Causes and consequences of the collapse of the Assyrian state. The death of the Assyrian state (briefly) thanks in advance!!! Fall of the god Khaldi

Tiles - lion; decoration of the street leading to the Ishtar Gate.
Beginning of the 6th century BC e., the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylon.
In the last years of the reign of Ashurbanipal, the collapse of the Assyrian state began, its individual centers began to compete with each other. In 629 BC. e. Ashurbanipal died and Sinshar Ishkun became king.

Three years later, an uprising broke out in Babylonia against Assyrian rule. It was headed by the Chaldean leader Nabopolassar. In his later inscriptions, he emphasized that he had previously been "a little man, unknown to the people." Initially, Nabopolassar was able to establish his power only in the north of Babylonia.

Having restored the traditional alliance of the Chaldean tribes with Elam, Nabopolassar laid siege to Nippur. However, pro-Assyrian sentiments were strong in the city, and it was not possible to take it. In October 626 BC. e. The Assyrians defeated the army of Nabopolassar and broke the siege of Nippur. But by this time, Babylon had gone over to the side of Nabopolassar, and on November 25 the latter solemnly reigned in it, founding a new, Chaldean (or Neo-Babylonian) dynasty. However, there was still a long and fierce struggle with the Assyrians.

Only ten years later, the Babylonians managed to capture Uruk, and the following year, Nippur fell, which, at the cost of great hardship and suffering, remained faithful to the Assyrian king for so long. Now the entire territory of Babylonia was cleared of the Assyrians. In the same year, the army of Nabopolassar laid siege to Ashur, the capital of Assyria. However, the siege was unsuccessful, and the Babylonians withdrew, suffering heavy losses. But soon a crushing blow from the east fell upon Assyria. In 614 BC. e. The Medes surrounded the largest Assyrian city of Nineveh. When they failed to take it, they besieged and captured Ashur and exterminated its inhabitants. Nabopolassar, true to the traditional politics of his Chaldean ancestors, came with an army when the battle was over and Ashur was reduced to ruins. The Medes and the Babylonians entered into an alliance between themselves, securing it with a dynastic marriage between Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, and Amytis, the daughter of the Median king Cyaxares.

Although the fall of Ashur weakened the position of the Assyrian state, while the victors were busy dividing the spoils, the Assyrians, under the leadership of their king Sin-shairshkun, resumed hostilities in the Euphrates valley. But in the meantime, the Medes and the Babylonians jointly besieged Nineveh, and three months later, in August 612 BC. e., the city fell. This was followed by a brutal massacre: Nineveh was plundered and destroyed, its inhabitants were slaughtered.

Part of the Assyrian army managed to break through to the city of Harran in northern Mesopotamia, and there, under the leadership of their new king, Ashur-uballit II, continued the war. However, in 610 BC. e. the Assyrians were forced to leave Harran, mainly under the blows of the Median army. A Babylonian garrison was left in the city. But the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II, fearing the excessive strengthening of Babylonia, a year later sent strong reinforcements to the Assyrians. Ashur-uballit again succeeded in capturing Harran, killing the Babylonians stationed there. However, Nabopolassar soon arrived with the main forces and inflicted a final defeat on the Assyrians.

As a result of the collapse of the Assyrian state, the Medes captured the indigenous territory of this country and Harran. The Babylonians, on the other hand, fortified themselves in Mesopotamia and were preparing to establish their control over Syria and Palestine. But the Egyptian pharaoh also claimed dominance in these countries. Thus, in the entire Middle East, only three powerful states remained: Media, Babylonia and Egypt. In addition, there were two smaller but independent kingdoms in Asia Minor: Lydia and Cilicia.

