The defeat of Egyptian in the Battle of Carchemish

After the destruction of Nineveh in 612 by a combined Babylonian and Median army lead by Nabopolassar, the Assyrian dynast, Ashuruballit II, moved his capital to Haran.

This stronghold was then captured in 610. Ashuruballit was able to secure an alliance with Necho II of Egypt and continued to claim territory along the Upper Euphrates for the next several years. In 609 BC Necho II, grew fearful of the increasing threat of the Babylonians and moved up the coast of Palestine and Syria toward the site of Carchemish to assist the Assyrians.

Carchemish was located on the west bank of the Euphrates River in north Syria at the north end of a plain that ran the Euphrates. As the Assyrian empire declined, the Egyptians took control of Carchemish in 609 BC and made the city a base for launching raids against the Babylonians.

With the Egyptians moving to join the confrontation, Josiah, the pro-Babylonian king of Judah, attempted to intercept Necho II at Megiddo and was killed in the ensuing battle. Necho then continued on to Carchemish.

In the late spring of 605 BC, a surprise attack by Nebuchadnezzar II penetrated the city’s defense. The ensuing battle involved fierce hand-to-hand combat and the Egyptians were utterly routed.

In the May 605 BC, the remnants of the once ‘invisible’ Assyrian army were defeated. Necho’s, army included a large contingent of mercenary soldiers made up of Ethiopians, Libyans, and Lydian, but Necho’s efforts were not enough.

After heavy losses on both sides, the Egyptians army hastily retreated in disarray. The victory was achieved under the leadership of the crown prince, Nebuchadnezzar.

That battle marked the end of an era and signaled a major change on the political scene of the ancient Near East, a change that drastically altered the course of history for the kingdom of Judah.

In addition it also set the stage for an even larger Persian empire that will be succeed the short Neo-Babylonian period.
The defeat of Egyptian in the Battle of Carchemish

Battle of Carchemish

Carchemish means the city of Chemosh. Being a city named after or dedicated to a good, it was a holy city (Kadesh).

After the destruction of Nineveh in 612 BC by a combined Babylonian and Median army lead by Nabopolassar, the last Assyrian dynast, Ashuruballit II moved his capital to Haran. Haran stronghold was then captured in 610 BC.

In 609 BC the Egyptian pharaoh Neco II, fearful of the rapid advance of the Babylonians, moved up the Palestine coast and eastward toward Carchemish to assist the Assyrians.

The great struggle between the Egyptians and the Babylonians for the control of the wealth of the Jewish State of Judah eventually led to the war between two giants.

In a fierce battle at Carchemish, Neco and Assyrian face the Babylonians.

In 605 BC The Egyptians and Assyrians were defeated at the battle of Carchemish. The victory achieved under the leadership of the crown prince, Nebuchadnezzar.

Carchemish may be considered a major turning point in ancient Near Eastern history. It was after Egypt’s defeat at this famous battle of Carchemish that the Babylonians were established as the next world power to succeed the Assyrians that rule the whole of the Middle East.
Battle of Carchemish

The Rise of the Assyrians

The Rise of the Assyrians
The rise of the Assyrians began as villages looked for protection to the city of Ashur, named after their principle god. The land had productive plains, pastureland and mountains rich in copper ore, limestone, alabaster, and marble. It lay athwart caravan routes from the Hittites in Anatolia to Southern Mesopotamia, or eastwards across the Zagros mountains to India.

At first, war played little part in the life of the Assyrians, who were busy acquiring wealth. Merchants travelled freely, trading exiles from Ashur. They produced and sold copper, the raw material for tools and weapons. From the east they imported tin essential for turning copper into bronze.

Under King Shamshi-Adad I (1813 – 1781 BC) the Assyrians enjoyed a brief flowering, but with their good fortune acquired enemies. Pressure from the Babylonians under Hammurabi and from the expanding Hittite Empire to the west was followed by four centuries of foreign domination.

By the time they have shaken this off, their attitudes towards outsiders had changed. The farmers and traders had become warriors. Looking north and east they saw a continual threat from the mountain peoples, and against them adopted a policy of attack and extermination of forced resettlement. During the 13th and 12th centuries, Assyria’s kings push their boundaries ever outwards, with campaigns of conquest every summer. Their use of brutality to intimidate enemies was to become the distinctive stamps of Assyrians warfare.

It is not difficult to imagine the terror that an Assyrian attack inspired. Its army was vast, well trained and disciplined. It had several expert commanders, and plentiful supplies of equipment for all types of combat. By 800 BC, the Assyrians could field an army of 20,000 light cavalry armed with bows and spears, and 1200 two horse chariots.

The heavy infantry, clad in coats of mail, wielded daggers and swords of iron, the new metal which made the Assyrian’s weapon stronger than those of their opponents. The cavalry, the early days, rode into actions on two horse chariots and dismounted to shoot from behind tail wicker shields. Gradually arches mastered the tactics of shooting accurately from horseback at full gallop.
The Rise of the Assyrians