"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎١‎٥‎٨] (٨٦٢/٣٢٠)

SUMERIAN AND BABYLONIAN PERIOD
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invasions in 659 and 648 succeeded. He destroyed the ancient king
dom and its capital Susa, and thereby enabled the ‘Achaemenid’
rulers of the Indo-European inhabitants of Persis {mod. Ears) to
annex the central region of Elam, known as Anshan (photo. 103).
When Esar-Haddon (681-669) an< ^ Ashur-Banipal (669-625) were
immersed in Egyptian wars, hordes of Gimirrai or Cimmerians
entered Anatolia from the Caucasus. They destroyed the Phrygians,
weakened Urartu, and threatened to cross the Cilician Gates. In
the north-east a worse danger arose. A similar horde of Scyths made
alliance with the Medes and Mannai of the Zagros and in the last
days of Ashur-Banipal drove through the empire to the borders of
Egypt {c. 628-625), sweeping away the western provinces of Assyria.
Fall of Assyria and Revival of Babylon, 612-539 B C -
The continuous wars of conquest and reconquest necessary in
each reign had exhausted Assyrian man-power. Only a remnant of
the old fighting forces remained, and the kings after Sargon employed
an increasing number of inferior provincial troops to fill the gaps.
On Ashur-Banipal’s death Babylon revolted under a native king,
Nabopolassar (625-604), who joined with Uvakhshatra (Cyaxares)
king of Media in a combined assault on Assyria. The allies sacked
Nineveh in 612 and destroyed the Assyrian army, blows from which
there was no recovery. The Medes took the territory of Assyria
north of the Little Zab, while southern Assyria, including the Jazira,
was occupied by Nabopolassar. For a time the Neo-Babylonian
kings, Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562), succeeded
to the imperial position of Assyria in the south-west. The Egyptian
Pharaoh Necho, who sought to seize Syria, was driven back to Egypt,
and Syria acknowledged Babylonian hegemony. The intrigues of
Necho and his successor only led astray the kings of Judah and
caused Nebuchadnezzar to carry off the bulk of the Jews to their
final captivity (596, 587 b.c.). The Babylonian Empire lacked a
sound military foundation but persisted for half a century because
the Medes were occupied in Anatolia. The warlike Nebuchadnezzar,
unpopular with the priests and the merchant class of Babylon, was
succeeded by the peaceful Nabonidus. This king was a scholar and
archaeologist whose main interest was the study of the history and
records of his country. He left administration and defence to a vice
regent, his son Belsharuzar, the Belshazzar of the Bible, who too late
saw ‘the writing on the wall’.