In the spring of 607 BC. e. Nabopolassar transferred command of the army to his son Nebuchadnezzar, concentrating in his hands the management of the internal affairs of the state. The heir to the throne was faced with the task of capturing Syria and Palestine. But first it was necessary to capture the city of Karchemish on the Euphrates, where there was a strong Egyptian garrison and Greek mercenaries. In the spring of 605 BC. e. The Babylonian army crossed the Euphrates and attacked Carchemish simultaneously from the south and from the north. Even outside the city walls, a fierce battle began, as a result of which the Egyptian garrison was destroyed. After that, Syria and Palestine submitted to the Babylonians. Somewhat later, the Phoenician cities were also conquered.

Being in conquered Syria, Nebuchadnezzar in August 605 BC. e. received news of his father's death in Babylon. He hurriedly went there and on September 7 he was officially recognized as king. At the beginning of 598 BC. e. he made a trip to northern Arabia, trying to establish his control over the caravan routes there. By this time, the king of Judea, Jehoiakim, prompted by the persuasion of Necho, had fallen away from Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and March 16, 597 BC. e. took him. More than 3,000 Jews were taken captive to Babylonia, and Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king in Judea.

In December 595 - January 594. BC e. in Babylonia, unrest began, probably emanating from the army. The leaders of the rebellion were executed, and order was restored in the country.

Soon the new Egyptian pharaoh Apries decided to try to establish his power in Phoenicia and captured the cities of Gaza, Tire and Sidon, and also persuaded King Zedekiah to raise an uprising against the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar decisively pushed the Egyptian army back to the former border and in 587 BC. e. captured Jerusalem after an 18-month siege. Now the Kingdom of Judah was liquidated and annexed to the Neo-Babylonian state as an ordinary province, thousands of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (all the Jerusalem nobility and part of the artisans), led by Zedekiah, were taken into captivity.

Under Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylonia became a prosperous country. This was the time of its revival, economic and cultural upsurge. Babylon became the center of international trade. Much attention was paid to the irrigation system. In particular, a large basin was built near the city of Sippara, from which many canals originated, with the help of which the distribution of water was regulated during drought and flood. Old churches were restored and new ones were built. A new royal palace was built in Babylon, and the construction of the seven-story ziggurat Etemenanki, called the Tower of Babel in the Bible, was completed, and the famous hanging gardens were laid out. In addition, powerful fortifications were erected around Babylon to protect the capital from possible enemy attacks.

In 562 BC. e. Nebuchadnezzar II died, and after that the Babylonian nobility and priesthood began to actively intervene in the policy pursued by his successors and eliminate kings who were objectionable to them. Over the next twelve years, there were three kings on the throne. In 556 BC. e. the throne went to Nabonidus, who was an Aramean, unlike the Neo-Babylonian kings of Chaldean origin who preceded him.

Nabonidus began to carry out a religious reform, putting forward the cult of the moon god Sin in the first place to the detriment of the cult of the supreme Babylonian god Marduk. Thus, he apparently sought to create a powerful state, uniting around him numerous Aramaean tribes, among whom the cult of Sin was very popular. However, the religious reform brought Nabonidus into conflict with the priesthood of the ancient temples in Babylon, Borsippa, and Uruk.

In 553 BC. e. War broke out between Media and Persia. Taking advantage of the fact that the Median king Astyages withdrew his garrison from Harran, in the same year Nabonidus captured this city and ordered the restoration of what was destroyed there during the war with the Assyrians in 609 BC. e. temple of the god Sin. Nabonidus also conquered the region of Teima in the northern part of Central Arabia and established control over the caravan routes through the desert through the Teima oasis to Egypt. This path was of great importance for Babylonia, since by the middle of the VI century. BC e. The Euphrates changed its course, and therefore sea trade through the Persian Gulf from the harbors in the city of Ur became impossible. Nabonidus moved his residence to Teima, entrusting the rule in Babylon to his son Bel-shar-utsur.

