Ashurbanipal - Military Accomplishments

Military Accomplishments

Despite being a popular king among his subjects, he was also known by for his exceedingly cruel actions towards his enemies. Some pictures depict him putting a dog chain through the jaw of a defeated king and then making him live in a dog kennel. Many paintings of the period seem to exhibit pride in his malice and brutality.

Ashurbanipal inherited from Esarhaddon not only the throne but also the ongoing war with Egypt and Kush/Nubia. Esarhaddon sent an army against them in 667 that defeated the Nubian king of Egypt Taharqa, near Memphis, while Ashurbanipal stayed at his capital in Nineveh. At the same time the Egyptian vassals rebelled and were also defeated. All of the vanquished leaders save one were sent to Nineveh, only Necho I the native Egyptian Prince of Sais, convinced the Assyrians of his loyalty and was sent back to become the Assyrian puppet Pharaoh of Egypt. After the death of Taharqa in 664 BC his nephew and successor Tantamani invaded Upper Egypt and made Thebes his capital. In Memphis he defeated the other Egyptian princes and Necho may have died in the battle. Another army was sent by Ashurbanipal and again it succeeded in defeating the Kushites/Nubians. Tantamani was driven back to his homeland in Nubia and stayed there. The Assyrians plundered Thebes and took much booty home with them. How the Assyrian interference in Egypt ended is not certain but Necho's son Psammetichus I gained independence while keeping his relations with Assyria friendly. An interesting Assyrian royal inscription tells us of how the Lydian king Gyges received dreams from the Assyrian god Ashur. The dreams told him that when he submitted to Ashurbanipal he would conquer his foes. After he sent his ambassadors to do so he was indeed able to defeat his Cimmerian enemies. But when he supported the rebellion of one of the Egyptian rebels his country was overrun by the Cilicians.

All now seemed secure. Assyria retained control and subjugation of Media, Persia, Aramea, Phoenicia, Israel, Judah, Asia Minor, northern Arabia, the neo Hittites and Cyprus with few problems during Ashurbanipal's reign. Urartu was defeated and contained, and the Nubians had been expelled from Egypt and a native puppet regime installed. For the time being the dual monarchy in Mesopotamia went well, with no problems from the junior partner Babylon, and its Assyrian king.

For his assignment of his brother, Ashurbanipal sent a statue of the divinity Marduk with him as sign of good will. Shamsh-shuma-ukin's powers were limited. He performed Babylonian rituals but the official building projects were still executed by his younger brother. During his first years Elam was still in peace as it was under his father. Ashurbanipal even claimed that he sent food supplies during a famine. Around 664 BC the situation changed and Urtaku, the Elamite king, attacked Babylonia by surprise. Assyria delayed in sending aid to Babylon, this could have been caused for two reasons: either the soothing messages of Elamite ambassadors or Ashurbanipal might simply not have been present at that time. Elamites retreated before the Assyrian troops, and in the same year Urtaku died. He was succeeded by Teumman (Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak) who was not his legitimate heir, so many Elamite princes had to flee from him to Ashurbanipal's court, including Urtaku's oldest son Humban-nikash. In 658/657 BC the two empires clashed again. The reason for this was the treasonous province of Gambulu in 664 acting against the Assyrians. Ashurbanipal finally decided to punish them for that. On the other hand, Teumman saw his authority threatened by the Elamite princes at the Assyrian court and demanded their extradition. When the Assyrian forces invaded Elam a battle followed at the Ulaya river.

Elam was defeated in the battle in which, according to Assyrian reliefs, Teumman committed suicide. Ashurbanipal installed Humban-nikash as king of Madaktu and another prince, Tammaritu, as king of the city Hidalu. Elam was considered a new vassal of Assyria and tribute was imposed on it. With the Elamite problem solved the Assyrians could finally punish Gumbulu and seized its capital. Then the victorious army marched home taking with them the head of Teumman. In Nineveh, when the Elamite ambassadors saw the head they lost control; one tore out his beard and the other committed suicide but this wasn't enough. As further humiliation the head of the Elamite king was put on display at the port of Nineveh. The death and head of Teumman was depicted multiple times in the reliefs of Ashurbanipal's palace.

Friction must have grown between the two brother kings and in 652 BC Babylon rebelled. This time Babylon was not alone – it had allied itself with Assyrian Chaldean tribes, its southern regions, the kings of "Gutium", Amurru, and Malluha, and even Elam. According to a later Aramaic tale on Papyrus 63, Shamash-shum-ukin formally declared war on Ashurbanipal in a letter where he claims that his brother is only the governor of Nineveh and his subject. Again the Assyrians delayed an answer, this time due to unfavourable omens. It's not certain how the rebellion affected the Assyrian heartlands but some unrest in the cities indicates that there were problems. When Babylon finally was attacked, the Assyrians proved to be more powerful. Civil war prevented further military aid, and in 648 BC Borsippa and Babylon were besieged. Without aid the situation was hopeless. After two years Shamash-shum-ukin met his end in his burning palace just before the city surrendered. This time Babylon was not destroyed, as under Sennacherib, but a terrible massacre of the rebels took place, according to the king's inscriptions. Ashurbanipal allowed Babylon to keep its semi autonomous position, but it became even more formalized than before. The next king Kandalanu left no official inscription, probably as his function was only ritual.