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{{Short description|673–663 BCE military campaign}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Assyrian conquest of Egypt
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|image_size=250px
|caption=Map of the Neo-Assyrian Empire 824-671 BCE
|date=
|result=Assyrian military conquest of
|place=
|casus=
|combatant1=[[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]
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}}
{{Battles involving Assyria}}
The '''Assyrian conquest of Egypt''' covered a relatively short period of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] from 673
==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"/>
In 681 BCE, Sennacherib was murdered while praying to the god [[Nisroch]] by one or more of his own sons (allegedly named Adremelech, Abimlech, and Sharezer), perhaps as retribution for his destruction of Babylon.<ref>{{cite book |title=Esther's revenge at Susa |first=Stephanie |last=Dalley |authorlink=Stephanie Dalley |pages=63–66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tRY39cGC_K8C&pg=PA63 |isbn=9780199216635 |date=2007-11-29|publisher=OUP Oxford }}</ref><ref>According to 2 Kings 19:37, while praying to the god [[Nisroch]], he was killed by two of his sons, [[Adramalech]], and [[Sharezer]], and both of these sons subsequently fled to [[Urartu]]; this is repeated in Isaiah 37:38 and alluded to in 2 Chronicles 32:21.</ref>
==Invasion of Esarhaddon (673 BCE)==
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===Campaign of 673 BCE===
[[File:Taharqa,_Louvre_Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Statue of Kushite ruler and [[pharaoh]] of the [[25th Dynasty]] [[Taharqa]] (ruled 690-664 BCE), who led the fight against the Assyrians. [[Louvre Museum]] reconstruction.]]
[[Esarhaddon]]
===Campaign of 671 BCE===
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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:
{{blockquote|[[File:Rassam cylinder (BW).jpg|50px|left|Rassam cylinder of Ashurbanipal]]In my first campaign I marched against Magan, Meluhha, Taharqa ([[File:Tar-qu-u in Neo-Assyrian.jpg|60px]] ''Tar-qu-u''), king of [[Egypt]] ([[File:Rassam cylinder Mu-ṣur.jpg|45px]], ''Mu-ṣur'') and [[Ethiopia]] ([[File:Rassam cylinder Ku-u-si.jpg|60px]] ''Ku-u-si'' "[[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]]"), whom [[Esarhaddon]], king of Assyria, the father who begot me, had defeated, and whose land he brought under his sway. This same Taharqa forgot the might of Ashur, Ishtar and the other great gods, my lords, and put his trust upon his own power. He turned against the kings and regents whom my own father had appointed in Egypt. He entered and took residence in Memphis, the city which my own father had conquered and incorporated into Assyrian territory....|[[Rassam cylinder]] of
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.
Taharqa died in city of [[Thebes (Egypt)|Thebes]]<ref>''Historical Prism inscription of Ashurbanipal I'' by Arthur Carl Piepkorn page 36. Published by University of Chicago Press [http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/as5.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319214845/http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/as5.pdf |date=2012-03-19 }}</ref> in 664 BCE. He was followed by his appointed successor [[Tantamani]], a son of [[Shabaka]], himself succeeded by a son of Taharqa, [[Atlanersa]].<ref>[http://www.nubia2006.uw.edu.pl/nubia/abstract.php?abstract_nr=69&PHPSESSID=472ec4534c78263b6d4a0194e6349d8b Why did Taharqa build his tomb at Nuri?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200711/http://www.nubia2006.uw.edu.pl/nubia/abstract.php?abstract_nr=69&PHPSESSID=472ec4534c78263b6d4a0194e6349d8b |date=2016-03-03 }} Conference of Nubian Studies</ref>
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Kushite soldiers of Taharqa fighting the Assyrians.jpg|
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>
File:Egyptian prisoners, Memphis relief.jpg
</gallery>
===Second campaign against Tantamani (663 BCE)===
{{further|Sack of Thebes}}
[[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.
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[[File:Ashurbanipal's Second Campaign in Egypt (Rassam cylinder).jpg|thumb|Ashurbanipal's Second Campaign in Egypt, in the [[Rassam cylinder]]]]
[[File:Egypt - Capture of Memphis by the Assyrians.png|thumb|Capture of Memphis by the Assyrians.]]
{{blockquote|This city, the whole of it, I conquered it with the help of Ashur and Ishtar. Silver, gold, precious stones, all the wealth of the palace, rich cloth, precious linen, great horses, supervising men and women, two obelisks of splendid electrum, weighing 2,500 talents, the doors of temples I tore from their bases and carried them off to Assyria. With this weighty booty I left Thebes. Against Egypt and Kush I have lifted my spear and shown my power. With full hands I have returned to Nineveh, in good health.|[[Rassam cylinder]] of Ashurbanipal<ref>Ashurbanipal (auto) biography cylinder, c. 668 BCE; in James B. Pritchard, ed., ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement'' (Princeton UP, 1950/1969/2014), 294-95. {{ISBN|9781400882762}}. Translated earlier in John Pentland Mahaffy et al., eds., ''A History of Egypt, vol. 3'' (London: Scribner, 1905), 307. Google Books partial-view: [https://books.google.com/books?id=04VUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA307 p.307]; and E. A. Wallis Budge, ''A History of Ethiopia: Volume I, Nubia and Abyssinia'' (London: Taylor & Francis, 1928/2014), 38. {{ISBN|9781317649151}}</ref>}}
The sack of Thebes was a momentous event that reverberated throughout the Ancient Near East. It is mentioned in the [[Book of Nahum]] chapter 3:8-10:
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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.
File:Egypto-Assyrian cylinder seal.jpg
</gallery>
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*{{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 web|url=https://www.ancient.eu/Ashurbanipal/|title=Ashurbanipal|last=Mark|first=Joshua J.|date=2009|website=Ancient History Encyclopedia
*{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancient.eu/Esarhaddon/|title=Esarhaddon|last=Mark|first=Joshua J.|date=2014|website=Ancient History Encyclopedia
*{{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=}}
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}}
{{Rulers of the Ancient Near East}}
[[Category:670s BC]]
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[[Category:7th century BC in Assyria]]
[[Category:Esarhaddon]]
[[Category:Ashurbanipal]]
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