While Nabonidus was busy with an active foreign policy in the west, a powerful and determined enemy appeared at the eastern borders of Babylon. The Persian king Cyrus II, who had already conquered Media, Lydia and many other countries to the borders with India and had at his disposal a huge and well-armed army, was preparing for a campaign against Babylonia. Nabonidus returned to Babylon and set about organizing the defense of his country. However, the position of Babylonia was already hopeless. Since Nabonidus sought to break the power and influence of the priests of the god Marduk and neglected the religious holidays associated with his cult, influential priestly circles, dissatisfied with their king, were ready to help any of his opponents. The Babylonian army, exhausted in many years of wars in the Arabian desert, could not repel the onslaught of the many times superior forces of the Persian army. In October 539 BC. e. Babylonia was captured by the Persians and forever lost its independence.

In the last years of the reign of Ashshurbanipal, the disintegration of the Assyrian state began. its individual centers began to compete with each other. B 629 BC e. Ashur-banapal died, and Sin-shar-ishkun became king.

Three years later, an uprising broke out in Babylonia against Assyrian rule. At its head was the Chaldean leader Nabopolassar. In his later inscriptions, he emphasized that he had previously been "a little man, unknown to the people." Initially, Nabopolassar was able to establish his power only in the north of Babylonia.

Having restored the traditional alliance of the Chaldean tribes with Elam, Nabopolassar laid siege to Nippur. However, pro-Assyrian sentiments were strong in the city, and it was not possible to take it. In October 626 BC. e. The Assyrians defeated the army of Nabopolassar and broke the siege of Nippur. But by this time Babylon had gone over to the side of Nabopolassar, and already on November 25 the latter solemnly reigned in it, founding a new, Chaldean (or Neo-Babylonian) dynasty. However, there was still a long and bitter war with the Assyrians.

Only ten years later the Babylonians succeeded in capturing Uruk, and the following year Nippur also fell, which, at the cost of great hardship and suffering, remained loyal to the Assyrian king for so long. Now the entire territory of Babylonia was cleared of the Assyrians. In the same year, the army of Nabopolassar laid siege to Ashur, the capital of Assyria. However, the siege was unsuccessful, and the Babylonians withdrew, suffering heavy losses. But soon a crushing blow from the east fell upon Assyria. B 614 BC e. The Medes surrounded the largest Assyrian city of Nineveh. When they failed to take it, they besieged and captured Ashur and exterminated its inhabitants. Nabopolassar, true to the traditional policy of his Chaldean ancestors, came C with an army when the battle was over and Ashur was reduced to ruins. The Medes and the Babylonians entered into an alliance between themselves, securing it with a dynastic marriage between Navu Hodnezzar, the son of Nabopalas pa, and Amytis, the daughter of the Median king Cyaxares.

Although the fall of Ashur weakened the position of the Assyrian state, while the victors were busy dividing the spoils, the Assyrians, under the leadership of their king Sin-shar-ishkun, resumed hostilities in the Euphrates valley. Ho meanwhile, the Medes and the Babylonians jointly laid siege to Nineveh, and three months later, in August 612 BC. e., the city fell. This was followed by a brutal massacre: Nineveh was plundered and destroyed, its inhabitants were massacred.

Part of the Assyrian army managed to break through to the city of Harran in the north of Upper Mesopotamia, and there, under the leadership of their new king, Ashur-uballit II, continued the war. However, in 610 BC. e. the Assyrians were forced to leave, having killed the Babylonians stationed there. However, Nabopolassar soon arrived with the main forces and inflicted a final defeat on the Assyrians.

civilization

Mesopotamia

Man with a goat.

From the palace of Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukna. Painted gypsum. End of the VIP century BC e.

and Harran, mainly under the blows of the Median army. A Babylonian garrison was left in the city. But the Egyptian pharaoh Hexo II, fearing the excessive strengthening of Babylonia, a year later sent strong reinforcements to the aid of the Assyrians. Ashur-uballit II again managed to capture Harran, leaving only three powerful states: Media, Babylonia and Egypt. In addition, there were two smaller but independent kingdoms in Asia Minor: Lydia and Cilicia.

