Things are heating up. And it looks like the Baylonians are looking to revolt. I have to say that I can't help feel that the deification faction is caught in a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand it is the faction that insists most completely on absolute Monarchy. On the other hand a large portion of it is very unhappy with the Monarch. I wonder how they will resolve this.
The Burning Cauldron: The Neo Assyrian Empire Defended
- Thread starter John7755 يوحنا
- Start date
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- Tags
- assyria babylon media sinsharishkun
Interesting. This is the most well-fleshed out take on a surviving Assyrian Empire I have ever seen.
Keep up the good work @John7755 يوحنا
Keep up the good work @John7755 يوحنا
First War of the Luminaries: PART 1
561-558 BCE
The Beginning of the War of Luminaries
Within the Kalhu Codex, as the civil war began within Assyria, a curious and novel term began to be used by Assyrian records and by certain vassal states pertaining to the war. This term called, the war of the luminaries (nawaru), referred to a large war that in the view of the Kalhu Codex authors, upended the hierarchy of the Lands and tore the Duranki asunder as it was in religious texts, seen in the war of the Gods in the days of creation. As such, in usage of terms reserved for wars between demons and gods, wars of immense nature that were sustained for prolonged periods, carried terms referencing near-divine lights shooting across the sky as comets falling unto earth. This first War of the Luminaries began we could say with the slaying of the late Eastern Protector, Shemu-Ninurta and the rising of two opposing Eastern Protectors, supported by different leaders.
Revolt in Marhashi and the Eastern Protectorate Wars
With orders to depose and slay Kadu-Ishtar the appointed Eastern Protector by the Ten Fingers, Kallu-Dagon took 20,000 soldiers from the Wing of Assur and marched eastward to crush Kadu-Ishtar and suppress the Marshashi revolt led by Agu-Sin. In the east, Agu-Sin, a Cimmerian captain and deportee, rallied a group of mutineers numbering initially 3,000, slew the Eastern Protector Shemu-Ninurta in southeastern Media following a defeat suffered against the later Cyrus II of Persia. The mutiny of the 3,000 Cimmerians quickly erupted into a wider revolt in southeastern Media as Chaldean and Pukudu slaves and deportees rallied to the revolt under the auspices of deposing Assyrian order and overturning the Akkadian speaking elite in the city of Sinsharruderi. The result of the enlarging revolt was an army that emerged of 11,000 strong marching rapidly upon Sinsharruderi and destroying the countryside and driving the local populace into flight north, east, and west.
In the city of Sinsharruderi, the Akkadian elites in the city fled upon the news into forts north of the city, while a garrison of Assyrian soldiers held the city with around 3,000 guards. The captain of the Sinsharruderi guard was a certain Assyrian captain named Dagon-rihu (Dagon created) with little political ties and had been appointed to the guard in the days of Sinsharishkun, a truly aged warrior with decades of experience in the city. Dagon-rihu regardless of political intrigue resolved his force to defend the city at all costs and gathered his courage and asserted his ehegemony over the local Kassite nobility, forcing their groups to contribute aid to the guard and creating contacts to the outside, especially to the north for the sake of gathering resources and supplies. As the army of Agu-Sin arrived, he found a city ready for defense and stalwart in its resistance… the prolonged siege of Sinsharruderi began as Agu-Sin surrounded the city and began the siege.
Despite the chaos in the situation in Media, the Elamite ‘king’ Epiru-daru-Shamash took no action in the year 561 BCE and seemed more preoccupied with what was occurring in the Assyrian center and in Karduniash. The lack of action by Elam made it so that the rebels led by Agu-Sin held no fear from the direct south through the mountain passes connecting Susa to Ectbatana, greatly increasing their ability to campaign in the north. Further, the Persian kingdom to the southeast also remained ambivalent, likely wishing to wear down their Assyrian and Karduniash former overlords before acting overtly.
Nevertheless, Kadu-Ishtar arrived in Mania before Kallu-Dagon and was there informed by the local chiefs loyal to the Ten Fingers of the soon to arrive Kallu-Dagon who had been ordered by Sinbanipal to behead Kadu-Ishtar. Kadu-Ishtar commanded a force of 4,000 soldiers of mixed heritage and was ordered to raise the Manaean chiefly levies to support his campaign to crush the Marhashi revolt. Fearing his situation, Kidu-Ishtar in expectation of the large host soon to push into his perimeter, fled southeast into the Zanjan hill country out of Mania without levying any further soldiers. Fleeing in haste, Kadu-Ishtar escaping to the Zanjan fled to deeper into Marhashi, meanwhile, the army of Kallu-Dagon entered Mania and was faced with local resistance from the chiefs of Mania who fled into forts and withheld their supplies from the army. The army of Kallu-Dagon was also assailed from woes for other reasons…
The Arbela-Arrapha Insurrection and the Great Coup
The city of Arrapha (modern otl Kirkuk in Kurdistani Iraq) was a grand and unique city in the traditional Assyrian heartland. Traditionally a Hurrian speaking city, it had long become an Akkadian speaking city with a unique dialect with Hurrian-like qualities and a deep affiliation with the Hurrian speaking city to the north of it, Ardini on the steps of Urartu. To its immediate north, the sister city of Arbela stood and to the south, the city of Nuzi; the three together stood as the eastern bastions of Assyria and the gateways into Assyria and the exit points towards the Zagros Mountain ranges.
