Ashur-uballit II
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Ashur-uballit II, also spelled Assur-uballit II and Ashuruballit II (
Neo-Assyrian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
: , meaning " Ashur has kept alive"), was the final ruler of
Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
, ruling from his predecessor
Sinsharishkun Sinsharishkun or Sin-shar-ishkun (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or ''Sîn-šarru-iškun'',' meaning " Sîn has established the king")' was the penultimate king of Assyria, reigning from the death of his brother and predecessor Ashur-etil-ilani in 627 ...
's death at the
Fall of Nineveh The Battle of Nineveh is conventionally dated between 613 and 611 BC, with 612 BC being the most supported date. Rebelling against the Assyrians, an allied army which combined the forces of Medes and the Babylonians, besieged Nineveh and sacked ...
in 612 BC to his own defeat at
Harran Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border cr ...
in 609 BC. He was possibly the son of Sinsharishkun and likely the same person as a crown prince mentioned in inscriptions at the Assyrian capital of
Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
in 626 and 623 BC. Over the course of Sinsharishkun's reign, the
Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...
had been irreversibly weakened. A revolt in 626–620 BC had seen the loss of the empire's southern provinces to the newly formed
Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the List of kings of Babylon, King of B ...
and
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
against its king Nabopolassar and the
Medes The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, the ...
proved disastrous for Assyria; leading to sacks and destructions of the important cities of
Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...
and Nineveh in 614 BC and 612 BC respectively. After the loss of these cities and the death of Sinsharishkun, Ashur-uballit II rallied what remained of the Assyrian army at Harran where, bolstered by an alliance with
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, he ruled for three years. His identification as "king of Assyria" comes from Babylonian sources. Contemporary Assyrian inscriptions suggest that the Assyrians saw Ashur-uballit as their legitimate ruler, but continued to refer to him as "crown prince" seeing as he could not undergo the traditional Assyrian coronation ceremony at Assur and thus hadn't formally been bestowed with the kingship by the Assyrian chief deity, Ashur. His rule at Harran came to an end when the city was seized by Medo-Babylonian forces in 610 BC. Ashur-uballit's attempt at retaking it in 609 BC was repulsed whereafter he is no longer mentioned in contemporary chronicles, signalling the end of the ancient Assyrian monarchy.