In the spring of 607 BC. e. Nabopala-cap handed over the command of the army to his son Nebuchadnezzar, coc-

A kneeling figure outside the palace at Kalhu. 9th century

redoing in their hands the management of the internal affairs of the state. The heir to the throne was faced with the task of capturing Syria and Palestine. But first it was necessary to capture the city of Karkemish on the Euphrates, where there was a strong Egyptian garrison, which included Greek mercenaries. In the spring of 605 BC. e. The Babylonian army crossed the Euphrates and attacked Carchemish simultaneously from the south and north. Even outside the city walls, a fierce battle began, as a result of which

a swarm of the Egyptian garrison was destroyed. After that, Syria and Palestine submitted to the Babylonians. Somewhat later, the Phoenician cities were also conquered.

Being in conquered Syria, Nebuchadnezzar in August 605 BC. e. received news of his father's death in Babylon. He hurriedly headed there and on September 7 he was officially recognized as king. At the beginning of 598 BC. e. he made a trip to northern Arabia, trying to establish his control over the caravan routes there. By this time, the king of Judea, Joachim, prompted by the persuasion of Hexo, fell away

from Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and March 16, 597 BC. e. took him. More than 3,000 Jews were taken captive to Babylonia, and Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king in Judea.

In December 595 - January 594 BC e. in Babylonia, unrest began, probably emanating from the army. The leaders of the rebellion were executed, and order was restored in the country.

Under Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylonia became a prosperous country. This was the time of its revival, economic and cultural upsurge. Babylon became the center of international trade. Much attention was paid to the irrigation system. In particular, a large basin was built near the city of Sippara, from which many canals originated, with the help of which the distribution of water was regulated during drought and flood. Old churches were restored and new ones were built. A new royal palace was built in Babylon, and the construction of the seven-storey ziggurat of Etemenanki, called the Tower of Babel in the Bible, was completed, and the famous hanging gardens were laid out. In addition, powerful fortifications were erected around Babylon to protect the capital from possible enemy attacks.

B 562 BC e. Nebuchadnezzar II died, and after that the Babylonian nobility and priesthood began

actively intervene in the policy pursued by his successors and eliminate the kings they dislike. Over the next twelve years, three kings succeeded the throne. B 556 BC e. the throne went to Nabonidus, who was an Aramean, in contrast to the Neo-Babylonian kings of Chaldean origin who preceded him.

B 553 BC e. War broke out between Media and Persia. Taking advantage of the fact that the Median king Astyages withdrew his garrison from Harran, in the same year Nabonidus captured this city and ordered the restoration of the destroyed but during the war with the Assyrians in 609 BC. e. temple of the god Sin. Nabonidus also conquered the Teima region in the northern part of Central Arabia and established control over the caravan routes through the desert through the Teima oasis to Egypt. This path was of great importance for Babylonia, since by the middle of the 5th] c. BC e. The Euphrates changed its course, and therefore sea trade through the Persian Gulf from the harbors in the city of Ur became impossible. Nabonidus moved his residence to Teima, entrusting the rule in Babylon to his son Bel-shar-utsur.

active priestly circles, dissatisfied with their king, were ready to help any of his opponents. The Babylonian army, exhausted in many years of wars in the Arabian desert, could not resist the onslaught of the many times superior forces of the Persian army. In October 539 BC. e. Babylonia was captured by the Persians and forever lost its independence.

civilization

Mesopotamia

Persian conquest and loss of vilization. For the Babylonians themselves, Babylonia did not recognize independence as the arrival of the Persians, perhaps it seemed to be still the end of the Mesopotamian qi;