Just as any other set of cities in the recent years in Assyria, the division in the court and the era of cutthroat politics affected the eastern gates of Assyria. Interestingly, these three cities acted as the most important theatres of the ongoing political crisis due to the propaganda of commanding the Great Temple of Ishtar at Arbela and also the strategic factor of guarding the eastern entry into Assyria. The Temple of Ishtar at Arbela became the primary zone of feuding as Epu-Kappu, of the Ubaru faction began to seat much of the hopes of his faction of Ubaru or the guests in controlling Arbela, especially the priesthood of Ishtar. The Duality heresy spread deeply into the leadership in the city of Arbela under the direction of the Ubaru faction supported by Sinbanipal. The most affected were the local priests to Ishtar who embraced the glorification of their roles and the increased privileges given tot heir leadership in the form of large donations from Sinbanipal and conferring of official ranks.
While the priesthood of Arebla were impressed, the local nobility and merchants chaffed under the expansion of the Urbaru faction in the three cities. Merchants, traditionally the staunch supporters of the traditionalist faction in the court, felt deeply disenfranchised and also neglected as the annual campaigns failed to occur and Sinbanipal had thoroughly dismissed a third invasion of Colchis. Traditionally, eunuchs and merchants held the position of mayor in the cities and angering them came at a deep cost.
When news of the arrest edicts arrived in Arrapha from Kalhu, the long running mayor of Arrapha, a merchant and supporter of the traditionalists, Shaqu-Ninurta (Ninurta irrigated or made moist) declared a meeting of the merchants of the city. In the meeting of the merchants of Arrapha, the entire group, without dissent (according to the Kalhu Codex) decreed the Great King deposed and that the throne had been resumed by the Great Gods. Hastily emerging from their homes of scheming, the merchants issued orders to the town guards loyal to the merchants to suppress and kill any Ubaru (guests) in the city and to depose any guardsmen that rejected their rule. Further just as the revolt had started, a secret edict arrived from the city of Nineveh, hailed as the ‘edict of the Great God Assur’ saying:
“In the Land, the Governor of the Great Gods, Sinbanipal has shamed his forebears and loosened the chain of Duranki. He is deposed by the edict of the Great God Assur, who has descended to battle the recalcitrant renegade, Sinbanipal. All slaves of the Great Gods are ordered by the Heavenly Host to rally their forces and capture the renegade Sinbanipal and depose him by beheading. The Great Gods command it and decree it eternally.”
Receiving the official edict of the Ten Fingers, the mayor Shaqu-Ninurta took role and propounded the edict to the populace, which became incensed and declared a revolt against the Great King. Rapidly, an insurrection raged and the commoners taking in their hands farming tools or household utensils joined the guards and in a short night in the month of November 561 BCE, the Ubaru faction members in the city were slaughtered and 67 guards and their captains were massacred by the mob. The insurrection that started there expanded as similar riots raged in Nuzi and Arbela, leading to the collapse of Ubaru forces in both cities as they were expelled or killed in the skirmishes.
Insurrectionary forces in the three cities took a commander by the 12th of November called Naboo-ekallu (Naboo is the palace) who led the force of approximately 6,000 former guards, volunteers, and levies from the local nobles. The force of 6,000 was quite modest, but the insurrection in a moment’s notice was able to block the conveyance of goods to the large army of Kallu-Dagon which had already crossed into dangerous and rebellious territory.
The Wing of Nurgle marches forth
As the insurrection was going forth, the Wing of Nurgle already stationed in expectation of the situation, set forth from the city of Kalhu to march upon Nineveh to arrest the Ten Fingers who had set up their counter court there in the city. Likewise, edicts proclaiming the arrest were sent to the other Wings of the Assyrian military, first to Karduniash and the Wing of Ninurta, which was already in shambles in the Urartu capitol city of Tushpa. The Wing of Assur numbering 30,000 soldiers under Sinbanipal remained stationed at Assur to hold the city and keep some of the traditionalists from rebelling.
In Nineveh, the Ten Fingers, and the Chamberlain of Assyria, Assur-shalushtu resolved their resistance and ordered the guards to defend the city and prepare for a prolonged defense and likewise distributed their deposition order to the outlying territories. The Ten Fingers especially sought to align themselves to the Traditionalists, who enraged at the situation, offered their support and hence a combining aspect emerged whereby the Traditionalists and the Palatials mixed their ideals intimately for the period. As the Wing of Nurgle approached the city with an army of 18,000 soldiers commanded by Ariba-Ninurta, the city guard commanded by Assur-shalushtu of 5,000 issued its deposition under the command of Ninurta, the patron god of Nineveh and ordered the Wing of Nurgle, under the authority of the Great Gods to turn forth and join with soon to be arriving relief forces and capture the rebel Sinbanipal. Ariba-Ninurta in turn surrounded the city and began to siege it, while also sending letters to the nearby Wings to rally forces to assist in the great task of capturing Nineveh.
