The Decline and Fall of the Mitanni Empire

The Mitanni Empire, a confederation of powerful sub-kings bound by fealty and kinship to a central 'great king,' once stood as a formidable force in the ancient Near East. Emerging around 1600 BC, it wielded control over vast territories stretching from western Iran to the Mediterranean Sea. However, its zenith was followed by a swift descent into oblivion, marked by internal strife, external pressures, and conquests by rival powers.

During its ascendancy, the Mitanni Empire exerted dominance over Assyria while contending with the rising Hittite Empire to the north. Yet, the tide turned against Mitanni when Assyrian incursions intensified in the 14th century BC. Led by King Ashur-ubalit I, Assyrian forces seized significant territories, weakening Mitanni's grip on power.

Amidst these challenges, internal discord plagued Mitanni as succession disputes among royalty sowed seeds of disunity. This internal fragmentation left the empire vulnerable to external threats, particularly from the Hittites under King Suppiluliuma I. Exploiting Mitanni's weakened state, the Hittites launched devastating attacks, deporting swathes of the population and supplanting them with Hittite settlers.

The final blow came under the reign of Shalmaneser, the Assyrian monarch who relentlessly pursued the remnants of Mitanni. By 1244 BC, the once-mighty Mitanni Empire had crumbled, its territories absorbed by rival powers and its legacy relegated to the annals of history.

The fall of Mitanni stands as a cautionary tale of the perils of internal strife and external aggression, underscoring the fragility of even the most formidable empires in the face of shifting geopolitical dynamics.
The Decline and Fall of the Mitanni Empire

Nabopolassar “son of an unknown”: Chaldean king of Babylonia

In 626 BC - Ashurbanipal dies and Assyria begins to disintegrate, driven by internal strife. Babylon revolted with the help of the Chaldean people, led by Nabopolassar. Civil war happened. Nabopolassar exploited the situation and later seized the throne, and the Neo-Babylonian dynasty was born.

Though he presents himself as the “son of an unknown,” Nabopolassar may actually have been a general in the service of Sinsharishkun, the powerful king of Assyria, and very likely he was born into the ruling elite of Uruk.

He had himself officially recognized as king on 23 November 626. For the first years of Nabopolassar’s reign, Egypt and Assyria continued to harass the new empire. His eldest son and crown prince Nebuchadnezzar became involved in the military as a young man. Within 10 years on the throne Nabopolassar successfully united Babylonia and expelled Assyrians.

Nabopolassar is an important Babylonian king, he began restoration works throughout Babylonia, he established well-guarded frontiers, and defeated opponents, most notably the victory over Assyria.

In 616 BC Nabopolassar marched his army into Assyria proper and attempted to besiege Assur and Arrapha, but was defeated. Nabopolassar made alliances with other former subjects of Assyria, the Medes, Persians, Elamites and Scythians.

In 61 5 and 614 BC attacks were made on Assur and Arrapha and both fell. During 613 BC the Assyrians seem to have rallied and repelled Babylonian and Median attacks. However, in 612 BC Nabopolassar and the Median king Cyaxares led a coalition of forces including Babylonians, Medes, Sclthians and Cimmerians in sacking Assyria’s then capital Nineveh and toppled their rule.

Nabopolassar was king the year Daniel was taken to Babylon. In 605 BC - Nabopolassar dies and Nebuchadnezzar II becomes King of Babylon. He will rule for 43 years and bring the Babylonian Empire to its peak.
Nabopolassar “son of an unknown”: Chaldean king of Babylonia

Cyaxares son of Phraortes: The third king of Media

Cyaxares (r.625–585 BC), son of Phraortes, founder of Median power, was one of the kings who brought about the fall of Nineveh (612 B.C.) and broke the hegemony of the Assyrians. The Persian ruler of about the same time, Cambyses I, was vassal to Cyaxares.

The Medes – like the Persians and the Parthians – were a West-Iranian, semi-nomadic people. During the late second millennium BC the Medes migrated from the steppes of Central Asia to the Iranian Plateau, along with their Persian and Parthian cousins, and settled in the Zagros Mountains. The spread of Western Grey Ware may be attributed to this migration wave.

Cyaxares was the third king of Media, but only ruled after the Scythians had been driven out. He regained control of the empire and conquered Assyria.

Cyaxares reorganized the military into special units, majoring upon particular armaments; spearmen, bowmen and cavalry. This reorganization made them rather a match for the Assyrian armies.

Babylonian chronicles mention raids by Median troops on Assyrian soil in 615 BC. First these Median troops are driven back, but in 614 BC they return, led by Cyaxares. Cyaxares takes Ashur and forms an alliance with the Babylonian king Nabopolassar, who had also revolted against Assyria. Together they take the Assyrian capital Nineveh in 612 BC and Harran in 610 BC.
Cyaxares son of Phraortes: The third king of Media

Tabal kingdom

In the tenth and early ninth centuries BC, Assyrian kings strove to re-establish the traditional “land of Assur” by recovering territories in Syria and the north that had been lost at the end of the second millennium B.C.

The Assyrians entered Tabal in 836 BC. in order to make a show of force, extort whatever goods they could, and most importantly, stabilize their presence in Syria by intimidating the lands beyond it. In the early Iron Age, the region called Tabal in Neo-Assyrian texts was occupied by a number of mainly small independent kingdoms.

History most likely first encounter the Tabalian dynasty in question in 836 BC, when Shalmaneser III, coming from Melid (Malatya) via Mt Timur, invades Tabal, burns the cities of Tuatti (king) of Tabal, besieges his capital city, Artulu, and receives the submission and tribute of Tuatti’s son Kikki along with that of twenty other unnamed ‘‘kings of Tabal’’.

The numerous petty kings of Tabal, unable to mobilize effectively against the larger power and cowed by Assyria’s military capabilities, had little choice but to “pay up.” Tabal Kingdom came to prominence during the 1st millennium BC after the decline of the great Hittite kingdom of Hattusas.
Tabal kingdom

The Assyrian King: Sargon II

Sargon II (r. 721-705 BC) took the throne of Assyria when his predecessor (and likely half brother) Shalmaneser V was killed.

Sargon II’s accession was no doubt a violent one, and it took him about one year to quell opposition in Assyria and solidify his position as king. Sargon’s reign can almost be summarized as a series of holding actions. The Assyrians empire was large - perhaps too large for its resources.

The peoples on all sides of the empire were restive, and revolts were commonplace. From time to time they formed alliances; ultimately it was by such alliance that the empire was defeated.

In 710 BC, Sargon II defeated Merodack-Baladan and Assyrian assumed complete control of Babylon. Upon vanquishing Merodack, Sargon II declared himself as king of Babylon and rules his entire Assyrian kingdom from Babylon for the next three years.

Merodack-Baladan remained as a local ruler and supported Sargon to the end of his reign. Sargon II died in battle in 705 BC while campaigning in the north.
The Assyrian King: Sargon II