Some African History from 750-500BC

Statue of Taharqa offering wine to a god

This is a quick overview of African history from the year 750BC to the year 500BC. Due to the nature of the sources it will be rather focused on Egypt. This is unfortunate, but somewhat inevitable, as Egypt is the one of the best documented places in the world at this time. However, during this time other sources begin to appear in the historical record, which brings joy to all those who love history.

Outside of Egypt there was a complex and powerful civilisation in the kingdom of Kush, which lay along the Nile to the south of Egypt. This land is also sometimes referred to as Nubia. The land of Punt, which had been the destination of Egyptian trading expeditions during the New Kingdom disappears from the records and while it may still have existed, we have no knowledge of it.

Nok culture terracotta artefact

The lower edge of the Sahara had seen the development of agriculture, although there is no record of extensive bronze metalworking from this period. This is to be expected as tin was very scarce in the ancient world and there were no easy trade routes past the Sahara at this time. While bronze-working was not evident in that region, iron-working does seem to have become known to the civilisations in the Sahel and further south around this time.

Further south of the equator humans still lived as hunter-gatherers, as their distant ancestors had done for millennia. This was more to do with the sophistication of their hunting techniques than anything else. Unlike other parts of the world they had not had the need to develop agriculture and their culture was perfectly adapted to its surroundings. However, if farming groups were to arrive in the area from outside, this would change the balance of the environment and tip the scales in favour of the agricultural groups.

The Nok culture was thriving at this time, in what is now the country of Nigeria. Meanwhile the speakers of Bantu languages had already begun the process of expansion that would see their languages spread over most of sub-Saharan Africa. The Bantu speakers had already reached the rainforests of the Congo Basin and the Ugandan highlands around this time, but it is hard to know the exact spread of this language family at this time.

By the year 740BC King Piye of Kush had enforced a loose hegemony over the Egyptian rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt and probably had tributary arrangements as far north as the Nile Delta. However, the rulers of the city of Sais probably felt threatened by this.

Burial ground at El-Kurru in Kush

In the year 732BC Tefnakht of Sais declared himself to be the Pharaoh of Egypt and the founder of the 24th Dynasty of Egypt. This was while both the 22nd and the 23rd Dynasties were still technically ruling Egypt as well. Tefnakht began to form the Libyan princes who ruled the cities of Egypt into an anti-Kushite alliance.

In the year 728BC Piye of Kush responded. He sent his troops to break the siege of Heracleopolis and then pushed northwards in the following year 727BC, receiving the surrender of forts and cities along his route. Those who surrendered were not killed however and it seems that Piye even captured another of the sons of Tefnakht and did not put him to death. The victorious march continued until the king had reached the city of Memphis, which was strengthened by Tefnakht with 8000 troops who marched in secretly during the night, however Tefnakht himself left the city on horseback, leaving the garrison to fend for itself while he organised resistance among the cities of the Delta. Memphis was surrounded by high walls and arms of the river encompassed it on the eastern side. Some of his generals advocated a long siege however Piye decided on the element of speed and surprise, commandeering all boats available, plus his own fleet, and rushing against the river walls. The city was taken by siege and put to the sword. By the second day the looting and killing had stopped and Piye had taken full control of the city.

Stele of Piye

Then he sent forth his fleet and his army to assault the harbor of Memphis; they brought to him every ferry-boat, every cargo-boat, every transport, and the ships, as many as there were, which had moored in the harbor of Memphis, with the bow-rope fastened among its houses.
Piye Stela

The bloody siege of Memphis and the incredible speed it had been taken left the northern princes, chiefs and little kings no choice but to surrender. Osorkon of Tanis, probably the second strongest of the kings of the Delta after Tefnakht, surrendered in Heliopolis and gave tribute. The other kings followed suit shortly in the city of Athribis. While Piye organised his armies, a city in the western delta, called Mesed rose up against the Kushites, but was crushed by the Kushite armies and the forces of Pediese, a Libyan king who had submitted to Piye. After this final defeat Tefnakht finally surrendered but refused to come to meet Piye and bow down before him. Tefnakht had fled, perhaps to Crete or Cyprus, and refused to risk his life or humble his pride. The last remaining chieftains submitted to Piye, where they were humiliated by not being allowed inside the palace due to their ritual uncleanliness. Instead they had to kiss the ground at the feet of Piye outside the palace and were left outside once the surrender was complete.

Then came those kings and princes of the Northland, all the chiefs who wore the feather (meaning Libyans rather than Egyptians), every vizier, all chiefs, and every king's confidant, from the west, from the east, and from the islands in the midst, to see the beauty of his majesty.
Piye Stela

Pyramid of Piye at El-Kurru

Piye had the stela written glorifying his exploits in the style of the great Egyptian warrior kings of old, like Tuthmosis III or Ramesses II. He stressed his reliance on the Egyptian gods and his ritual purity, the innovative tactics he had used, the mercy he showed to those who surrendered and the retribution he gave to those who did not, although his methods of waging war were humane by the standards of the day and almost humanitarian compared to the Assyrian methods. But most of all he stressed that this was not merely a civil war, nor an invasion from the south but that he, a true Egyptian, was finally ridding Egypt of the sway of unclean Libyan foreigners. His account has sometimes been compared to a religious crusade although that is probably overstating matters. Piye's capital however was in Napata, in present day Sudan, so after having set the Delta in order and reconfirmed the now loyal sub-kings, he returned to Napata with all the spoils of victory. The sub-kings would not rise again against the Kushites.

This war also ended the 23rd Dynasty, although a descendant of Tefnakht would rule at Sais for another few years as the second and last king of the short lived 24th Dynasty. Osorkon IV, the last king of the 22nd Dynasty continued to hold his throne in Tanis, but as a vassal of the Kushite Pharaohs. Piye was declared the Pharaoh of Egypt and the first ruler 25th Dynasty of Egypt.

Piye died in 714BC and was buried in a large pyramid in the Kushite royal cemetery of El-Kurru. He was succeeded by his son Shebitku, who may have been followed by Piye's brother Shabaka. Their reigns saw the crushing of the 24th Dynasty at Sais and the ending of the 23rd Dynasty at Tanis. The north-eastern border of Egypt was threatened by the Assyrians who were expanding their empire in the Levant. The Kushite general Taharqa attempted to save the Kingdom of Judah from the Assyrians, but was defeated at Eltekeh.

Temple of the Moon God at D'mt

During this time the kingdom of D'mt was reaching the zenith of its power and glory. Their kingdom was centred on their capital at Yeha, in what is now northern Ethiopia. They built a great temple at Yeha, part of which still stands today. It was probably dedicated to the Moon God, but this is unclear.

Inscriptions in the Sabaean script have been found from this region and most amazingly, they record the names of kings and queens for this obscure kingdom. They use Sabaean titles for their rulers, as well as the Sabaean script, so it is very clear that the kingdom was culturally influenced by the Sabaeans, but it does not seem as if they names of their kings and queens were Sabaean.

The kingdom of D'mt did not merely centre on Yeha, but had a number of other cities, mostly in the region of what is now the country of Eritrea. These included Hawulti, Matara and Qohaito, all of which may yield more information on the history of this land when excavated more fully in the future.