Despite receiving the call, the king of Urartu or the Great Protector, Ishpuini II was hesitatnt to send the Wing of Ninurta to the south to crush the Ten Fingers. Already the Wing of Ninurta had suffered damage in recent wars and further, the position of Ishpuini II partly relied upon the continued prominence of the garrisons in Tushpa and other important cities. Ishpuini II instead, sent a relief force of 2,000 soldiers out of the existing 10,000 soldiers in his fragile kingdom. The 2,000 were quick to move through Ardini and towards Nineveh, but the small gesture from the king, lest Ariba-Ninurta greatly angered, leading to him beheading the captain of the arrived force and integrating the 2,000 soldiers directly into his force, while deposing many of the minor leaders in the ranks.
The letters sent to the west alongside accompanying edicts were received varyingly by the Wings that received them. Anu-dishpu, the Palace Herald stationed in Mari, the ally of Sinbanipal readily accepted the support given to the Wing of Nurgle and rallied a force of Scythians, Cimmerians, Elamite and Aramaen deportees to march to Nineveh and assist Ariba-Ninurta in deposing the Ten Fingers. In the city of Tima, the Wing of Ishtar under Protector General of the South, Assur-kalu-sehru answered the call and a force of 4,000 was sent forth to Moab to gather levies from there and thence towards Palmyra and there to Mari and finally, arriving at Nineveh.
The other Wings in the lands of Canaan were slower and or hesitant to heed the call of either faction. The Wing of Gula under the general Anaku-Adad with its force of 11,000 maintained the borderlands of Judah against the Egyptian kingdom to the west and did not move in any direction. The Wing of Dagon led by the new Patriarch of House Damashu, Tahumu-apal-Assur (Assur has placed the border boundary) gave their tacit support to the Ten Fingers and a force of 7,000 was dispatched under the command of the retainer Ninurta-shaknu-siriam, the hero of the Odryssian campaign to rescue the Ten Fingers. The Wing of Naboo under general Dairu-zeru-azamaru three their support also to the Ten Fingers and dispatched a force of 6,000 under Selu-asib-Ishtar (Ishtar dwells on the flanks), which met with the army of Ninurta-shaknu-siriam and rallied together at the city of Halab (Aleppo) before marching eastward with a force of 13,000 which was further augmented by the force of Buri-Adad II, rasiing the total to 15,000 soldiers.
To the north in Hatti, the armies of the Wing of Adad under the Field Marshal Kadashman-Shamash had yet to hear of the news and while the war was entering its early phases, Kadashman-Shamash had embarked on a series of engagements against the Skudra states to the west crossing the river alongside an army of Cimmerian Pala. Nevertheless, news found its way to Ankuwa and the Wing of Adad was slowly rallied by the son of Kadashman-Shamash, a certain Dugul-Naboo the younger, who gathered a force to march southward from Ankuwa, but this situation was slowed due to the lack of official reckoning from Kadashman-Shamash who by the early weeks of December, was still in campaign in the lands of Lukkaniya and at war with the Lydian kingdom.
Karduniash Reacts
The news of the disunity in Assyria had alarmed Dagon-zakir-shumi and was a form of validation for the court of Babylon as to the inherent superiority of their state to that of the Assyrian upstarts. While the Karduniashi state remained calm when low level conflict in the court was rampant, large scale civil war gave rise to urgent action by Dagon-zakir-shumi in the month of November. Supported by the elites in Babylon and the Wings of Ilawela, Sin and Marduk, Dagon-zakir-shumi rallied a force of 25,000 soldiers and in resplendent regalia, exited Babylon and march north to Dur-kurigalzu where 4,000 soldiers were interred as guardsmen, the force now of 19,000 moved back south and then by way of the canals, crossed from Babylon to the Tigris river and by the third week of December, a force of 22,000 soldiers had gathered and began a march up the Tigris river for unknown reasons.
A grand civil war rages in the heart of the Assyrian empire… will the Great King salvage the situation and assert royal absolutism or will the Ten Fingers recover their power and depose the Great King. Likewise, what are the ambitions of the King of Karduniash, the loving brother of Sinbanipal and what is his future in the War of the Luminaries? In the east and west, the powers are also sure to rally against Assyria again and proceed to rescind the gains of the Assyrians….
The Beginning of the War of Luminaries
Within the Kalhu Codex, as the civil war began within Assyria, a curious and novel term began to be used by Assyrian records and by certain vassal states pertaining to the war. This term called, the war of the luminaries (nawaru), referred to a large war that in the view of the Kalhu Codex authors, upended the hierarchy of the Lands and tore the Duranki asunder as it was in religious texts, seen in the war of the Gods in the days of creation. As such, in usage of terms reserved for wars between demons and gods, wars of immense nature that were sustained for prolonged periods, carried terms referencing near-divine lights shooting across the sky as comets falling unto earth. This first War of the Luminaries began we could say with the slaying of the late Eastern Protector, Shemu-Ninurta and the rising of two opposing Eastern Protectors, supported by different leaders.
Revolt in Marhashi and the Eastern Protectorate Wars
With orders to depose and slay Kadu-Ishtar the appointed Eastern Protector by the Ten Fingers, Kallu-Dagon took 20,000 soldiers from the Wing of Assur and marched eastward to crush Kadu-Ishtar and suppress the Marshashi revolt led by Agu-Sin. In the east, Agu-Sin, a Cimmerian captain and deportee, rallied a group of mutineers numbering initially 3,000, slew the Eastern Protector Shemu-Ninurta in southeastern Media following a defeat suffered against the later Cyrus II of Persia. The mutiny of the 3,000 Cimmerians quickly erupted into a wider revolt in southeastern Media as Chaldean and Pukudu slaves and deportees rallied to the revolt under the auspices of deposing Assyrian order and overturning the Akkadian speaking elite in the city of Sinsharruderi. The result of the enlarging revolt was an army that emerged of 11,000 strong marching rapidly upon Sinsharruderi and destroying the countryside and driving the local populace into flight north, east, and west.