We know very little about the reign of Ashhurbanipal's successor, Ashhuretilani. See of Babylonia in 626 BC e. captured Nabopolassar (Nabuapalusur), who was the Chaldean leader. Until that moment, this place was occupied by the Assyrian protege Kandalanu. Nabopolassar began his career as a governor in the Assyrian service. Asshuretilani made a very hesitant attempt to win over the Chaldeans. By this time, the process of merging the Chaldean and Babylonian nobility had gone too far, because, despite the fact that it had been possible to do this before, now all attempts to oppose the Chaldean and Babylonian nobility to each other were unsuccessful. Babylonia remained in the hands of Nabopolassar. Apparently, as a result palace coup, which took place soon in the Assyrian state, Ashhuretilani was deposed from the throne. About the events until 616 BC. e. we can only guess, since they are unknown to us, and starting from this year, another son of Ashurbanipal, Sarak (Sinsharrishkun), was on the Assyrian throne. The Assyrian state, obviously, by this moment was already powerless to keep most of the regions remote from it under administrative control and not only them, but also the Syrian regions, also in this regard, she was forced to conclude an alliance with Egypt and even with the kingdom of Mana near Lake Urmia, which the Assyrians had not previously considered an equal power. There is an assumption that in many Assyrian territories at that time the Scythians felt pretty confident. However, the central regions of the state were held by the troops of Sarak. Endless and stubborn wars exhausted the forces of the Assyrian state. The successors of Ashurbanipal had to think about saving the country. The position of Assyria and its allies deteriorated sharply after a powerful coalition was formed against it, consisting of Babylonia (led by Nabopolassar) and Media (led by Cyaxares). It should be noted that Media managed to become the main and most dangerous enemy, which in the 7th century. BC e. united the fragmented tribes of Iran and, using the death of Elam, became the most powerful power east of Mesopotamia. -small military tactics, on their side. It should be said that we have not been able to find out whether this alliance was concluded from the very beginning or whether it was already formed during the war. Around 615 BC e. a decisive offensive against Assyria began from two sides. Hostilities between the Assyrians and the Babylonians during 616-615. BC e. went with varying degrees of success. In November 615 BC. e. the Medes broke through the passes of the mountains of Zagra and entered Arrapha, in the neighborhood of the indigenous region of Assyria. They succeeded in this due to the fact that at that time the main forces of the Assyrians fought against Babylonia. The kingdom of Man, obviously, by this time was already under the rule of Media, and the Medes, without much effort in July 614, already penetrated into Assyria proper. The Assyrians could not withstand such an onslaught and began to retreat in a panic. The Medes, constantly pursuing them, reached Assur. The city was taken by storm and then plundered. Nabopolassar went to help the Medes with his army, but he was late for the assault, obviously deliberately, not wanting his name to be mentioned in the desecration of the Ashur shrines. An alliance was concluded (or renewed) between Nabopolassar and Cyaxares on the ruins of Assur. Cyaxares, in order to strengthen these relations, probably at the same time gave his daughter (or granddaughter) to Nebuchadnezzar, who was the heir to the aged king Nabopolassar. I'm sorry but this is the shortest

Thus, about 660, Assyria was at the height of its power; if she lost some areas that were previously owned by 1iglatpalasar or Srgon, then she gained Egypt. But, starting from this time, events are accelerating, which then led Assyria to a quick death.

Within the Assyrian state there was no shortage of people who wanted to destroy it. The peoples of Asia Minor considered the Assyrian nobility (which included officials of the administration and the high priesthood), the military and urban merchants to be their main enemies, a small group of people who amassed wealth unprecedented in terms of that time and exploited in their own interests the rest of the population of the Middle East. The whole East lived with the dream of the death of Assyria - the "den of lions" and the hope of the fall of Nineveh - the "city of blood". Representatives of the outlying, not yet conquered tribes, and captives resettled to new lands, and exploited community members, and representatives of slave-owning circles outside Assyria proper agreed on this. the struggle between the military and service nobility, on the one hand, and the slave-owning nobility of temples and cities, in particular Babylonian, on the other hand.

