Assyrian conquest of Egypt: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox military conflict

|conflict=Assyrian conquest of Egypt

|image_size=250px

|caption=Map of the Neo-Assyrian Empire 824-671 BCE

|casus=

|combatant1=[[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]

}}

{{Battles involving Assyria}}

 

==Context==

The [[Egyptians]] and [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushites]] had begun agitating peoples within the [[Assyrian empire]] in an attempt to gain a foothold in the region.<ref name="JE66">{{cite book |last1=Elayi |first1=Josette |title=Sennacherib, King of Assyria |date=2018 |publisher=SBL Press |isbn=978-0-88414-318-5 |pages=66–67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVNtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |language=en}}</ref> As a result, in 701 BCE, [[Hezekiah]] of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], Lule king of [[Sidon]], Sidka, king of [[Ashkelon|Ascalon]] and the king of [[Ekron]] formed an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. The Neo-Assyrian ruler [[Sennacherib]] (705–681 BC) attacked the rebels, conquering Ascalon, Sidon and Ekron and defeating the Egyptians and driving them from the region. He marched toward [[Jerusalem]], destroying 46 towns and villages (including the heavily defended city of [[Lachish]]) in his path. This is graphically described in [[Isaiah]] 10; exactly what happened next is unclear (the Bible says an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers at Jerusalem after Hezekiah prayed in the temple).<ref>II Kings 18–19</ref> There are various theories (Taharqa's army,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 127, 129–130, 139–152|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> disease, divine intervention, Hezekiah's surrender, Herodotus' mice theory) as to why the Assyrians failed to take Jerusalem and withdrew to Assyria.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 119|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> Sennacherib's account says Judah paid him tribute and he left.<ref name="JE66"/>

 

 

==Invasion of Esarhaddon (673 BCE)==

Ashurbanipal defeated [[Taharqa]] in 667 BCE, who afterwards fled to [[Thebes (Egypt)|Thebes]]. Ashurbanipal marched the Assyrian army as far south as [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]], and sacked numerous revolting cities:

 

 

As late as 665 BC, the vassal rulers of Sais, Mendes, and Pelusium were still making overtures to Taharqa in Kush.<ref name=Torok>{{cite book |author=Török, László |title=The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |year=1998 |isbn=90-04-10448-8 |pages=132–133, 170–184}}</ref> The rebellion was stopped and Ashurbanipal appointed as his vassal ruler in Egypt [[Necho I]], who had been king of the city Sais, and Necho's son [[Psamtik I]], who had been educated at the Assyrian capital of [[Nineveh]] during Esarhaddon's reign.'''{{Sfn|Mark|2009|p=}}''' After his victory, Ashurbanipal left Egypt.

 

 

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">

File:Exhibition I am Ashurbanipal king of the world, king of Assyria, British Museum (45973251301).jpg|Nubian prisoners escorted by Assyrian guards out of the Egyptian city.<ref name="Wall panel; relief British Museum">{{cite web|title=Wall panel; relief British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1856-0909-33|website=The British Museum|language=en}}</ref>

</gallery>

 

===Second campaign against Tantamani (663 BCE)===

[[File:Tantamani, Louvre Museum reconstruction.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Statue of Kushite ruler and [[pharaoh]] of the [[25th Dynasty]] [[Tantamani]], [[Louvre Museum]] reconstruction.]]

Egypt was still seen as vulnerable and [[Tantamani]] invaded Egypt in hopes of restoring his family to the throne. This led to a renewed conflict with [[Ashurbanipal]] in 663 BCE.

Carved ivory panel showing young Egyptian men flanking lotus stem and flowers. From Nimrud, Iraq. Iraq Museum.jpg|Carved ivory panel showing young Egyptian men flanking lotus stem and flowers. From Nimrud, Iraq. Iraq Museum.

Carved ivory panel showing young bearded Egyptian men flanking lotus stem and flowers. From Nimrud, Iraq. Iraq Museum.jpg|Carved ivory panel showing young bearded Egyptian men flanking lotus stem and flowers. From Nimrud, Iraq. Iraq Museum.

</gallery>

 

*{{Cite journal|last=Ephʿal|first=Israel|date=2005|title=Esarhaddon, Egypt, and Shubria: Politics and Propaganda|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/JCS40025994|journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies|publisher=University of Chicago Press|volume=57|issue=1|pages=99–111|doi=10.1086/JCS40025994|s2cid=156663868 |via=}}

*{{cite book|last=Frahm|first=Eckart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhsmDwAAQBAJ|title=A Companion to Assyria|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2017|isbn=978-1-118-32524-7|editor=E. Frahm|location=Hoboken|chapter=The Neo-Assyrian Period (ca. 1000–609 BCE)}}

*{{Cite journal|last=Radner|first=Karen|date=2003|title=The Trials of Esarhaddon: The Conspiracy of 670 BC|url=https://repositorio.uam.es/handle/10486/3476|journal=ISIMU: Revista sobre Oriente Próximo y Egipto en la antigüedad|publisher=Universidad Autónoma de Madrid|volume=6|pages=165–183|via=}}

*{{Cite journal|last=Radner|first=Karen|date=2012|title=After Eltekeh: Royal Hostages from Egypt at the Assyrian Court|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316233295|journal=Stories of long ago. Festschrift für Michael D. Roaf|publisher=Ugarit-Verlag|volume=|pages=471–479|via=}}

}}

{{Rulers of the Ancient Near East}}