In the city of Sinsharruderi, the Akkadian elites in the city fled upon the news into forts north of the city, while a garrison of Assyrian soldiers held the city with around 3,000 guards. The captain of the Sinsharruderi guard was a certain Assyrian captain named Dagon-rihu (Dagon created) with little political ties and had been appointed to the guard in the days of Sinsharishkun, a truly aged warrior with decades of experience in the city. Dagon-rihu regardless of political intrigue resolved his force to defend the city at all costs and gathered his courage and asserted his ehegemony over the local Kassite nobility, forcing their groups to contribute aid to the guard and creating contacts to the outside, especially to the north for the sake of gathering resources and supplies. As the army of Agu-Sin arrived, he found a city ready for defense and stalwart in its resistance… the prolonged siege of Sinsharruderi began as Agu-Sin surrounded the city and began the siege.
Despite the chaos in the situation in Media, the Elamite ‘king’ Epiru-daru-Shamash took no action in the year 561 BCE and seemed more preoccupied with what was occurring in the Assyrian center and in Karduniash. The lack of action by Elam made it so that the rebels led by Agu-Sin held no fear from the direct south through the mountain passes connecting Susa to Ectbatana, greatly increasing their ability to campaign in the north. Further, the Persian kingdom to the southeast also remained ambivalent, likely wishing to wear down their Assyrian and Karduniash former overlords before acting overtly.
Nevertheless, Kadu-Ishtar arrived in Mania before Kallu-Dagon and was there informed by the local chiefs loyal to the Ten Fingers of the soon to arrive Kallu-Dagon who had been ordered by Sinbanipal to behead Kadu-Ishtar. Kadu-Ishtar commanded a force of 4,000 soldiers of mixed heritage and was ordered to raise the Manaean chiefly levies to support his campaign to crush the Marhashi revolt. Fearing his situation, Kidu-Ishtar in expectation of the large host soon to push into his perimeter, fled southeast into the Zanjan hill country out of Mania without levying any further soldiers. Fleeing in haste, Kadu-Ishtar escaping to the Zanjan fled to deeper into Marhashi, meanwhile, the army of Kallu-Dagon entered Mania and was faced with local resistance from the chiefs of Mania who fled into forts and withheld their supplies from the army. The army of Kallu-Dagon was also assailed from woes for other reasons…
The Arbela-Arrapha Insurrection and the Great Coup
The city of Arrapha (modern otl Kirkuk in Kurdistani Iraq) was a grand and unique city in the traditional Assyrian heartland. Traditionally a Hurrian speaking city, it had long become an Akkadian speaking city with a unique dialect with Hurrian-like qualities and a deep affiliation with the Hurrian speaking city to the north of it, Ardini on the steps of Urartu. To its immediate north, the sister city of Arbela stood and to the south, the city of Nuzi; the three together stood as the eastern bastions of Assyria and the gateways into Assyria and the exit points towards the Zagros Mountain ranges.
Just as any other set of cities in the recent years in Assyria, the division in the court and the era of cutthroat politics affected the eastern gates of Assyria. Interestingly, these three cities acted as the most important theatres of the ongoing political crisis due to the propaganda of commanding the Great Temple of Ishtar at Arbela and also the strategic factor of guarding the eastern entry into Assyria. The Temple of Ishtar at Arbela became the primary zone of feuding as Epu-Kappu, of the Ubaru faction began to seat much of the hopes of his faction of Ubaru or the guests in controlling Arbela, especially the priesthood of Ishtar. The Duality heresy spread deeply into the leadership in the city of Arbela under the direction of the Ubaru faction supported by Sinbanipal. The most affected were the local priests to Ishtar who embraced the glorification of their roles and the increased privileges given tot heir leadership in the form of large donations from Sinbanipal and conferring of official ranks.
While the priesthood of Arebla were impressed, the local nobility and merchants chaffed under the expansion of the Urbaru faction in the three cities. Merchants, traditionally the staunch supporters of the traditionalist faction in the court, felt deeply disenfranchised and also neglected as the annual campaigns failed to occur and Sinbanipal had thoroughly dismissed a third invasion of Colchis. Traditionally, eunuchs and merchants held the position of mayor in the cities and angering them came at a deep cost.
When news of the arrest edicts arrived in Arrapha from Kalhu, the long running mayor of Arrapha, a merchant and supporter of the traditionalists, Shaqu-Ninurta (Ninurta irrigated or made moist) declared a meeting of the merchants of the city. In the meeting of the merchants of Arrapha, the entire group, without dissent (according to the Kalhu Codex) decreed the Great King deposed and that the throne had been resumed by the Great Gods. Hastily emerging from their homes of scheming, the merchants issued orders to the town guards loyal to the merchants to suppress and kill any Ubaru (guests) in the city and to depose any guardsmen that rejected their rule. Further just as the revolt had started, a secret edict arrived from the city of Nineveh, hailed as the ‘edict of the Great God Assur’ saying:
“In the Land, the Governor of the Great Gods, Sinbanipal has shamed his forebears and loosened the chain of Duranki. He is deposed by the edict of the Great God Assur, who has descended to battle the recalcitrant renegade, Sinbanipal. All slaves of the Great Gods are ordered by the Heavenly Host to rally their forces and capture the renegade Sinbanipal and depose him by beheading. The Great Gods command it and decree it eternally.”