Sabaean inspired writing from the kingdom of D'mt

In Egypt and Kush, Taharqa acceded to the throne in 690BC. He appears to have been a strong and capable Pharaoh, but he faced a very serious threat. The Assyrian Empire was at the height of its power and, under their king Esarhaddon, invaded Egypt in 671BC. The Assyrians captured Memphis after a fierce struggle and while Taharqa escaped, other members of the Kushite royal family, including the crown prince Ushanahuru, were captured by the ruthless Assyrians.

Esarhaddon was faced with rebellion in his own kingdom and withdrew shortly after the capture of Memphis. But even so, this was the most terrible invasion that Egypt had seen in many centuries. The Libyans and the Kushites had both seen themselves as in certain sense Egyptian. The Assyrians were simply foreign conquerors. We have a prayer from Taharqa at this time.

Oh Amun, … my wives, let my children live. Keep death away from them, for me. 
Prayer of Taharqa, written around 670

The Egyptians rebelled against the Assyrians in 670BC and Taharqa came back to the attack. Esarhaddon died as he was returning to Egypt to crush the Kushite counterattack. His son Ashurbanipal took over the conquest. In 667BC Ashurbanipal returned to Egypt and defeated Taharqa once more. One of the Egyptian princes of Sais had been placed as an Assyrian governor of Lower Egypt and even though he had rebelled against the Assyrians, Necho I was returned to Egypt as a client ruler of the Delta in the name of the Assyrians.

Pyramid of Taharqa at Nuri in Kush

Taharqa died around 664BC and was buried in a grand pyramid at a new royal cemetery at Nuri. It was succeeded by Tanutamon, also known as Tantamani. Tantamani attacked the Assyrians, killing their vassal king Necho I, and the Assyrians counterattacked, pushing southwards to Thebes in Upper Egypt. Here they attacked until they had captured it and sacked it, causing great destruction in one of the greatest cities on earth. This destruction of Thebes effectively pushed the Kushite rulers back into Kush. The end of Kushite rule is generally held as the end of the Third Intermediate Period of Egyptian history and the beginning of what is known as the Late Period.

In 656 Psammetichus I, son of Necho I, recaptured Thebes, ending Kushite rule in Egypt. This was at least partly because the Divine Adoratrice of Amun (High Priestess) was a sacred figure and had been left alone by the Assyrians and Egyptians. This person had joint control over the city of Thebes and control of the vast estates of the temple of Amun. The current Adoratrice was Shepenupet II, a Kushite and a long-lived daughter of Piye, the first Kushite Pharaoh of Egypt. Shepenupet was old and had adopted a daughter, Amenirdis, the daughter of Taharqa, to succeed her.

Relief of Nitocris and Psamtik I

The estates of Amun were too powerful to be left in the hands of the relatives of a rival Pharaoh, so Psammetichus (or Psamtik I depending on what naming convention is used), decided to force Shepenupet to adopt his daughter, Nitocris, instead, so that on Shepenupet's death, Nitocris would become the next Adoratrice. This forced adoption took place in 656 and is commemorated by a stela of Psammetichus. This time period sees Psammetichus gradually increasing his power to the point where he would be able to defy the Assyrians and expel them from his land. Assyrian forces may have begun to withdraw from Egypt from around 654 onwards. Psammetichus I now ruled as a Pharaoh of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt.

In the year 9, second month of the first season, day 14, they arrived at the city of the gods, Thebes. As she advanced, she found all Thebes, men and women alike, standing, rejoicing at her approach, surrounding her with great offerings, a multitude in number. Then they said: "The daughter of the King of Upper Egypt, Nitocris, comes to the house of Amun; that he may receive her and be satisfied with her. The daughter of the King of Lower Egypt, Shepnupet, comes to Karnak, that the gods therein may honour her."
Adoption Stela of Nitocris

Relief showing Shepenupet

Psammetichus was also famed in literature for conducting possibly the first scientific experiment ever, or at least the first psychological experiment. The Egyptians had always claimed that they were the oldest civilisation in the world. Psammetichus sought to prove this by having some children raised without listening to the speech of others and trying to figure out which language the children would spontaneously speak, assuming that they would speak the original language of mankind and thus, find the oldest civilisation. This experiment supposedly showed that the Phrygians were the oldest civilisation, which is interesting, as that can hardly have been the expected outcome. This was determined by the fact that the children kept saying the word "bekos" when pointing at bread, which roughly matched the Phrygian word for bread, but not the Egyptian. However, this story is nowhere recorded among the Egyptians and is only taken from the much later Greek texts of Herodotus.

Stela of Tefnakht

While we cannot prove if the language experiment was real or not, we can be certain that a new form of writing was pioneered in Egypt around this time, called the Demotic script (capitalised to avoid confusion with Greek "demotic" script). This was a short-hand script that could be used to transcribe hieroglyphs quickly and in some ways replaced an earlier short-hand known as hieratic. It was not an alphabet but it could be used to speed up writing and was widely adopted. It was part of the much later Rosetta Stone that was later used to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs.

According to legend the Greek colony of Cyrene was founded in Libya with Greek colonists and native Libyans in the year 631BC. It had good relations with the native peoples and it was unusual for Greek colonies, in that the main city was founded slightly inland, rather than directly on the sea, as was more usual. The colony would become famed for its export of silphium, a rare plant that only grew near this region and was believed to be not only the finest of delicacies, but also a herb with powerful healing properties. Silphium became the main export of Cyrene under the reigns of the Battiad kings, who ruled the colony for some centuries after its foundation.

In the year 609BC Necho II of Egypt led an expedition as far as the Euphrates River to try and save the remnants of the Assyrian Empire, which was on the verge of destruction by the Babylonians and the Medes. On the way there he defeated King Josiah of Judah in battle at Megiddo. After some initial successes, the Egyptian force was dealt a serious defeat in 605BC and was pushed back to the borders of Egypt by the Babylonians. The Egyptians defeated the Babylonians on the frontier in 601BC, but the Babylonians were still an active threat in the region.

Nok culture terracotta artifact

Around the year 600BC the people of the Nok culture had definitely developed iron-smelting techniques. It is unclear if they developed these independently or if they had received external knowledge. I suspect that the knowledge of iron-working was brought from artefacts traded across Africa, but that the techniques of iron-working were developed independently. The sophistication of their smelting furnaces was quite impressive and the quality of their iron was some of the best in the world at the time. An important smelting site was located at the present-day town of Taruga, near the Nigerian capital city of Abuja.

Around 595BC Pharaoh Necho II died and was succeeded by Psamtik II. He was one of the most fascinating individuals of this time period and seems to have had many excellent ideas. Perhaps he was too ahead of his time though, as most of his ideas seem to have failed in their execution.

Necho II is supposed to have attempted to link the Red Sea to the Nile in the earliest version of the Suez Canal to have been attempted. This was a gigantic work and was truly a work of vision but there were problems with it, namely that there is a considerable difference in water levels between the two bodies of water. There are no Egyptian inscriptions for this but we know the story from Herodotus, who says that Necho II stopped construction after receiving an unfavourable oracle.