The broad masses of the people - farmers, artisans and slaves - did not yet act as an independent political force, their class struggle was manifested for the time being in flight from the masters, the murders of individual slave owners. But these masses represented a huge latent force that could be set in motion in the event of a military defeat or weakening of state power.

Under such conditions, we can talk not so much about why the Assyrian state perished, but about what allowed it to continue its existence for a relatively long time. The reason for this was mainly the lack of the necessary unity and sufficient military forces among its opponents.

However, the constant military successes of Assyria led to the fact that the external danger began to be underestimated by the ruling class, while discord between its individual groups intensified. As for the Assyrian army, although there is no evidence that Assyria began to resort to mercenary troops (the only exception is the mention of the head of the Cimmerian regiment under Esarhaddon), however, one way or another, this army was overwhelmed with alien elements recruited from among all kinds of conquered peoples. The opportunity to make money during campaigns (especially during the period of Assyria's military successes) turned a significant part of these soldiers into an obedient instrument of the Assyrian slave owners, but in the end, the hostile mood of the population as a whole could not but affect the army, could not but undermine its combat capability.

On the other hand, a long struggle with the Assyrians contributed to the accumulation of combat experience among their opponents. The perfection of military organization and weapons, the high technique of siege work could not long be the monopoly of the Assyrians alone. Babylonians, Urartians, Medes, Elamites adopted Assyrian tactics and military equipment. Of great importance was the appearance in Western Asia of cavalry rifle detachments of the Cimmerians and Scythians with their special tactics. Perhaps, local residents from the outskirts of the Assyrian possessions also joined the Cimmerians and Scythians. Now for the fall of Assyria, therefore, only a sufficiently powerful military alliance of its opponents was needed. Mardukapaliddin tried to put together such an alliance in his time; since the 50s of the 7th century. BC e. various coalitions are again formed against Assyria, and the only question was which of them would be strong enough to overthrow the Assyrian yoke.

Complication of the international situation

Between 657 and 655 Don. e. Psammetichus, son of Necho, who at that time was the ruler of one of the regions of Egypt, enters into an alliance with Guggu, the Lydian king, who, having temporarily repelled the onslaught of the Cimmerians, believed that he no longer needed the support of Assyria. Based on this alliance, Psammetich takes the throne of the pharaohs, probably destroying the Assyrian garrisons in the process. Egypt was lost to Assyria. The Assyrian king was unable to organize a new campaign to subjugate Egypt, since all his attention and strength were diverted to the fight against enemies who threatened the main core of the state. In 655, the Assyrian war with Elam begins. The Assyrian troops defeated the Elamites and their Aramaic and Chaldean allies, then, crossing the Karun River, they took the capital of Elam - Susa. The Elamite king Teumman was captured and beheaded in full view of the surrendered Elamite army.

Despite this success, the situation became more and more complicated. At one time, the Assyrians expected the invasion of the Cimmerians (who took Sardis, the capital of Lydia, around 654), as well as the Urartians. But the forces of the Cimmerians were tied up for a long time in Asia Minor, where Lydia continued to resist. The state of Urartu also did not go into conflict with Assyria; but in 653-652. Don. e. the Babylonian king, the brother of Ashurbanapal, Shamashshumukin, rebelled.

Shamashshumukin, who was related to the Babylonian nobility and obviously counted on his supporters in Assyria, managed to create a strong army in Babylonia and win over both the Babylonian and the Chaldean nobility. In addition, he secretly entered into an alliance with the Arabs, with the Aramaic tribes, apparently also with Media, perhaps with Egypt and, of course, with the inevitable participant in all anti-Assyrian coalitions - Elam. But, despite all the measures taken by Shamashshumukin, the course of events was unsuccessful for him. The Assyrians, who for the first time acted under the command of Ashurbanapal himself, who until then, apparently, had never participated in campaigns, preferring classes in his library and personal participation in the torture and execution of prisoners, managed to prevent the connection of the Elamites with the Babylonians. Shamashshumukn was defeated, retreated to Babylon, where he was besieged.