Receiving the official edict of the Ten Fingers, the mayor Shaqu-Ninurta took role and propounded the edict to the populace, which became incensed and declared a revolt against the Great King. Rapidly, an insurrection raged and the commoners taking in their hands farming tools or household utensils joined the guards and in a short night in the month of November 561 BCE, the Ubaru faction members in the city were slaughtered and 67 guards and their captains were massacred by the mob. The insurrection that started there expanded as similar riots raged in Nuzi and Arbela, leading to the collapse of Ubaru forces in both cities as they were expelled or killed in the skirmishes.
Insurrectionary forces in the three cities took a commander by the 12th of November called Naboo-ekallu (Naboo is the palace) who led the force of approximately 6,000 former guards, volunteers, and levies from the local nobles. The force of 6,000 was quite modest, but the insurrection in a moment’s notice was able to block the conveyance of goods to the large army of Kallu-Dagon which had already crossed into dangerous and rebellious territory.
The Wing of Nurgle marches forth
As the insurrection was going forth, the Wing of Nurgle already stationed in expectation of the situation, set forth from the city of Kalhu to march upon Nineveh to arrest the Ten Fingers who had set up their counter court there in the city. Likewise, edicts proclaiming the arrest were sent to the other Wings of the Assyrian military, first to Karduniash and the Wing of Ninurta, which was already in shambles in the Urartu capitol city of Tushpa. The Wing of Assur numbering 30,000 soldiers under Sinbanipal remained stationed at Assur to hold the city and keep some of the traditionalists from rebelling.
In Nineveh, the Ten Fingers, and the Chamberlain of Assyria, Assur-shalushtu resolved their resistance and ordered the guards to defend the city and prepare for a prolonged defense and likewise distributed their deposition order to the outlying territories. The Ten Fingers especially sought to align themselves to the Traditionalists, who enraged at the situation, offered their support and hence a combining aspect emerged whereby the Traditionalists and the Palatials mixed their ideals intimately for the period. As the Wing of Nurgle approached the city with an army of 18,000 soldiers commanded by Ariba-Ninurta, the city guard commanded by Assur-shalushtu of 5,000 issued its deposition under the command of Ninurta, the patron god of Nineveh and ordered the Wing of Nurgle, under the authority of the Great Gods to turn forth and join with soon to be arriving relief forces and capture the rebel Sinbanipal. Ariba-Ninurta in turn surrounded the city and began to siege it, while also sending letters to the nearby Wings to rally forces to assist in the great task of capturing Nineveh.
Despite receiving the call, the king of Urartu or the Great Protector, Ishpuini II was hesitatnt to send the Wing of Ninurta to the south to crush the Ten Fingers. Already the Wing of Ninurta had suffered damage in recent wars and further, the position of Ishpuini II partly relied upon the continued prominence of the garrisons in Tushpa and other important cities. Ishpuini II instead, sent a relief force of 2,000 soldiers out of the existing 10,000 soldiers in his fragile kingdom. The 2,000 were quick to move through Ardini and towards Nineveh, but the small gesture from the king, lest Ariba-Ninurta greatly angered, leading to him beheading the captain of the arrived force and integrating the 2,000 soldiers directly into his force, while deposing many of the minor leaders in the ranks.
The letters sent to the west alongside accompanying edicts were received varyingly by the Wings that received them. Anu-dishpu, the Palace Herald stationed in Mari, the ally of Sinbanipal readily accepted the support given to the Wing of Nurgle and rallied a force of Scythians, Cimmerians, Elamite and Aramaen deportees to march to Nineveh and assist Ariba-Ninurta in deposing the Ten Fingers. In the city of Tima, the Wing of Ishtar under Protector General of the South, Assur-kalu-sehru answered the call and a force of 4,000 was sent forth to Moab to gather levies from there and thence towards Palmyra and there to Mari and finally, arriving at Nineveh.
The other Wings in the lands of Canaan were slower and or hesitant to heed the call of either faction. The Wing of Gula under the general Anaku-Adad with its force of 11,000 maintained the borderlands of Judah against the Egyptian kingdom to the west and did not move in any direction. The Wing of Dagon led by the new Patriarch of House Damashu, Tahumu-apal-Assur (Assur has placed the border boundary) gave their tacit support to the Ten Fingers and a force of 7,000 was dispatched under the command of the retainer Ninurta-shaknu-siriam, the hero of the Odryssian campaign to rescue the Ten Fingers. The Wing of Naboo under general Dairu-zeru-azamaru three their support also to the Ten Fingers and dispatched a force of 6,000 under Selu-asib-Ishtar (Ishtar dwells on the flanks), which met with the army of Ninurta-shaknu-siriam and rallied together at the city of Halab (Aleppo) before marching eastward with a force of 13,000 which was further augmented by the force of Buri-Adad II, rasiing the total to 15,000 soldiers.