Depiction of Necho II

Necho II then appears to have commissioned an even more intriguing expedition. He hired Phoenician sailors, the greatest sailors of the ancient world, to set sail from the Red Sea and to attempt to circumnavigate Africa. According to Herodotus, who again, is our sole source for the story, the sailors did not return for a long time but did eventually arrive back in Egypt having sailed around the continent and coming back through the Straits of Gibraltar. This was an unprecedented feat and one that was not to be repeated to our knowledge until the Age of Exploration. The sailors told tales of the sun being in the wrong position, which led the Greeks, and perhaps the Egyptians, to discount the story. This however makes it much more plausible, as it suggests that the Phoenicians did in fact reach the southern hemisphere.

For Libya shows clearly that it is bounded by the sea, except where it borders on Asia. Necos king of Egypt first discovered this and made it known. When he had finished digging the canal which leads from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf, he sent Phoenicians in ships, instructing them to sail on their return voyage past the Pillars of Heracles until they came into the northern sea and so to Egypt. So the Phoenicians set out from the Red Sea and sailed the southern sea; whenever autumn came they would put in and plant the land in whatever part of Libya they had reached, and there await the harvest; then, having gathered the crop, they sailed on, so that after two years had passed, it was in the third that they rounded the pillars of Heracles and came to Egypt. There they said (what some may believe, though I do not) that in sailing around Libya they had the sun on their right hand.
Herodotus, Histories: 4:42

Statue of Anhknesneferibre

When Psamtik II took the throne he instated his daughter Ankhnesneferibre as Divine Adoratrice of Amun in Thebes. This was in the year 595 or 594 depending on what is counted as the first year. This was an important position, in certain ways perhaps the second most important position in Egypt after the Pharaoh himself, so it was important to ensure that this post was held by someone loyal to the dynasty. Nitocris I adopted the princess to ensure that she would become God's Wife on the death of Nitocris. Thus the Saite Dynasty (the 26th Dynasty) further strengthened its hold on the southern part of Egypt.

Year 1, third month of the third season, day 29, under the majesty of Horus: Favourite of the Two Goddesses: Mighty of Arm; Golden Horus: Beautifying the Two Lands; King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Psamtik II, given life. On this day the king's-daughter, Ankhnesneferibre, arrived at Thebes. Her mother, the Divine Consort, Nitocris, who liveth, came forth to behold her beauty, and they went together to the House of Amon. 
Stela of Ankhnesneferibre, written circa 594BC

Around 590BC the Kushite capital appears to have moved south from Napata, which was vulnerable to raids from the reinvigorated Egyptian kingdom, to Meroe, which was further south along the Nile. Napata was still held by the Kushites however and their kings continued to be buried in the royal cemetery of Nuri during this time.

In the year 589BC Apries of Egypt, known as Hophra in the Biblical record, succeeded to the throne. He was unable to prevent the rise of Babylonian power in the region, and it is possible that there was a Babylonian invasion during his reign, but this is unclear. He was overthrown by the usurper Amasis II in 570BC after a failed invasion of Cyrene.

Relief from Jebel Barka in Kush

I am not sure of when this story took place, but I have presumed it to occur at some point around the year 550BC, if it happened at all. The cities of Carthage and Cyrene both existed along the North African coast: Two trading cities, one Phoenician, one Greek. Neither side had great interest in the desert interior and were both more interested in trading with the rest of the Mediterranean. Thus they decided to draw a border between them. It was decided that two runners would set out from each city and run as fast as they could along the coast until they met the runners from the other city. Supposedly the Carthaginian runners made incredible speed and met the runners from Cyrene well over halfway away from Carthage. The runners from Cyrene understandably were annoyed and accused the Carthaginians, two brothers known as the Philaeni Brother, of cheating. Cheating may in fact have taken place. The Greeks wanted to rerun the race while the Carthaginians wanted the result to stand.

AD1872 painting of the Battle of Pelusium by Lenoir

Eventually the Greeks agreed to a compromise. They would accept the result, if the Philaeni Brothers were to be slain. If the Philaeni Brothers wanted to live they would rerun the race. The Philaeni chose to die so that their homeland could enjoy the advantage that they had won for it. Solemn sacrifices were made and until the time of late Antiquity the boundary between the two regions was fixed at the Altar of the Philaeni. Later the Roman Empire would be split into east and west at the point where the Philaeni Brothers died. I'm not sure when this story happened and I'm not at all sure if the story is true. It probably is not. But there are no records of Cyrene and Carthage going to war at least.

In 525BC the Babylonian Empire had fallen and the Persian Empire now dominated the Middle East. Led by their ruler Cambyses II, the son of Cyrus the Great, the Persians invaded Egypt, which was now ruled by the son of Amasis, Psammetichus III. There was a great battle fought at Pelusium, which the Persians won. There are some strange legends about the Battle of Pelusium that lead it to be known as the Battle of the Cats. This comes from a much later Greek book however and should not be taken too seriously. Egypt was now part of the huge Persian Empire. This ended the 26th Dynasty of Egypt. The Persian kings are sometimes referred to as the 27th Dynasty of Egypt.

Wall paintings from the tomb of Tanutamani

Around the year 500BC the Magonid kings began their rule of the city of Carthage. They were from a family that bore the name of Mago, e.g. Hamilcar Mago or Hannibal Mago. Very little is known of the constitution of Carthage around this time and even though it was ruled by kings during this period, there probably was some form of Senate, or Council, to moderate the decisions of the kings.

Around this time the ancestors of the Khoikhoi group probably began to inhabit the region to Twyfelfontein in what is now present-day Namibia. The region is known for its rock art in the caves and cliff faces. These rock carvings and paintings are preserved due to the aridity of the region, which receives very little rainfall. It was probably a sacred site or a gathering place for the hunter-gatherers of the region, but sadly little can be said about it.

During all this time the speakers of the Bantu languages were gradually moving southwards into the rainforests of central Africa. Over the next millennium they would gradually extend their languages across much of the central and southern reaches of the continent.

Wall paintings from the tomb of Tanutamani

And thus the period draws to a close. Egypt had seen the end of the New Kingdom, followed by the Libyan and Kushite rule of the Third Intermediate Period, followed by the Persian conquest after the 26th Dynasty. Even after the Kushite defeats, Kush was still one of the strongest states in the world at the time. The period also saw the growth of the Phoenician city of Carthage on the northern coast of Tunisia, and the foundation of the Greek colony of Carthage on what is now the northern region of Libya. The Iron Age sub-Saharan Africa began in earnest with the adoption and refinement of iron-working by the Nok Culture. In the east of Africa the little-known kingdom of D'mt was flourishing.

Sphinx of Amasis

Primary Sources:
Piye Stela, written circa 720BC
Prayer of Taharqa, written around 670BC
Adoption Stela of Nitocris, written circa 656BC
Herodotus, Histories: 4:42, written circa 440BC
Stela of Ankhnesneferibre, written circa 594BC

Related Blog Posts:
Some African History from 4000-3000BC
Some African History from 3000-2000BC
Some African History from 2000-1500BC
Some African History from 1500-1000BC
Some African History from 1000-750BC
Some African History from 750-500BC

750-725BC in the Near East

Urartian statue

This blog post will look at the Near East from 750-725BC. Because so much is happening and each region affects the regions around it, I will try and tell the story chronologically as best as I can, rather than describing region by region. The source material for this period includes Greek legends, Assyrian records, later Hebrew sacred writings and contemporary Hebrew inscriptions and artefacts, Egyptian and Nubian records and occasional inscriptions from Urartu and other smaller kingdoms.

