in 660 BCE, was captured and taken to Ninveh and 'chopped to pieces like a lamb' before the population of Nineveh after a lengthy triumph of Elamite and Gambulu slaves. Much of Elam was taken and deported to Syria, Assyria and to Karduniash in 653 BCE as well.
Rusas II, still a firm Assyrian ally, subjugated a Scythian nomadic horde that invaded Urartu and succeeded in establishing dominion over more lands to the east in coordination with Assyrian garrison forces and with loyal Median chiefs.
In 652 BCE, seeking to revoke his younger brother's claim, Shamash-Shuma-Ukin proclaimed that he was the King of Assyria and Karduniash and declared Assurbanipal to be the governor of Assyria. Aghast at the breach of protocol the Assyrian nobles rejected Shamsh-Shuma-Ukin's claim and rallied behind Assurbanipal who invaded Karduniash. Shamash-Shuma-Ukin however called upon the Qedarite nomads to gift him an army and a vast host of Arab and Western Semitic warriors arrived into Babylon to fight for Shamash-Shuma-Ukin in 651 BCE. Between 649-648 BCE, the two brothers embroiled themselves in a vicious civil war, as the Babylonian nobility threw their lot with the elder brother and intensified the warfare.
In 648 BCE, after defeating his brother at Sippar and then at Cutha, besieged Babylon, which surrendered in a short time and Shamash-Shuma-Ukin committed suicide. Assurbanipal launched reprisals upon those who aided his brother and executed a thousand Arabs, Aramaens and Babylonians per day. In 647 BCE, after defeating his brother, Assurbanipal invaded Qedar and drove the nomads out. Jewish and Moabite armies also invaded the Qedar on behalf of Assyria and the Assyrian armies and vassals captured Jawf and then captured Tima in 646 BCE, placing the Qedarites and Nabtu as vassals of Assyria and forcing the Mehlu and Eastern coastal Arabs to pay tributes to Assyria.
After this victory, Assurbanipal returned to Nineveh and would rule relatively peacefully as his arthritis damaged him greatly. Despite this, Assurbanipal became a famed builder and was devoted to the Gods. He never went a day without consulting the zodiac or seeking a suggestion from priests. Even taking readings for the making of his hair, Assurbanipal sought to emulate the Sargon of Akkad in every way, including Sargon's famed devotion to the traditions of the Great Gods. Rusas II passed in 639 BCE and was succeeded Sarduri III (639-634 BCE) and he was by Rusas III in 634 BCE. Psamtik I of Egypt, had during the years of 664-631 BCE, consolidated Egypt, destroying the other 25 princes and in 656 BCE, defeated the Nubian pretender to the Egyptian throne. By 631, Egypt was untied once more under the XXVI Dynasty of Egypt.
In 632 BCE, the peace of Assurbanipal was disturbed, as the Kalhu Codex indicated, the Great God Ishtar raged for Assyria remained inactive for too long (too long at peace). A great Scythian army had entered into Anatolia and pushed the Cimmerians east and south and formed a strong powerful conglomerate across northern Anatolia. Scythian forces marched into Lydia and ravaged the land, before failing to capture Sardis, as Ardys/Arkaks (652-610 BCE) of Lydia hid within the city walls from the Scythians. Assyrian imperial forces had long moved north to cull dangerous groups in Anatolia, but Assurbanipal had neglected such and allowed an amassing of dangerous elements.
Assurbanipal in an attempt to stop the enemy, attacked the Cimmerians in 630 BCE, defeating them in Harran and then pushing them from the vicinity of Carchemish. However, Assurbanipal rested there and did not pursue a further offensive until 628 BCE. In 628 BCE, Assurbanipal invaded Anatolia alongside Rusas III of Urartu. There, the Scythian host, under Ashkwarpa defeated the Urarto-Assyrian army and slew Assurbanipal. Scythian armies pushed deeply into Assyria ravaging the land and sacking Kalhu. Assyrian field armies were defeated and most fled into cities to hide from the nomadic menace.
Sinsharishkun ascended the throne in 627 BCE and defeated several claimants to the throne before asserting his role. Sinsharishkun was immediately faced by a rebellion in Babylon, as a Chaldaen rebel named Nabopolasser with support from Elam launched an uprising using Gambulu and Qedarite soldiers. Nabopolasser was able to capture Babylon in 625 BCE and proceeded to capture Sippar and Dur-Kurigalzu. However, Assyria remained firm and defeated the rebel attack upon Uruk and then Nippur, before defeating Gambulu forces at Lagash. Sinsharishkun further cemented an alliance with the Medes and proceeded to agree to destroy the Scythian menace together.