To the north in Hatti, the armies of the Wing of Adad under the Field Marshal Kadashman-Shamash had yet to hear of the news and while the war was entering its early phases, Kadashman-Shamash had embarked on a series of engagements against the Skudra states to the west crossing the river alongside an army of Cimmerian Pala. Nevertheless, news found its way to Ankuwa and the Wing of Adad was slowly rallied by the son of Kadashman-Shamash, a certain Dugul-Naboo the younger, who gathered a force to march southward from Ankuwa, but this situation was slowed due to the lack of official reckoning from Kadashman-Shamash who by the early weeks of December, was still in campaign in the lands of Lukkaniya and at war with the Lydian kingdom.
Karduniash Reacts
The news of the disunity in Assyria had alarmed Dagon-zakir-shumi and was a form of validation for the court of Babylon as to the inherent superiority of their state to that of the Assyrian upstarts. While the Karduniashi state remained calm when low level conflict in the court was rampant, large scale civil war gave rise to urgent action by Dagon-zakir-shumi in the month of November. Supported by the elites in Babylon and the Wings of Ilawela, Sin and Marduk, Dagon-zakir-shumi rallied a force of 25,000 soldiers and in resplendent regalia, exited Babylon and march north to Dur-kurigalzu where 4,000 soldiers were interred as guardsmen, the force now of 19,000 moved back south and then by way of the canals, crossed from Babylon to the Tigris river and by the third week of December, a force of 22,000 soldiers had gathered and began a march up the Tigris river for unknown reasons.
A grand civil war rages in the heart of the Assyrian empire… will the Great King salvage the situation and assert royal absolutism or will the Ten Fingers recover their power and depose the Great King. Likewise, what are the ambitions of the King of Karduniash, the loving brother of Sinbanipal and what is his future in the War of the Luminaries? In the east and west, the powers are also sure to rally against Assyria again and proceed to rescind the gains of the Assyrians….
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I find it interesting that the rebels haven't yet put up their own candidate for the throne. I assume they will have to nominate someone sooner or later (of course the prominence of eunuchs in the rebel leadership might make that difficult as they obviously can't claim the throne themself. Still presumably the traditionalist faction does want a proper King on the throne sooner or later.
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I believe that there is a spelling error.
Or do the Ten Fingers happen to have red hair?
Another of my famous spelling errors. Ten Gingers is one that is most common and comedic. Fixed.
First War of the Luminaries: PART 2
561-558 BCE
The First War of the Luminaries: 560 BCE
The war of the Luminaries began to rage in the month of November 561 BCE and through the month, the city of Nineveh was put to siege by the Wing of Nurgle, the revolt of Arbela-Arrapha raged and the wars in Marhashi extended. More pressing to the central government was the arrival of Dagon-zakir-shumi, the king of Karduniash and the brother of Sinbanipal, who set forth to march along the Tigris River in late November 561 BCE. Dagon-zakir-shumi had previously failed to gain victory in his war against the Egyptian king Ahmose II and was shamed by the Assyrian court, as such many in both parties in Assyria feared the news of his army of 22,000 warriors marching northward.
The Great King of Assyria, Sinbanipal issued the first warning to his brother to halt in his advance, sending Dagon-zakir shumi commands to remain situated in his capitol at Babylon and to await word and news of the victory of the Great King against the usurping bureaucrats and the treasonous priesthood. Nevertheless, Dagon-zakir-shumi ignored the command of Sinbanipal and marched northward, passing through Me-Turan and moving fast towards Habuba south of Assur, Dagon-zakir-shumi’s intent came into clear view…
Dagon-zakri-shumi and his army of 22,000 soldiers, in an act of clear rebuke of the prior brotherly love of his earlier reign, struck the city of Habuba south of Assur and captured the city after a 4-day siege. The Wing of Assur had already been split into three parts, one part made up of 15,000 soldiers guarding Assur, 13,000 soldiers sent to Harran to capture dissidents of the Palatial Clique and 12,000 soldiers sent to quell the insurrection in Arbela-Arrapha, thus the army from Karduniash exceeded the forces that the Great King could feasibly muster. The capture of Habuba sent the Great King into a flurry of activity and immediately leaving the city of Kalhu, made it to the city of Assur before his brother arrived there and taking command of the Wing of Assur forces stationed in Assur and sallied forth to meet his brother in battle.
The betrayal of the Kingdom of Karduniash was not known throughout the kingdom however and war raged across the empire that was setting in upon disaster as the coalition of noble generals led by Ninurta-shaknu-siriam, arrived from the west with a coalition army of 15,000 soldiers to relive the siege of Nineveh and to ‘depose the recalcitrant Sinbanipal.’ The Coalition force, which would later be called the Aram Coalition or the Aram Clique, reached the city of Carchemish and secured the city before heading eastward towards Irridu, which was defended by a garrison force of Elamite deportees, who were rapidly defeated and massacred by the advancing Coalition forces which reached the city of Haran where they were faced with the army of Great King, numbering 13,000. While no mention of the battle is given by the records, the army of the Great King was defeated in battle as Ninurta-shakanu-siriam entered Haran in March of 560 BCE, where he appointed a governor of the city, a eunuch named Aru-Dagon to operate the city while the army moved forth east.