When we left off from the last blog post about the Near East, Urartu was ascendant, Kush was threatening a weakened Egypt, the smaller kingdoms in the Levant were thriving and Assyria and Babylonia were weak.

In 750 BC Urartu was at the peak of its strength, under the rule of Sarduri II, with heavily developed irrigation systems and fertile lands. The Urartian military led frequent and successful campaigns against their neighbours, taking captives, either for slaves or conscripts for their armies depending on the situation. With their strong network of well-supplied fortresses, large stocks of war horses and military predominance among their neightbours there was little reason to fear that their hegemony was about to end.

Further to the west, in Anatolia, the small kingdom of Lydia was ruled by Alyattes I, of whom we know little save the name. He was succeeded by Meles, who was succeeded by Candaules (also referred to as Myrsilus and Sadyattes), who is one of the few people to have the odd distinction of having a type of voyeurism named after him. But that is a story for the next blog post and will be dealt with there. All that can be said of Lydia at this time is that it exists and was probably subject to Phrygia. Speaking of the Phrygians, if the identification of the later Mita with Midas is correct than this would place the mythical figure of Gordias at this time.

The legend of Gordias states that the Phrygians were ordered by an oracle to crown as their new king the one who would arrive in their city in an oxcart. Gordias, who had been sent with his wife and son by supernatural guidance to the city unsuspectingly fulfilled the prophecy. Upon being hailed as king (or his son as king), he sacrificed the oxen and left the cart as a memorial in the temple, tying the cart to the temple with an elaborate knot. There was then a prophecy that whoever could undo the knot would rule all Asia. Many tried; all failed, until Alexander the Great arrived in the city many centuries later. Slashing the knot with the sword he was held to have fulfilled the prophecy.

Ruins of Gordion in Phrygia

The Phrygians interpreted the oracle to mean that this was the man whom the gods had told them would come in a wagon; so they made Midas king, and he brought an end to the civil strife, and he placed his father’s wagon on the acropolis as an offering to Zeus the King for sending the eagle.
In addition to this, there was a story about the wagon, that whoever undid the knot of the yoke of the wagon was destined to rule Asia.
Arrian: Anabasis of Alexander 2:3

This is actually one of my favourite legends but it should be noted that Gordias is entirely legendary at this point, that if he existed he probably existed much earlier and also that the entire legend is probably late and either exaggerated or outright invented by the many biographers of Alexander. But it is a good story. Either way, Phrygia existed as a powerful kingdom in Anatolia at this time period, even if they had no wagons laden with omens of destiny.

I appointed Marduk-šarra-usur to the governorship of …
One of the very few fragmentary inscriptions of Ashur-Nirari V, of whom we know so little

In Assyria, in the year 750, Ashur-Nirari V reigned. There are few records of his rule, however there are fascinating documents that are known as limmu lists. "Limmu" roughly corresponded to the Greek Eponym or Roman consular years, in that the Assyrians would appoint an official to take charge of the New Year ceremonies in the capital. This person’s name would then be used to describe the name of the year in Assyrian documents (although the years of the king’s reign would also be used for chronology). The limmu lists give the names of these individuals and tiny scraps of information of what the king and army were doing for that year. We can see that for the year 752 Shamshi-ilu the general was the limmu. Presuming that this was the same Shamshi-ilu who had been so influential under Adad-Nirari III this means that Shamshi-ilu must have been very old at this point (likely to have been at least 80 years old). A general who was this long-lived and powerful would have left a major power vacuum in Assyrian politics when he died and he is likely to have died shortly after this date. However, it may simply have been another official with the same name.

752: Shamshi-ilu, commander, in the land.
…
750: Bel-dan, chief butler, in the land.
…
747: Sin-shallimanni, of Rasappa, in the land.
Limmu lists showing the names of the officials who named the year, their place of command and where the army was at that time

The Limmu lists show that rather than going on campaign for the years 750 and 747 the king (and probably the army) stayed in the land and accomplished nothing. It was customary for there to be a campaign or large building project every year so this may infer weakness in the Assyrian military.

Temple at Jebel Barkal near Napata, Piye's capital

In Egypt, the fractured and divided Libyan dynasties of the Delta and Thebes were faced with the powerful Kushite kingdom from the south. The Kushites were led by Kashta (this may well not have been his actual name, as it seems to just mean “Kushite”). Around 747 Kashta was succeeded by his son Piye (referred to as Piankhi in older scholarly works) who continued the conquest, encroaching further north up the river Nile and cementing the hold on Thebes. Thebes was the sacred city of Amun, and the temple establishment was powerful enough to be a political force in Egypt. Piye appear to have made additions to a temple in Kush to honour Amun, at the sanctuary of Jebel Barkal. Whether this was done to weaken the temple of Thebes or as an act of devotion cannot be known. As often happened in the ancient world it might simply be that devotion and desire for personal power were identical and without contradiction.

In 747 we see Nabonassar coming to the throne of Babylon. Nabonassar is best known for the calendrical reforms that took place during his reign. Thus we can say with some confidence (or as much confidence as one can have with history) that the date of Nabonassar’s reign began in 747, on what would be for us February 26, at noon, which is a level of precision that is extremely unusual for this period of history, where chronology is so disordered.

From the reign of Nabonassar only are the Chaldeans (from whom the Greek mathematicians copy) accurately acquainted with the heavenly motions: for Nabonassar collected all the mementos of the kings prior to himself, and destroyed them, that the enumeration of the Chaldean kings might commence with him.
Fragment of Berossus Caldaeus —Syncel. Chron. 207.

In the year 746 the Limmu lists of Assyria record that there was a revolt at Calah. This revolt was almost certainly the work of Pul. Pul, or Pulu as he was known, was a commander of the Assyrian army and had had enough of the reign of Ashur-Nirari V. If Shamshi-ilu died around 750, Marduk-sharra-usur may have replaced him as Turtanu (chief general) and this may have triggered a coup by those unhappy with the replacement. All of this is speculation, but we do know that in 746 there was a rebellion and that it seems to have been successful.

746: Nergal-nasir, of Nisibin, revolt in Kalah.
Limmu list

Tiglath-Pileser III

In 745 Pulu had dethroned Ashur-nirari V and had declared himself king of Assyria, taking the throne name Tiglath-Pileser III. He kept his old name though for matters pertaining to Babylon. He claimed to be a son of Adad-Nirari III, a rather unlikely, though theoretically possible claim, and seems to have erased the records for the three kings who had preceded him, to maximise his own legitimacy.

At the beginning of my reign, in my first palû, in the fifth month after I sat in greatness on the throne of kingship, the god Aššur, my lord, encouraged me and I marched against the Aramean tribes
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

The new king faced challenges on every front and quickly went into action. His first year saw him fight the Aramean tribes that had been at the south-western edges of Assyria for centuries, thus securing his border against these foes, as well as pushing southwards into the troubled region of Babylonia on his southern border and annexing the regions adjoining Assyria. To repopulate certain regions and to punish rebellious subjects, Tiglath-Pileser III immediately began the policy of deportations, where thousands of conquered subjects were forcibly removed from their homelands and moved hundreds of kilometres away to new regions where they would be less likely to rebel. While he had attacked Babylonian territory and taken away statues of some of the gods, Nabonassar of Babylon seems to have acquiesced in this. Tiglath-Pileser never attacked Nabonassar and his attacks were directed against the tribes and clans of Arameans and Chaldeans who had taken control of the Babylonian hinterlands. The crushing of these clans actually seems to have strengthened Nabonassar in Babylon, who in turn remained at peace with Assyria.