Sinsharishkun campaigned against the rebels in 623 BCE who attempted the same year to capture Nippur from the Assyrian field army, which was a failure, as Assyrian defenses were maintained steady. Nabopolasser fearing dissent and seeking a decisive battle, marched north and attacked Sinsharishkun who had recently captured Sippar. Sinsharishkun had also dispatched a spy named Enusat to Babylon with a number of bribes to force a defection of the city, which came to fruition as Enusat told the denizens of the failure of Nabopolasser to take Nippur and warned the populace of past folly of rebellion. Babylonian nobility fearing reprisal and dislike of the Western Semites, agreed and took control of the city in 623 BCE and slew hundreds of Chaldaen soldiers within the city as the nobility unleashed their levies and the populace erupted in rebellion.
At Sippar, Sinsharishkun defeated Nabpolasser and in 622 BCE, chased him south and slew the claimant and returned triumphant to Babylon. Field marshal Aku-Labash was ordered to march to Sumer and defeat remaining rebels from among bandits, rogues and local chiefs who supported Nabopolasser. Most of these groups were totally destroyed in swift actions. In 621 BCE, Sinsharishkun formalized many reforms and ordered the creation of the Kalhu codex and many other important works, solidifying his position as a cheif reform king in Assyrian history.
In 620-619 BCE, Aku-Labash was sent to invade the Qedar,w ho were driven forth rapidly for their support to Nabpolasser. Moabite forces joined the main Assyrian thrust, while an army of Jewish and Edomite vassals invaded from the west into the lands of the Nabtu, where the Qedarites had been fleeing. In late 619 BCe, tjhough Nabtu forces halted the Jewish-Edomite force, they were slaughtered by Aku-Labash who captured Tima and established the Southern Protectorate as per the orders of Sinsharishkun.
As of 619 BCE, Ashkwarpa and the Scythian host invaded Urartu and defeated the Urartian kingdom first at Arzasku and then defeated Rusas III in the field. Rusas III fleeing on a boat across lake Nairi arrived at Tushpa and fled with his attendants into Musasir in the land of Assyria. As the Scythian host ravaged Urartu, a popular revolt took over Tushpa under a bandit named Zunan, who declared a new state out of Tushpa. Meanwhile, Cyaxares, the king of Media invaded Urartu in 618 BCE and captured all of eastern Urartu before arriving at Lake Nairi and pushing north to engage the Scythians.
Sinsharishkun taking Rusas III his ally into his camp, makes him his vassal and gathers and army and marches north toward Urartu to re-establish an allied kingdom therein, while also blocking Median pretexts over Lake Nairi. In the same year, Aku-Labash was dispatched to invade the Tabal region, previously having fell to the Cimmerians in 629 BCE. The two-pronged invasion began in 617 BCE and arrived upon the location as the Medes had defeated and driven forth the Scythians. Median forces formed a detente with Assyria and were ceded northern Urartu, as Assyrian forces besieged the rebel Zunan in Tushpa. In 616 BCE Tushpa fell to Assyria and Rusas III was returned to the throne alongside his son, Rusas IV, who would become co-king. Aku-Labash for his part, alongside a Phoenician coalition, recaptured Quwe and Tabal and captured large numbers of deportees and slaves who were resettled into Assyrian imperial holdings, primarily in the Suhum.
Sinsharishkun became more bold when in the years of 615-610, the Median empire became embroiled in border conflict with Lydia and likewise with a great rebellion in Elam. Sinsharishkun sent an army under Assur-Uballit to assist Elam and the Persian magnates push the Medes out of the region. Cyaxares in response withdrew forces from Anatolia and invaded Assyria, engaging the Assyrians in 608 BCE at Dur-Sharrukin, where the Assyrians defeated the Medes decisively. Sinsharishkun then invaded Media in 607 BCE in alliance with the Elamites and his southern army in Karduniash. In 606 BCE, the Media army was able to block Assyrian interests and attempts across the northern hill country of Zanjan, but was unable to stop the Elamo-Assyrian advance from the south that struck in 605 BCE. Cyaxares was defeated by Assur-Uballit south of Ectabatana and fled northward, where he was beheaded by his generals.
Sinsharishkun entered Ectabatana where he was presented the head of Cyaxares and therein proclaimed the Eastern Protectorate, placing Tukutli-Ishtar as protector general. Returning to Nineveh, Sinsharishkun became agitated and jealous of Assur-Uballit, his younger brother that he isolated him in Babylon and sent him on errands there after celebratory triumphs hedl in Kalhu and then Nineveh.
In 603 BCE, a general named Behruz launched a rebellion in Ectbatana gaining the support of the other Median generals who had become vassals of the Eastern Protectorate. These generals were able to rapidly depose Tukulti-Ishtar, who fled to Susa under Humban-Kittin I of Elam. Sinsharishkun launched a second expedition east to subdue the rebels despite his ill health and poor omens against the expedition. After arriving in the region, not long after gaining minor victories, Sinahrishkun, already ill and disheveled, passed away under mysterious circumstances some 30 km north of Ectbatana after having defeated Median general Cambysus. As 603 BCE closed, a new century was to be ushered under a new set of Assyrian kings.
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That was quite the long post! I hope that you guys enjoy the recap of the past Assyrian century. The next update will have to do with other parts of the world, not yet covered and without influence from Assyria.