The War in Marhashi
Kallu-Dagon and his army pushed south into the Marhashi region, while the army of Kadu-Ishtar fled before him to the east with a small force of 3,300 soldiers, after suffering 700 loses in recent skirmishes with the imposing force of Kallu-Dagon. Kadu-Ishtar’s eastern flight took his force into direct conflict with the ongoing siege of Sinsharruderi by the month of April 560 BCE.
Agu-Sin, the leader of the deportee revolt against Assyria in the Eastern Protectorate and the architect of the Marhashi incident, set siege on Sinsharruderi for five months, finally capturing the city on the 4th of April, slaughtering the inhabitants of the city, including the guardsman Dagon-rihu. The Akkadian populace which had fled the city to the north, sought refuge with the tributary states of the Mazandaran which welcomed specialists and nobles from Assyria, perhaps Agu-Sin would have followed them had the army of Kadu-Ishtar not appeared on his frontier. Lacking sufficient knowledge of the situation, Agu-Sin and his force left the city and engaged Kadu-Ishtar in a short battle, devastating the general, who according to legend, escaped riding a donkey southward towards Elam. Agu-Sin just as his army had devastated the forces of Kadu-Ishtar, was set upon by the more fearsome and professional army of Kallu-Dagon, which harried his forces mightily and drove Agu-Sin from the field, slaying 1,000 of the enemy soldiers, before surging eastward, capturing Sinhsarruderi and driving the rebels into the east and southeastern parts of the Eastern Protectorate by the month of May. The victory of Kallu-Dagon was however short lived indeed.
The Persian Intervention
King Cyrus II, fresh from a victory in 563-562 BCE against the Medes and against the punitive Eastern Protectorate invasion, had remained outside of the congoing wars to his north and west. Cyrus II was known by the later texts as a shrewd and strategic conqueror, who did not seek to absorb too great of an expanse without first measuring the distances and preparing for his rule in complexities. As such, Cyrus II spent a full year subduing tribes and states across Balochistan which his kingdom had conquered from the Medes, creating tax farmers from the various tribal leaders and appointing local ‘satraps’ in regions, a new form of Persianate terminology. However, as the Baluch situation was brought under control and the tribes therein formed into new satraps, the King of Persian turned north and west.
In the first months of 560 BCE, Epiru-daru-Shamash, the ‘king’ of Elam had remained outside of the conflict and remained stalwart in his neutrality and did not press the Persians. Increasingly reasons for this began to emerge when a force of Persians entered Elam demanding tribute, which the king submitted to and in March of 560 BCE, Elam submitted to tribute to Persia to avoid invasion. Once Elam had submitted to tribute, Cyrus II began raising a large army to invade Marshashi, which was completed by the later part of the month of May. Thus, at the beginning of June, Cyrus II cross the border and invaded Marhashi with a force of 45,000 soldiers drawn from his territories, a veritably fearsome army indeed. Agu-Sin which had taken refuge in the southeast of the Eastern Protectorate, was the most immediate victim and the rebel was captured by the Persian army whilst attempting to flee north. In a grand ceremony of mercy, Cyrus II forgave the rebel for his actions and appointed him the Satrap of Parthia and sent him with his existing force to subdue the land of Parthia under the name of the King of Persia. The idea of the grand and merciful king would become a defining motif in Persianate kingship going forward in emulation of Cyrus II, who would define the idea of magnanimity.
As Agu-Sin was sent forth with 6,000 warriors to subdue Parthia, the force of Cyrus II pushed forward conquering town after town and receiving the submission of local elites wherever he went. The push by Cyrus II forced the army of Kallu-Dagon to take flight from Sinsharruderi and flee to the west, setting Sinsharruderi alight, which Cyrus II moved past and pushed forward into the west moving towards the Zanjan hill country when Cyrus II received a letter from an unlikely source…
While the war in the east was progressing, the situation in the north for the King of Urartu, Ishpuini II was once more pressed as in the month of July, an army of Colcheans and their allies, crossed the borderzone with a force of 25,000 soldiers and began capturing towns in the vicinity of Lake Van. Knowing that he could not simply request for aid from the Assyrian king, Ishpuini II decided to march forth to battle with 20,00 soldiers to meet the Colchean king Zurab II in battle. At the Battle of the Hills of Krushi, the Urartian army under Ishpuini engaged the army of Zurab II and his Scythian allies and the forces of Ishpuini II were defeated decisively, losing a significant number of soldiers in the battle. The victory of Zurab II, only another in a long line of martial victories, led to the great host surging southward capturing Arberani, Qallania and then reaching the vicinity of Tushpa, received the long-awaited triumph of the King of Colchis over his southern enemy in Urartu.
The Triumph of Zurab II
After a fearsome campaign from July until November of 560 BCE, Zurab II had taken advantage of the ongoing Assyrian civil war to invade deep into Urartu, inflicting deep wounds onto its king Ishpuini in the land of Kurshi and then capturing the north Biai plain before reaching Tushpa. In the past centuries, Colchis had been subjected to consistent raids and invasion by both Urartu and Assyria and had in ancient times even more prior, subject to the advances of the Hatti kingdom. Long had it been the case that Colchis was confined and weakened and the mountain tribes north of Urartu subject to the people to the south, yet now, the tide had turned and just as Urartu, once pressed by Assyria, stood atop Assyria as they did in the 770s BCE, now Colchis stood above Tushpa. In a sign of submission and cowardice, Ishpuini II despite the advice of his guards and allies, declared a surrender in Tushpa upon the arrival of the Colchean army.