Arab auxiliary detachments tried to break through to help Shamashshumukin, but they were defeated in an unusual terrain for them crossed by canals and were forced to hide behind the walls of Babylon, where famine was already raging then. Meanwhile, the western groups of Arabs were defeated by the king of Moab (states east of the Jordan) loyal to Ashurbanipal. Another palace coup took place in Elam, and a long turmoil began. The position of the besieged Babylonians became hopeless. According to Assyrian data, they went as far as cannibalism. Shamashshumukin burned himself in his palace. The Assyrians who burst into the city carried out a cruel massacre on the supporters of Shamashshumukin.

The war, however, was not over yet - Elam remained, where the anti-Assyrian group of the nobility again prevailed. The Assyrians again took Susa and in 646 BC. e. again elevated their protege to the throne. In the years of unrest that followed, the pretenders to the Elamite throne fought against each other and at the same time waged war against Assyria. There was no unity among the Elamites, and the matter could only end in their complete and final defeat. In the end (about 639 BC), the Assyrians took Susa for the third time. The city was destroyed, the ashes of the Elamite kings were thrown out of the tombs, the statues of the Elamite gods were taken out, and numerous valuables, stolen by the Elamites in Babylonia for many centuries, were returned to Babylon. Thus ended the independent existence of Elam.

Ashurbanipal died, apparently, around 633 BC. e., and from that time began a new period of internal unrest in Assyria, which brought its final fall closer. Unfortunately, the underlying reason for these troubles is still unclear to us.

The death of the Assyrian empire

We know very little about the reign of Ashhurbanapal's successor, Ashhuretilani. In 626; BC e. the throne of Babylonia, which until then, apparently, was occupied by the Assyrian protege Kandalanu, was seized by Nabopolassar (Nabuapalusur), the Chaldean leader, who had previously been in the service of Assyria. Ashurateliani made a feeble attempt to win over the Chaldeans to his side, but due to the process of merging the Chaldean and Babylonian nobility, which had gone far by that time, it was no longer possible to oppose them to each other, as was done before. Nabopolassar kept Babylonia in his hands. Soon Ashhuretilani was apparently overthrown from the throne during a palace coup in Assyria. Subsequent events are unknown to us until 616, when another son of Ashurbanipal, Sarak (Sinsharrishkun), was already on the Assyrian throne.

By this time, the Assyrian state, apparently, ceased to exercise administrative control not only over most of the regions remote from it, but also over the Syrian regions and was forced to conclude an alliance with Egypt and even with the kingdom of Man at Lake Urmia. The Assyrians had not previously recognized this kingdom as an equal power. It is possible that the Scythians ruled in many Assyrian territories at that time. However, the central regions of the state were firmly held by the troops of Sarak.

The position of Assyria and its allies deteriorated sharply when a powerful coalition formed against it, consisting of Babylonia (led by Nabopolassar) and Media (led by Cyaxares). It is not clear, however, whether the alliance between them was concluded from the very beginning or whether it took shape only during the war itself.

During 616-615. BC e. hostilities between the Assyrians and the Babylonians went with varying degrees of success. In November 615, the Medes, taking advantage of the fact that the main forces of the Assyrians acted against Babylonia, broke through the passes of the mountains of Zagra and penetrated into Arrapha, in the neighborhood of the indigenous region of Assyria. This was the beginning of the end. Around this time, the kingdom of Man, apparently, submitted to Media, and in July 614 the Medes already easily penetrated into Assyria proper. Pursuing the panicked Assyrians, they reached Assur. The city was taken by storm and plundered. Nabopolassar moved to the aid of the Medes, but did not keep up with the assault, apparently deliberately, as he did not want to be accused of desecrating the Ashurian shrines. On the ruins of Assur, an alliance was concluded (or renewed) between Nabopolassar and Cyaxares; then, probably, Cyaxares gave his daughter (or granddaughter) to Nebuchadnezzar, heir to the aged Nabopolassar.