The third year of Nabonassar king of Babylon: Tiglath-Pileser ascended the throne in Assyria. In that same year the king of Assyria went down to Akkad, plundered Rabbilu and Hamranu and abducted the gods of Šapazza.
Babylonian Chronicle from Nabonassar to Shamash-Shuma-ukin

In 744 Tiglath-Pileser III moved to strengthen his eastern borders and led an expedition into the Iranian mountains. Here he fought against the kingdom of Namri, burning and destroying and annexing wherever he went.

In my second palû, I marched to the lands of Namri … I cut them down with the sword and carried off their booty. I placed a eunuch of mine as provincial governor over the land Parsua…
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

Helmet from the period of Sarduri II

In 743, with his southern, western and eastern borders secured the Assyrian monarch then turned to his main rival, Sarduri II of Urartu. Sarduri was confident enough in his strength that he had styled himself as King of the Universe, and his father had raided within 30 miles of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. A showdown between the two kings was inevitable. Strengthened by promises of aid from Urartu, the kingdom of Melid (near present day Malatya in Turkey) made an alliance with a number of other kings and awaited the Assyrian assault. The Assyrians circled around the mountains to the west in a forced march and attacked the Urartian force that had crossed the bridge over the Euphrates. The Urartians were heavily defeated and Tiglath-Pileser boasts of capturing the royal emblems of Sarduri, who had had to flee ignominiously across the bridge to safety. The balance of power had shifted back to Assyria. Tiglath-Pileser III followed up his crushing victory by wheeling to the south and attacking the strong fortress city of Arpad. The siege would last around three years, with the city finally falling in 740, during which time Tiglath-Pileser III had consolidated his empire and began to seek tribute submissions from the kings further south. The fall of Arpad would be a brutal warning to the other kings of the region of the fate that awaited those who resisted.

I marched for a distance of seven leagues, day and night, and I did not allow the troops of Assyria to rest, did not give them water to drink, and did not pitch camp nor bivouac my soldiers allowing them to recover from their weariness. I fought with them, defeated them, and took their camps away from them.
They fled to save their lives and Sarduri of the land Urarṭu rode off alone on a mare and escaped during the night. … who like a crawling creature … crawled away and vanished. He returned to his land.
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

Drawing of an Assyrian weight

In Israel, a bloody series of coups had seen Jehu’s descendants wiped out and his dynasty ended. Menahem had become king, after annihilating the city of Tiphsah that had refused to open its gates to him after he had killed the previous pretender to the throne. The dates are a little confused for the Israelite kings (mainly because they have a tendency to count their regencies oddly and also because of the high number of coups). Notwithstanding this confusion, Menahem appears to have been king when Tiglath-Pileser became interested in the region. Israel had enjoyed might and prosperity under the reign of Jeroboam II and had controlled a lot of the trade of the region, amassing large quantities of silver bullion through trade, as the kingdom had no silver mines.

Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated him and succeeded him as king. The other events of Shallum’s reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
2 Kings 15:14-16

In 739 Tiglath-Pileser III moved into the Levant, attacking and conquering cities and annexing large sections of the kingdom of Hamath. The kings of the region were forced to pay tribute, with the book of Kings recording that Menahem of Israel was forced to pay around 34 metric tons of silver as tribute. Judah did not as yet pay tribute, but was probably forced to contribute by the Israelite kingdom. Menahem was insecure in his kingdom and may have used this tribute to gain a promise of Assyrian support for his rule, although he died shortly after this and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah. Tiglath-Pileser stayed in the region for another year to conquer Kullani (Calneh) along the Euphrates River, while his generals attacked Urartu. The generals brought the spoils of Urartu straight to the king rather than the capital, suggesting that large amounts of treasure were needed to pay the army, which at this point was well over one hundred thousand strong.

Then Pul (Tiglath-Pileser III) king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy person had to contribute fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and stayed in the land no longer.
2 Kings 15:19-20

Assyrian relief showing cavalry battle

In 737 and 736 the Assyrians moved away from the Levant and threw their armies against the Medes, who at this point were in north-western Iran. The campaign was successful, forcing the Mannean kingdom (an Iranian kingdom to the east of Urartu) to submit to the Assyrians, depriving the Urartians of allies to both the east and west. This submission was followed up by a campaign striking against Urartu itself, with Sarduri II fleeing to the safety of the fortress of Van and Tiglath-Pileser marching unopposed through the land. It seems that around the time and possibly because of the invasion, that Sarduri II either died or was deposed and Rusa I became king of Urartu in his stead.

Iranzu of the land Mannea heard about the glorious valour of the god Aššur, my lord, and all that I had accomplished again and again throughout all of the mountain regions, and the terrifying radiance of the god Aššur, my lord, overwhelmed him. … He came before me and kissed my feet.
Sarduri, I confined to the city Ṭurušpâ, his city, and inflicted a great defeat upon him before his city gates. I erected my royal image in front of the city Ṭurušpâ.
Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III

The kingdoms of Syro-Palestine had been shocked by the speed and power of the revived Assyrian armies and were unsure how to deal with the new balance of power. As Menahem and his son Pekahiah had proved so incapable of responding to the threat it seems that a rebellion took place, with Pekah setting himself up as king and presumably having a civil war take place. As part of this conflict it seems that Pekah began to raid Judah and may have set himself up as a rebel against Assyrian power in the region. Pekahiah was assassinated by Pekah, who became sole king and probably sought alliances with the other kingdoms in the region to resist the Assyrians on their return.

One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 15:25

The kingdoms of Israel and Judah now had parties that either favoured following Assyria, seeking help from Egypt or maintaining independence. The problem was that there was no clear counterpart to Assyria, with the Egyptian kings divided against each other and now under the suzerainty of the Kushite Pharaoh to the south. In 735 (possibly, the dates are very unclear) Ahaz was appointed co-regent with Jotham of Judah. Ahaz followed the pro-Assyrian faction and may have been appointed as a method of appeasing that party. Shortly afterwards Jotham died and Ahaz became sole king.

Ephraim (Israel) has been like a dove, easily deceived and lacking discernment. They called to Egypt for help; they turned to Assyria for protection.
Hosea 7:11

A later cuneiform tablet showing astronomical calculations

In 734 Nabonassar died after a reign of around thirteen years having accomplished little of note, apart from his keeping his subjects safe and prosperous, passing on the kingdom peacefully to his son and having been a patron of the arts and sciences. I suppose there are worse epitaphs for a king. A peaceful transition of power in Babylon had not been had for sixty years so the work of Nabonassar was actually quite impressive. He was succeeded by his son Nabu-nadin-zeri, who leaves few records.