Background

In the beginning of the 7th century BC, Assyria was at the height of its power. The entire
Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...
was under the rule of the Assyrian king and due to the flourishing of trade and culture, the era has been described as the ''
Pax Assyriaca The ''Pax Assyriaca'' (Latin for "Assyrian peace") was a relatively long period of peace in the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the 7th century (c. 700–630/620 BC).Craig M. White, ''In Search of…the Great German Nation: Origins and Destiny'' (Sydne ...
'' (a term coined to parallel the ''
Pax Romana The Pax Romana (Latin for 'Roman peace') is a roughly 200-year-long timespan of Roman history which is periodization, identified as a period and as a golden age (metaphor), golden age of increased as well as sustained Imperial cult of ancient Rome ...
''). By the end of the same century, Assyria had fallen and disappeared from history, never to rise again. One of the major reasons for its fall was Assyria's failure to efficiently solve the so-called "Babylonian problem", the near constant rebellions in its southern provinces, especially in the ancient and prestigious city of Babylon. Although some kings had ruled successfully without revolts in Babylonia, such as
Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his ...
, the revolts in the region had intensified during the rule of
Sinsharishkun Sinsharishkun or Sin-shar-ishkun (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or ''Sîn-šarru-iškun'',' meaning " Sîn has established the king")' was the penultimate king of Assyria, reigning from the death of his brother and predecessor Ashur-etil-ilani in 627 ...
(reigned 627–612 BC). Sinsharishkun had come to the throne in 627 BC following the death of his brother
Ashur-etil-ilani Ashur-etil-ilani, also spelled Ashur-etel-ilani' and Ashuretillilani ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning " Ashur is the lord of the Tree"),' was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurbanipal in 631 BC to his own d ...
and was almost immediately faced by a revolt by the general
Sin-shumu-lishir Sin-shumu-lishir or Sin-shumu-lisher' ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn, make the name prosper!"), also spelled Sin-shum-lishir,' was a usurper king in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, ruling some cities in northern Babylonia for three month ...
in 626 BC, who successfully seized some cities in northern Babylonia, including Babylon itself and Nippur. Although Sin-shumi-lishir was defeated after only three months, his revolt weakened Assyrian control in Babylonia. Almost immediately afterwards, another revolt sprung up in Babylonia, this one by Nabopolassar, who successfully seized both Babylon and Nippur. The defeat of Sinsharishkun's attempted reconquest of these cities in October of 626 BC was the final Assyrian campaign for the city of Babylon. On 22/23 November of that year, Nabopolassar was formally crowned as k ing of Babylon, founding the
Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the List of kings of Babylon, King of B ...
. Sinsharishkun attempted to reconquer cities in northern Babylonia in 625–624 BC but was repeatedly repelled. In 622 BC, Nabopolassar seized the last Assyrian outposts in Babylonia. The Babylonians scored repeated victories against the Assyrians and by 616 BC Babylonian troops had even reached as far north as the
Balikh River The Balikh River ( ar, نهر البليخ) is a perennial river that originates in the spring of Ain al-Arous near Tell Abyad in the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion. It flows due south and joins the Euph ...
. Assyria's ally, Pharaoh
Psamtik I Wahibre Psamtik I ( Ancient Egyptian: ) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664–610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire ...
of
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, who saw Assyria as a useful buffer state between his own empire and those of the Babylonians and
Medes The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, the ...
in the east, rushed to Sinsharishkun's aid, but a joint Egyptian-Assyrian campaign into Babylonia was unsuccessful. In 614 BC, the city of
Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...
, once the capital and still the ideological and religious center of Assyria, was captured, plundered and sacked by the Medes under
Cyaxares Cyaxares (Median: ; Old Persian: ; Akkadian: ; Old Phrygian: ; grc, Κυαξαρης, Kuaxarēs; Latin: ; reigned 625–585 BCE) was the third king of the Medes. Cyaxares collaborated with the Babylonians to destroy the Assyrian Empire, and ...
, allies of Nabopolassar. The Babylonian army under Nabopolassar had been late to the battle, only arriving after the Medes had already killed many of the city's inhabitants and begun plundering it. Two years later, the Assyrian capital itself,
Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
, fell. The fate of Sinsharishkun is not certain, but it is commonly accepted that he died in defense of Nineveh in 612 BC. Ashur-uballit's background is uncertain. It is known that he was an Assyrian general and he might have been the son of Sinsharishkun. Ashur-uballit is likely the same person as the unnamed crown prince (designated heir) attested in inscriptions from Nineveh dated to 626 and 623 BC. Sinsharishkun's appointment of a crown prince so early in his reign (having only become king in 627 BC) was likely to avoid the succession problems which had been common in Assyria since the reign of
Sennacherib Sennacherib (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynast ...
(reigned 705–681 BC).