But even after the fall of Assur, Sarak still did not lose hope. In 613 BC. e. he raised the tribes of the Euphrates Arameans against Babylonia and, having thus distracted Nabopolassar from Assyria, managed to defeat him. However, the days of Assyria were numbered. In the spring of 612 Cyaxares, whom the Babylonian chronicle now calls not “the king of Media”, but “the king of Ummanmanda”, that is, the northern “barbarians” in general, and Nabopolassar met at the Tigris, and their combined troops moved to Nineveh. The siege lasted from May to the end of July. Despite the fierce resistance of the Assyrians, Nineveh was taken, and the Assyrian nobility, which fell into the hands of the victors, was slaughtered. Sarak, apparently, followed the example of his uncle Shamashshumukin and threw himself into the fire of his burning door. The victors took away a large number of prisoners. Part of the Assyrian army, led by Ashshuruballit (apparently the brother of Ashshurbanipal), however, broke through to Harran, where Asshuruballit declared himself king of Assyria. He held out for several more years in the Harran-Karkemish region, counting on the help of the Egyptian pharaoh Necho, until, finally, the Assyrian-Egyptian troops were finally defeated by the Babylonians under the command of Prince Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. e. at Carchemish.

Despite external successes, the position of the Assyrian state was not quite strong. “Domination in the Assyrian state belonged to a narrow circle of military and service slave-owning nobility, free from taxes and duties, who had no desire to sacrifice their own, even secondary, interests for anyone else. This group of the Assyrian slave-owning nobility took little account of the interests of the development of agriculture, handicrafts and trade. During the conquests, for example, the old craft centers were destroyed. But still, numerous wars and uprisings could not affect the economy, the social structure of the population of Assyria. The number of uprisings, robberies, and escapes increased. Everything also affected the economy, it weakened. Enemies, seeing the weakening of Assyria, began to unite ...

Rice. 6 Storming the city in Mesopotamia. Modern engraving.

“The Jewish prophet Zephaniah said: “The Lord will destroy Assyria and turn the beautiful city of Nineveh into a desert, into a wild land where there is no road.” The one-sided development of the economy, the lack of political unity, social conflicts that shook the Assyrian society, miscalculations in the organization of the control system of a huge power, the ever-increasing struggle of the conquered states and peoples were the main reasons that brought Assyria to death. At the same time, as we have already pointed out, within the privileged elite of the slave owners, there was a constant internal struggle between the military and service nobility, the slave-owning nobility of temples and cities. The loss of leading positions in military affairs by Assyria and the weakening of its army at the end of the 7th century also played a role. BC e., when all the best military achievements of Assyria were borrowed by a number of ancient Eastern states: Media, Egypt, Babylon, and new ones were not created. Of course, it took a strong push from the outside to overturn the Assyrian state, undermined from the inside.

Events developed rapidly. In 626 Babylonia fell away, in 625 the independence of Media was restored. The war against Assyria, begun by Babylon and Media, at first separately, and then continued in close alliance, led to the military defeat of Assyria, the capture and destruction of its major main centers: Ashur (614 BC), Nineveh (612 BC). AD), - and finally ended with the death of the last Assyrian detachments in the battle of Harran (690 BC). The Assyrian nobility was exterminated, the cities were wiped off the face of the earth, the ordinary population scattered in the villages, mountains, surrounding areas, mixed with other peoples. The largest ancient Eastern power, military, powerful, for the first time uniting almost all of Asia Minor, exercising its dominance with fire and sword for a century and a half, was completely destroyed. From this time on, Assyria never again played its former early political role. The Assyrian people were not destroyed during the destruction of the Assyrian state. The descendants of the Assyrians continued to live in the same places, but their native language, Assyrian, with which Aramaic, widespread in the Assyrian state, had already successfully competed, was now completely supplanted by them. The Assyrians joined the mass of such a people as the Arameans.