The fourteenth year Nabonassar fell ill and went to his destiny in his palace. For fourteen years Nabonassar ruled Babylon. Nabu-nadin-zeri, his son, ascended the throne in Babylon.
Babylonian Chronicle from Nabonassar to Shamash-Shuma-ukin

In 734 Tiglath-Pileser III moved against the coastal cities of Philistia, pushing down towards the borders of Egypt. This did not directly threaten Jerusalem, but it meant that the main army was only around 50 kilometres away. It is extremely likely that Ahaz made some form of submission to Assyria at this point but without sending large tribute. In 733, Tiglath-Pileser returned northwards to begin to attack the Arameans of Damascus and the Arabs who lived in the region. The campaign against the Arabs was tough, with their queen Samsi offering spirited resistance before suing for peace.

I set the rest of Samsi’s possessions and her tents on fire.
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

This attack on the kingdom of Damascus led to an alliance between Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Damascus. The two kings probably wanted to have Judah as part of the alliance, however Ahaz was pro-Assyrian. To force his hand and possibly trigger a coup, the two kings of Samaria and Damascus moved against Ahaz of Judah. Ahaz was quite weak in comparison to the two kings and the soldiers of Jerusalem stayed within the fortifications while their enemies besieged them. Despite pleas and prophecies from the court prophet Isaiah, who begged Ahaz to remain neutral, Ahaz sent a large tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III and proclaimed his submission to the Assyrian ruler, making Judah an Assyrian vassal state and bringing them under Assyrian protection.

Then Rezin king of Damascus and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. … Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Damascus and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”
2 Kings 16:5,7

This episode shows the desperation of all involved. It was almost suicidal for Rezin to move his armies away from Damascus while the Assyrians were nearby. They cannot have dared to risk a battle and could not have forced Jerusalem to surrender without a siege. It is hard to know what Pekah and Rezin were thinking when they made this decision to remove their armies south to try force Judah to join them. But they may have had no other options. The Biblical writers of Kings excoriate Ahaz for this decision, implying that this brought down the Assyrians to the region. In fairness to Ahaz, the Assyrians were already in the region and submission was quite a sensible policy. However, if he had waited, as Isaiah counselled, Damascus would have been attacked anyway and Rezin and Pekah would have had to retreat. Ahaz could then have submitted from a much stronger position. The messy events of this attempt to form an anti-Assyrian coalition benefited no one except the Assyrians. It is probable that similar events took place in different regions when the Assyrians attacked. In any event, Tiglath-Pileser accepted the tribute and moved against Damascus in late 733.

Assyrian troops assaulting a city (probably in Iran)
Note the siege ram and impaled prisoners

With the blood of his warriors I dyed the river… a raging torrent, red like a flower… I broke their weapons, captured their horses, his warriors, archers, shield bearers and lancers, dispersing their battle array. In order to save his life, Rahianu (Rezin) fled alone and entered the gate of his city… I impaled his foremost men alive while making the people of his land watch.
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

The attack on Damascus was vicious. Damascus had been an enemy of Assyria for over a century and they were one of the last remaining major kingdoms of the hated Arameans, who had been enemies of Assyria for the previous five centuries. The last Assyrian attack on Damascus had been around seventy years previous, but this time the Assyrians would not fail.

Like ruined cities washed over by the Deluge I destroyed 591 cities of 16 districts of the land of Damascus
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

Damascus was assaulted for forty-five days. The armies of Samaria and Damascus had apparently been broken and Rezin only had his bodyguards to defend the city, as they watched the Aramean nobles being impaled by the Assyrians in front of the city. Damascus fell in 732 and Rezin was executed. Tiglath-Pileser III remained in the region for some months to receive the homage of the kings and chieftains of the region and to destroy the majority of the cities of Israel, forcing deportations of much of the populace and army, and only sparing the capital Samaria. In Israel, Pekah was dethroned and murdered by his people for his failed attempt to stand against Assyria. Hoshea was appointed as king of Israel by the Assyrians and made submission, along with every king south of Damascus to the borders of Egypt.

Mitinti of Ashkelon neglected the oath of loyalty, sworn to the great gods, and revolted against me. He saw the defeat of Rahianu (Rezin), and became afraid…
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

A king of Sam'al

Some off the kings who submitted seem to have done so willingly. A stela was set up by Barrakib, son of Panamuwa, king of Sam’al, recording how his father had “run at the chariot wheel of his lord, Tiglath-Pileser” and had fought and died at Damascus with the Assyrians. Sam’al had a history of submitting to the Assyrians. While other states tried to form coalitions against the Assyrians, the smaller states that were bullied into joining these coalitions would try to claim protection. For the rulers of Sam’al and Judah it was better to submit to a powerful ruler that was far away than to submit to a nearby enemy who had not the strength to protect them. Barrakib spoke of the monument set up for his father’s grave in Damascus and Ahaz copied altars from there to be used in Jerusalem. Neither the kingdom of Judah nor the kingdom of Sam’al were particularly important at the time, but their surviving records are a good example of the smaller kingdoms currying favour with Assyria.

He ran at the wheel of his lord, Tiglath-pileser (III), king of Assyria, in campaigns from the east to the west and from the north to the south, over the four quarters of the earth. The population of the east he brought to the west; and the population of the west he brought to the east.
Inscription of Barrakib, king of Sam’al, commemorating his father Panamuwa who had submitted to Assyria

Assyrian soldiers, one archer, one shieldbearer

It is interesting that only the Assyrian record of Judah’s submission to Tiglath-Pileser III gives Ahaz’s true name (Jehoahaz, meaning “Jehovah has held”). The Biblical writers were so disgusted with his submission to Assyria that they dropped the name of the god from Jehoahaz’s name, leaving only Ahaz, by which he is known to posterity. In a reverse irony, the imperious conqueror of the Israelites is best known by an Israelite corruption of his name. Tiglath-Pileser’s real name was closer to Tukulti-apil-Esarra but, he is recorded as Tiglath-Pileser in the Bible. Thus he is renamed in death by the records of the peoples he had trampled underfoot in life.

…Sanīpu of the land Bīt-Ammon, Salāmānu of the land Moab, ...[... of ..., ... of ..., Mi]tinti of the land Ashkelon, Jehoahaz of the land Judah, Qauš-malaka of the land Edom,…
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III giving a list of the kings who submitted to him. This is only a small section of the list.

The taking of Damascus had far reaching effects. Damascus survived as a city, but would not again be the capital of a state until AD 661. Most importantly however, the Arameans had been deported to various parts of the empire and their language was now spoken in all corners of the empire, more so even than Assyrian. Tiglath-Pileser allowed Aramaic to be used as a language of administration and commerce within his borders, making it the lingua franca of the Middle East (this took about fifty years to happen however). When the Persians took over the region, they too used Aramaic and it would spread even further, affecting the development of the Kharosthi script in India and being the language spoken by the disciples of Jesus over seven hundred years after Tiglath-Pileser. The taking of Damascus may have also allowed items from the treasury of Hazael to be looted by the Greeks and be taken to various shrines in Greece, suggesting that Tiglath-Pileser may have had Greek mercenaries in his army. The Greeks were trading with (and occasionally raiding) the coastal region north of Lebanon, which they named “Syroi”; their way of saying “Assyrian”. The very name of the region bears the hallmarks of the Assyrian conquest of the region to this day in the name of the country; Syria.