Reign


Rule at Harran and status

In Assyrian tradition, the king was appointed to his position by the Assyrian national deity, Ashur, during the New Year festivals in Assur. The last king to be crowned at the temple of Ashur at Assur had been Sinsharishkun and with the city's destruction in 614 BC, the traditional Assyrian coronation ritual was now impossible. The coronation ritual in Assur saw the god Ashur invest the king with royal power, affirming his status as Ashur's earthly representative. Ashur-uballit did have a coronation ceremony in late 612 BC, but instead of conducting it in Assur, it was conducted in the temple of the moon god
Sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
, another important deity in the empire, at
Harran Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border cr ...
. At Harran, the Assyrian Empire continued to endure under the rule of Ashur-uballit. His identification as Sinsharishkun's successor and the king of Assyria comes from Babylonian chronicles. The Babylonians thus saw him as the Assyrian king, but the few subjects Ashur-uballit governed himself probably did not share this view. Instead, Ashur-uballit's formal title was crown prince (''mar šarri'', literally meaning "son of the king"), which can be inferred from preserved documents, such as the following portion of a legal document from the city
Dur-Katlimmu Tell Sheikh Hamad ( ar, تل الشيخ حمد), also Dur-Katlimmu, is an archeological site in eastern Syria on the lower Khabur River,. a tributary of the Euphrates. Chalcolithic Period The site of Tell Sheikh Hamad was occupied from the Late ...
: The portion of the document that is important in regards to Ashur-uballit's status is the mention of the "covenant of the crown prince" (''adê ša mar šarri''). This phrase is common in legal documents, appearing frequently since the reign of Esarhaddon in 672 BC, but always in the form of "covenant of the king" (''adê ša šarri''), showing that the office of king was vacant and the crown prince filled that role instead. Inscriptions from this time also record the name of the final Commander-in-Chief of the Assyrian army, Nabû-mar-šarri-uṣur, which means "O
Nabu Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian "nab ...
, protect the crown prince!". Such names were common in Assyria but usually referred to the king, not the crown prince. Ashur-uballit not formally being king does not indicate that his claim to the throne was challenged, only that he had yet to go through with the traditional ceremony. The appointment of a crown prince required the formal recognition of all subjects and of the gods. Should the king be unable to exercise his duties, the crown prince was a competent substitute, exercising similar legal and political power. Ashur-uballit was the recognized legitimate ruler, and his title was only a provisional arrangement until he could undergo the proper coronation. The choice of ''Aššur-uballiṭ'' as a regnal name was probably a highly conscious one. The meaning of the name, "Ashur has kept alive", suggests that Assyria's chief deity and its empire would be ultimately successful in their battle against their enemies. It also connects him to the earlier Assyrian king of the same name,
Ashur-uballit I Ashur-uballit I ''(Aššur-uballiṭ I)'', who reigned between 1363 and 1328 BC, was the first king of the Middle Assyrian Empire. After his father Eriba-Adad I had broken Mitanni influence over Assyria, Ashur-uballit I's defeat of the Mitanni ...
of the 14th century BC. Ashur-uballit I had been the first Assyrian ruler to abandon the old religious title of ''išši’ak'' ("governor") in favor of the title ''šarrum'' ("king"), signifying his role as an absolute monarch. In Assyria, each year was assigned an eponym name. The name used for the year noted in the Dur-Katlimmu legal document, "Se’-ila’i", only appears in this source and demonstrates that it is from after the Assyrian heartlands had fallen to invaders, when eponym names, in the absence of central authority, became local and often confined to single cities. The Šulmu-šarri, whose son is mentioned, also appears in inscriptions dating to the reign of Ashurbanipal a little over a decade prior. Although the document uses traditional Assyrian titles such as Companion (''ša qurbūte'', literally meaning "he who is close to the king") and cohort commander (''rab kiṣri''), suggesting that they still carried their traditional importance, the document also calls the local leader Iadi’-il by the title of city lord (Akkadian: ''bēl āli'') a title formerly only associated with members of the Assyrian ruling dynasty. A non-dynastic appointed official for the government of a city was usually titled as ''ḫazannu'' (usually translated as "mayor") or ''ša muḫḫi āli'' (meaning "city oversser") and the use of the title ''bēl āli'' indicates that parts of the Assyrian administrative framework were no longer functioning.


