The Rise and Fall of Assyria

THE RISE OF ASSYRIA 745 BC

It is a common historical observation that the Israelite nations, both the United Kingdom and later the two Kingdoms of Israel (North) and Judah (South), came into existence in a vacuum of power in the Middle East. The tiny nation of Israel flourished from the 12th century to the 8th century BC because there were no other regional powers sufficient to challenge it.

While there would be brief revivals under a few strong pharaohs, Egypt would never recover the glory days of the great pyramid builders. The Hittite Empire to the North had crumbled long before Israel entered the land, and the Syrians were never strong enough alone to pose any serious threat to Israel.  The older kingdoms of Mesopotamia to the North and East had long since disintegrated into warring factions, and no strong leader had yet emerged to weld them into a unified nation. 

Israel was located in a strategic geographical position on the single narrow strip of arable land at the crossroads between Africa, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. 

Israel's relative calm ended in the middle eighth century BC. In 745 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III took the throne of Assyria. Assyria ruthlessly began building an empire, extending control over Babylon and the Medes to the East, defeating the Kingdom of Urartu to the North, and extending control to the West into Eastern Asia Minor, Phoenicia (Tyre), Syria (Damascus), and into northern Israelite territory.

The nations of Israel and Judah, for the first time in their history, would now have to deal with a serious military threat to their very existence. 

Reference:  http://www.cresourcei.org/othassyrian.html

THE FALL OF ASSYRIA

When one knows the character of Assurbanipal, one is amazed to note that there is nothing written about him from 639BC until his death in 627BC !

The SCYTHIANS did terrible damage in Assyria, (in the Syrian province) in Palestine and in Urartou. Herodotus also tells us that Cyaxare, in 625BC, invited all the leaders of the Scythians to a sumptuous banquet and to become free of them he had them all massacred while they were drunk!

In 630BC, Assurbanipal named his son Assur-Etil-ilni co-regent. But in 627BC, at the announcement of his death, there was a war of succession that gave two Babylonian chiefs power, but they were deposed by Nabopolassar, the King of countries beside the Mediterranean, (Phoenicia or the present-day Lebanon), and originally of Chaldea .

In 625BC, in Nippur a great battle took place that opposed Nabopolassar and the son designated by Assurbanipal as his heir. After this victory, Nabopolassar entered into Babylon and proclaimed himself king of Chaldea, while Sin Shar-Iskhun, the 2nd son of Assurbanipal proclaimed himself king of Assyria. Assyria and Babylonia were going to live through 10 years of civil war.

In 616BC, Nabopolassar who had proclaimed himself King of BABYLON, received the submission of the tribes of the Khabur, but did not dare to face Assyria again that had lost these; so he solicited the help of the army of Egypt, but Psammetik 1st did not want to commit to this conflict. Suddenly one year later, the Medes invaded Assyria, and Cyaxare took the city of Arrapha.

During the winter of 614BC the Medes seized Tarbisu, and laid siege on ASSUR, it was not long before they entered the city and sacked the ancient capital of the Assyrians, returning home with many prisoners. Then we see a curious alliance; CYAXARE, king of the Medes, giving his daughter Amytis in marriage to the son of Napololassar, who became King Nabuchadnesor II.

This alliance was fatal; Assyria, in 612BC the Medes and the Babylonians united launched a last assault on NINEVAH which fell after two months of siege. The city was pillaged, heaps of heads were piled up at the main entrance; the great city and proud CAPITAL of Assyria had been reduced to a heap of ruins.The King ofAssyria fled, and tried to take refuge in Haran, that would fall into the hands of the Medes in 610BC. .

The country was divided in two parts: the plain of Susa went to the Babylonians, whilst the Medes got the mountainous region of Anshan.

Believing he could benefit from the downfall of the Assyrians, the Egyptian Nekao II who had succeeded his father Psammetik 1st, immediately deployed (in 609BC) his armies toward Syria and Palestine.. Josias king of Judah, was killed in the confrontation on the plain Meggido. Then Necho II took, for four years, the city of Karkemish in Syria.

Although the Assyrians had weakened the will of Israel, king Josias swept the idols from the great temple of Jerusalem, where the leaders of the Assyrians had insisted that they should to be installed and worshiped. Four years later, Israel would fall under the Babylonian yoke, and would have to work to pay for the tribute to the new invaders : BABYLON, that for the next 73 years was the greatest power in the Middle East.

Reference:  https://members.tripod.com/historel/orient/06mesop.htm

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