Ruins of the city of Nimrud

In Babylon, in the year 732, Nabu-nadin-zeri was deposed by Nabu-suma-ukin, whose usurpation of the throne only lasted for one month and two days before he too was overthrown by Nabu-mukin-zeri. As there had been peace between Nabonassar and Assyria, the destruction of his short-lived dynasty was a matter of grave concern to Tiglath-Pileser III. A vicious war broke out in the chaos of Babylonia, with the Assyrians playing off the various factions against each other. There were a large number of Aramean tribesmen who still lived in Babylonia, a number of powerful Chaldean tribes in the south of the region that occasionally acted together but were not organised, there were the native Akkadians/Babylonians of the city and countryside who disliked the Chaldean and Aramean tribes and the sacred cities of the south, such as Uruk and Nippur, that had large temples and substantial treasuries that could support any of the factions. Nabu-mukin-zeri was a Chaldean and Tiglath-Pileser III withdrew his forces from the west to step into the competing maelstrom of Babylonian politics.

Nabû-šuma-ukin, a district officer and leader of the rebellion, ascended the throne. For one month and two days, Nabû-šuma-ukin ruled Babylon. Nabû-mukin-zeri, the Amukanite, removed him from the throne and seized the throne for himself.
Babylonian Chronicle from Nabonassar to Shamash-Shuma-ukin

Ring from the graves of the Assyrian Queens

Tiglath-Pileser III may have been growing old at this point and it appears that he did not accompany his army on campaign to Babylon. However, his generals sent him reports of the war. The army reached the gates of Babylon. Standing in front of the Marduk gate, they ignored the representatives of the Chaldeans and instead spoke to the Babylonians who were with them, offering them amnesty and privileges if they surrendered the city. Nabu-mukin-zeri had fled to the south but the people of Babylon would not surrender the city. They apparently were afraid of the Chaldeans and distrustful of the two Assyrian commanders, Shamash-bunaya and Nabu-nammir. However, even if Babylon did not surrender it seems to have remained neutral in the war. The Assyrian commanders moved south, using improvised boats to navigate the rivers, canals and marshes of the southern Mesopotamian plain, while their armies were supplied by hundreds of boats that were sent down the Tigris and Euphrates from Assyria.

We spoke many words with them, but some 10 powerful men refuse to come out and speak with us; they keep sending messages to us. We told them: “Open the city-gate, so we can enter Babylon.” They refused, saying: "If we let you enter Babylon, what can I say to the king, when the king himself comes?" They will open the gate only when the king comes, and they do not believe that the king will come.
Letter from Shamash-bunaya and Nabu-nammir to Tiglath-Pileser III

Nabu-mukin-zeri had fled south to his stronghold of Saqia, which was surrounded and besieged in 731. The other Chaldean chieftains were bought off, threatened or destroyed. The powerful Chaldean tribe of Bit-Yakin made peace with the Assyrians. Their leader is known to history as Merodach-Baladan and he will be mentioned again. Outmanoeuvred and outnumbered, Nabu-mukin-zeri was defeated, Babylon surrendered and the king of Assyria came to the conquered city to be enthroned in the sacred city of Babylon.

The third year of Nabû-mukin-zeri: Tiglath-pileser, having come down to Akkad (Babylonia), ravaged Bit-Amukanu and captured Nabû-mukin-zeri. For three years Nabû-mukin-zeri ruled Babylon. Tiglath-pileser ascended the throne in Babylon.
Babylonian Chronicle from Nabonassar to Shamash-Shuma-ukin

Assyrian King

The Babylonian and Assyrian religions were almost identical. The main difference between them was that Assur was the main god of the Assyrian religion, while Marduk was the main god of the Babylonian religion. But they were effectively the same god. In many ways it resembled Greco-Roman paganism, where the Greeks and the Romans acknowledged and worshipped the same basic pantheon, acknowledged the validity of each other’s gods, oracles and prophets and had considerable respect for the older of the two religions. Babylon was a city sacred to Marduk and the Assyrians respected its sacred status. Thus, when Tiglath-Pileser III was crowned in Babylon he took care to observe the proper ceremonies, including the great New Year Festival (known as the Akitu). This was a twelve day ceremony where the statue of the god Marduk would be taken out from the Esagila sanctuary and lodged in the Etemenanki ziggurat to recreate the Babylonian creation myth. During this period the king would approach and be stripped of his finery and ritually humiliated before the god before rising having been imbued with the power and legitimacy of the god. For Tiglath-Pileser III to have conquered his enemies in all directions and then to have undertaken this ceremony for two years in succession must have been seen as the crowning glory of the new Assyrian world order.

730: Bel-lu-dari, of Tille, in the land.
729: Liphur-ilu, of Habruri, the king took the hands of Bel.
728: Dur-Ashur, of Tushhan,to Hi[...]; the king took the hands of Bel.
Eponym List of Assyria showing Tiglath-Pileser III observing ceremonies in Babylon

While Tiglath-Pileser was solidifying his control over Babylonia, another conquest was taking place elsewhere in the world. Piye, king of Kush, to the south of Egypt, had exercised a loose control over the Egyptian and Libyan princes to the north of Egypt.  While Thebes was under the effective control of the Kushites, the Nile Delta region was controlled by a number of tiny kingdoms that were often no more than city-states. Around the year 728, if the sources are to be believed, the kings of the Nile Delta formed a coalition to resist the Kushites. They followed a ruler of the city of Sais called Tefnakht who brought together the warring kings to attack the city of Heracleopolis. The war that followed between these kings and Piye is documented in an extraordinary stela that has been preserved so we can follow the events in great detail.

Tefnakht has seized the whole west from the back-lands to Ithtowe, coming southward with a numerous army, while the Two Lands (Upper and Lower Egypt) are united behind him, and the princes and rulers of walled towns are as dogs at his heels.
Piye Stela

The city of Hermopolis was loyal to Tefnakht so the commanders of the Kushite army in Egypt were ordered to move north past the city of Thebes, observe the rituals of Amun to strengthen the army and then attack the city of Hermopolis while Piye gathered troops in his capital of Napata. A river battle was fought with ships on the Nile north of Hermopolis where the Kushite commanders were victorious. They pushed further north, leaving Hermopolis behind to fight the rebels near Heracleopolis. They faced six rulers and a host of smaller chieftains in battle. The Kushites crossed the river early in the morning and routed their foes who fled along the river to the north and south.

They sailed down-stream upon the river, they found many ships coming up-streams bearing soldiers, sailors, and commanders, every valiant man of the Northland, equipped with weapons of war, to fight against the army of his majesty.
Piye Stela

Ruins of a temple at Thebes

Hearing of the successful yet incomplete victory of his generals, Piye himself went north. Early in the year 727 Piye celebrated the Opet festival in Thebes before sailing north to join his army in attacking Oxyrhynchus where they had slain Tefnakht’s son and taken a number of fortresses. The king and his army then turned south again to finish the siege of Hermopolis, where the people were now beginning to starve. The mobility of the Kushite armies along the river is very impressive. Piye accepted the surrender of Hermopolis after receiving deputations from its queen and mourned for the suffering of the starving horses that he saw in the royal stables when he entered the conquered city. After the fall off Hermopolis, Heracleopolis re-affirmed its loyalty and sent more tribute. The gateway to Lower Egypt was now open.