Fall of Harran and attempted recapture

At the time Ashur-uballit became the ruler of Assyria in 612 BC, his main objective would have been to retake the Assyrian heartland, including Assur and Nineveh. Bolstered by the forces of his allies, Egypt (a leading military power in the region) and
Mannea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
, this goal was probably seen as quite possible and his rule at Harran and role as crown prince (and not legitimately crowned king) probably seemed like a mere temporary retreat. Instead, Ashur-uballit's rule at Harran composes the final years of the Assyrian Empire, which at this point had effectively ceased to exist. In 611 BC, Nabopolassar's army consolidated his rule throughout northern Mesopotamia, going as far as to the border of Harran itself. After Nabopolassar himself had travelled the recently conquered Assyrian heartland in 610 BC in order to ensure stability, the Medo-Babylonian army embarked on a campaign against Harran in November of 610 BC. Intimidated by the approach of the Medo-Babylonian army, Ashur-uballit and a contingent of Egyptian reinforcements fled the city into the deserts of Syria. The siege of Harran lasted from the winter of 610 BC to the beginning of 609 BC and the city eventually capitulated. Ashur-uballit's failure at Harran marks the end for the ancient Assyrian monarchy, which would never be restored. After the Babylonians had ruled Harran for three months, Ashur-uballit and a large force of Egyptian soldiers attempted to retake the city, but this campaign failed disastrously. Beginning in July or June 609 BC, Ashur-uballit's siege lasted for two months, until August or September, but he and the Egyptians retreated when Nabopolassar again led his army against them. It is possible that they had retreated even earlier.


Fate

The eventual fate of Ashur-uballit is unknown and his siege of Harran in 609 BC is the last time he, or the Assyrians in general, are mentioned in Babylonian records. After the battle at Harran, Nabopolassar resumed his campaign against the remainder of the Assyrian army in the beginning of the year 608 or 607 BC. It is thought that Ashur-uballit was still alive at this point, for in 608 BC the Egyptian Pharaoh
Necho II Necho II (sometimes Nekau, Neku, Nechoh, or Nikuu; Greek: Νεκώς Β'; ) of Egypt was a king of the 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC), which ruled from Sais. Necho undertook a number of construction projects across his kingdom. In his reign, accord ...
, Psamtik I's successor, personally led a large Egyptian army into former Assyrian territory to rescue his ally and turn the tide of the war. Because there is no mention of a large battle between the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Medes in 608 BC (a battle between the four greatest military powers of their day is unlikely to have been forgotten and left out of contemporary sources) and no later mentions of Ashur-uballit, it is possible that he died at some point in 608 BC before his allies and his enemies could clash in battle. M.B. Rowton speculates that Ashur-uballit could have lived until 606 BC, but by then the Egyptian army is mentioned in Babylonian sources without any references to the Assyrians or their king. Although Ashur-uballit is no longer mentioned after 609 BC, the Egyptian campaigns in the Levant continued for some time until a crushing defeat at
Battle of Carchemish The Battle of Carchemish was fought about 605 BC between the armies of Egypt allied with the remnants of the army of the former Assyrian Empire against the armies of Babylonia, allied with the Medes, Persians, and Scythians. This was while Nebuc ...
in 605 BC. Throughout the next century, Egypt and Babylon, brought into direct contact with each other through Assyria's fall, would frequently be at war with each other over control in the Fertile Crescent.


See also

*
Sargonid dynasty The Sargonid dynasty was the final ruling dynasty of Assyria, ruling as kings of Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian Empire for just over a century from the ascent of Sargon II in 722 BC to the fall of Assyria in 609 BC. Although Assyria would ult ...
*
List of Assyrian kings The king of Assyria (Akkadian: ''Išši'ak Aššur'', later ''šar māt Aššur'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its ear ...
*
Military history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire arose in the 10th century BC. Ashurnasirpal II is credited for utilizing sound strategy in his wars of conquest. While aiming to secure defensible frontiers, he would launch raids further inland against his opponents as a ...


Notes


References


Cited bibliography

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Cited web sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashur-Uballit 02 Sargonid dynasty 7th-century BC Assyrian kings 640s BC births 600s BC deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Dethroned monarchs