The Battle
The Abbasid army formed a spear wall, a tactic they had adopted from their Syrian opponents, presumably from witnessing it in earlier battles. This entailed standing in a battle line with their lances pointed at the enemy (similar to the stakes used by English longbowmen at Agincourt and Crécy many centuries later). The Umayyad cavalry charged, possibly believing that with their experience they could break the spear wall. This, however, was a mistake on their part and they were all but butchered. The Umayyad army fell into retreat, its morale finally shattered. Many were cut down by the zealous Abbasids or were drowned in the wintertime River Zab.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of The Zab
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—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)