He set up for himself the camp on the southwest of Hermopolis and besieged it daily. An embankment was made, to enclose the wall; a tower was raised to elevate the archers while shooting, and the slingers while slinging stones, and slaying people among them daily.
Piye Stela

Piye moved further north, receiving the surrender of forts and cities along his route. Those who surrendered were not killed however and it seems that Piye even captured another of the sons of Tefnakht and did not put him to death. The victorious march continued until the king had reached the city of Memphis, which was strengthened by Tefnakht with 8000 troops who marched in secretly during the night, however Tefnakht himself left the city on horseback, leaving the garrison to fend for itself while he organised resistance among the cities of the Delta. Memphis was surrounded by high walls and arms of the river encompassed it on the eastern side. Some of his generals advocated a long siege, however Piye decided on the element of speed and surprise, commandeering all boats available, plus his own fleet, and rushing against the river walls. The city was taken by siege and put to the sword. By the second day the looting and killing had stopped and Piye had taken full control of the city.

Then he sent forth his fleet and his army to assault the harbor of Memphis; they brought to him every ferry-boat, every cargo-boat, every transport, and the ships, as many as there were, which had moored in the harbor of Memphis, with the bow-rope fastened among its houses.
Piye Stela

The bloody siege of Memphis and the incredible speed it had been taken left the northern princes, chiefs and little kings no choice but to surrender. Osorkon of Tanis, probably the second strongest of the kings of the Delta after Tefnakht, surrendered in Heliopolis and gave tribute. The other kings followed suit shortly in the city of Athribis. While Piye organised his armies, a city in the western delta, called Mesed rose up against the Kushites, but was crushed by the Kushite armies and the forces of Pediese. Pediese was a Libyan king who had submitted to Piye. After this final defeat Tefnakht finally gave up the struggle, but refused to come to meet Piye and bow down before him. Tefnakht had fled, perhaps to Crete or Cyprus, and refused to risk his life or humble his pride. The last remaining chieftains submitted to Piye, where they were humiliated by not being allowed inside the palace due to their ritual uncleanliness. Instead they had to kiss the ground at the feet of Piye outside the palace and were left outside once the surrender was complete.

Drawing of the Piye Stela showing the surrender of the rebels

Then came those kings and princes of the Northland, all the chiefs who wore the feather (meaning Libyans rather than Egyptians), every vizier, all chiefs, and every king's confidant, from the west, from the east, and from the islands in the midst, to see the beauty of his majesty.
Piye Stela

Piye had the stela written glorifying his exploits in the style of the great Egyptian warrior kings of old, like Tuthmosis III or Ramesses II. He stressed his reliance on the Egyptian gods and his ritual purity, the innovative tactics he had used, the mercy he showed to those who surrendered and the retribution he gave to those who did not, although his methods of waging war were humane by the standards of the day and almost humanitarian compared to the Assyrian methods. But most of all he stressed that this was not merely a civil war, nor an invasion from the south, but that he, a true Egyptian, was finally ridding Egypt of the sway of unclean Libyan foreigners. His account has sometimes been compared to a religious crusade, although that is probably overstating matters. Piye’s capital however was in Napata, in present day Sudan, so after having set the Delta in order and reconfirmed the now loyal sub-kings, he returned to Napata with all the spoils of victory. The sub-kings would not rise again against the Kushites.

Then the ships were laden with silver, gold, copper, clothing, and everything of the Northland, every product of Syria, and all sweet woods of God's Land. His majesty sailed up-stream, with glad heart
Piye Stela

Earrings from the graves of Assyrian Queens

In 727, while Piye was subjugating the northern regions of Egypt, Tiglath-Pileser III died. His son, Shalmaneser V took control of the Assyrian empire and the records of Assyria grow silent. His first name was Ululayu, but he changed his name to Sulmanu-asarid, which is rendered in Hebrew as Shalmaneser. His reign is not well documented, but it is possible that he married one of his father’s wives to secure legitimacy to the throne. The evidence for this is conjectural, but there was an intriguing discovery of a grave site in Nimrud. It had almost miraculously survived looting and contained the bodies of several queens and substantial treasure (preserved with a curse on those who would disturb the tomb). There are many fascinating things about the discovery, including the fact that one of the queens had been “cooked” possibly as a means of preserving the body until burial. But some have suggested that Yaba, the queen of Tiglath-Pileser, and Banitu, the queen of Shalmaneser V are in fact the same person. This is all very conjectural, but it is wonderful to have discovered the tombs of some of the people from this time.

…the great gods of the netherworld, the destiny of a mortal life, took Yaba, the queen, into death and she went the way of her ancestors
Inscription from the tomb of Yaba, Tigath-Pileser’s queen

Item with name of Osorkon IV

When Tiglath-Pileser III died, Hoshea of Israel seems to have tried to rebel against Assyrian power. The book of Kings records that he negotiated with an Egyptian king called So. Some people have suggested that So is the Hebrew way of saying “Sais” and is a reference to Tefnakht, king of Sais but I think it is more likely that So is a shortened corruption for Osorkon IV, king of Tanis, who had recently submitted to Piye. It is possible that So refers to a general of Piye or another unknown king of the Delta region. Hoshea stopped paying tribute while sending envoys to the mysterious king So. His negotiations with Egypt were fruitless and Shalmaneser’s armies attacked, captured Hoshea (whose fate is unknown but unlikely to have been pleasant) and began a three year siege of Samaria, the capital of what remained of the state of Israel. The siege began in the year 725 where we shall leave the account of this time period. The next twenty-five years will be dealt with in a subsequent blog post.

Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser’s vassal and had paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So, king of Egypt, and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years.
2 Kings 17:3-5

At the beginning of the twenty-five year period Urartu was in the ascendant, Assyria was in decline, Babylon was unstable, Egypt was only loosely controlled by the Kushites and the kingdoms of Syria and the Levant were thriving. At the end of the period, Urartu was in retreat, Assyria was triumphant, Babylon was conquered, Egypt was firmly controlled by the Kushites and the kingdoms of Syria and the Levant were tributary, under siege or destroyed.

Crown from the graves of Assyrian queens

The vast changes of these decades were due mainly to the ruthless character of Tiglath-Pileser III. He had reorganised the Assyrian army and administration and the empire is generally referred to as the Neo-Assyrian Empire after his time. Unlike the more ephemeral Mesopotamian dynasties, the Assyrians, who had already been strong for centuries, would remain the dominant force in the Middle East for over the next century. It is hard not to have some admiration for Tiglath-Pileser. While we don’t know much about the details of his battles, the respect and terror that he inspired in his foes is unmistakable. He was probably the finest general of his era and despite facing foe after foe, year after year, it is not recorded that he was ever defeated. His strategic insight into the weaknesses of his enemies was unparalleled and he could be treated as one of the great generals of all time. His successors would be more powerful still, but all of them suffered defeats. But to his enemies this pitiless monarch was the epitome of evil and the Assyrian name would become a byword of hatred, so he should not be eulogised. Some have speculated that he was no worse than other conquerors of his day, but the captives impaled by his armies to terrify cities under siege would not have appreciated the point. Having summarised the quarter century and given my synopsis of Tiglath-Pileser III I shall leave the post here.

I marched from the Great Sea of the Rising Sun to the cities Resi-suri and Byblos on the shore of the Great Sea of the Setting Sun and this I exercised authority over the four quarters of the world.
Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III

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