Leaving his city on a chariot, wearing nothing but sackcloth, the great king of Ishpuini II, the servant of the Gods of Urartu, presented himself before the king of Colchis and did prostration and submission. Zurab II received the submission and ordered his army to enter Tushpa. Despite the surrender of the king of Urartu, the army of Colchis set about sacking the city while taking the palace and declaring the former king, Ishpuini II as governor of Tushpa and regent of Urartu, subject to the ‘Great King of Colchis.’ This victory of Zurab II heralded a new era for the kingdom of Colchis, the rise to new heights. However, for now, the Colchean armies remained well north of Assyrian borders and the Colchean army remained in Urartu, plundering the cities, and capturing the countryside, leading to a third major refugee crisis as peoples across the central Biai plains began to flee into the hills or south into Assyria.
Adding further to the chaos in Urartu, many of the tribal affiliates associated to the Urartu king began to fracture away and form into independent states resisting the power of Zurab II and his army. Chiefly among these was the formation of the state of Mushka centered around the city of Palu and the land of Shebeteria and Suhni and the formation of the ‘Kingdom of Gurzan’ on the northern side of Lake Urmia, which made its capitol the city of Bastam and resisted the army of Zurab II from the east. On the other side of Lake Biai (Van), the people of Zenzium rallied into a coalition force to retake Tushpa and avert the full conquest of the lake by the northern invaders. Finally, in the city of Arszashkun, a general of the Urartu army with a force of 4,000 soldiers took the city and declared himself king of Arzashkun and took the name Argishti. Thus, the Colchean army, while ever victorious in the field, was beset by the folly of victory and faced with immense civil and internal pressure amongst its new captures in Urartu.
The Siege of Nineveh 560 BCE
At the city of Nineveh, the Ten Fingers and their allies held the city of Nineveh against the Wing of Nurgle and their forces. The Wing of Nurgle was placed at a heavy disadvantage in the siege due to the large population of the city and the relative size of the royalist army attempting to capture the city. However, the skill of the Wing of Nurgle was the highest in all of the Assyrian armies and the most proficient in siege warfare and the forces of the Wing of Nurgle, steadily captured every fort on the outskirts of the city and set to torch the suburbs, the so-called lower cities. In desperation, the Ten Fingers fearing the city guards insufficient, sought to escape the city and all but 2 managed to escape in the month of March 560 BCE, escaping from the northern end of the city and taking flight to the city of Ardini and thence sending requests of aid to the general Ninurta-shaknu-siriam in Haran to make haste to rescue the city of Nineveh. However, the great general and hero of the Anatolian campaign, remained stationed in Haran and did not move, due to the concerning news regarding the battles between the Great King and the king of Karduniash, unwilling to make a move that would lead to his forces becoming endangered.
As Ninurta-shaknu-siriam failed to move as requested by the Ten Fingers, they in the greatest urgency and hearing of the news of the war waged now between Dagon-zakir-shumi and the success of Cyrus II in Marhashi, sent word to both. According to the Kalhu Codex, the Ten Fingers ignobly sought the aid of the Persians and likewise requested for Dagon-zakir-shumi place his son, Ariba-Adad, a child, on the throne of Assur. Cyrus II evidently agreed to the request to aid the Ten Fingers against the royalist king of Assyria and marched into the Zanjan hill country and began to push aside Kallu-Dagon.
Meanwhile in Nineveh, the city of subdued the enemy army until the month of October when the city defense weakened by lack of supplies and uncertainty fell to the royalist army and the Wing of Nurgle took the city, slaying two members of the Ten Fingers and executing by flaying, the Head Chamberlain of Assyria, Assur-shalushtu. The fall of Nineveh was a blow to the Ten Fingers and their cause, however, the sudden loss in fortune, sprung the generals in the Aram into action, and Ninurta-shaknu-siriam, receiving relief forces from his superiors in Aram, proceeded eastward.
In the north, the Field Marshal of Assyria, Kadashman-Shamash, remained attendant to his own duties and ignored calls for war from either party. During the early part of 560 BCE, the forces of the Protector of the North sacked the frontier of the Lydian kingdom and gained the submission of many of the former vassals of the Odryssian kings whom Ninurta-shaknu-siriam had slew several years earlier. However, after the fall of Nineveh, the Wing of Adad dispatched a force of 3,000 cavalry, mostly from Cimmerians, to ride to aid the Ten Fingers and act as their bodyguard in Ardini.
The War in Assyria and Karduniash
As was mentioned, the two brothers engaged in the flatlands around Assur, Dagon-zakir-shumi and his larger army of 22,000 arrayed against the 15,000 of Sinbanipal. In the battle, despite the numerical superiority of the Karduniash army, the forces of the king of Karduniash were vanquished by the smaller royalist army, which drove the enemy from the field, before marching and retaking Habuba and then chasing the brother southward into Karduniash. Sinbanipal appointed his subordinate, Aban-Assur to lead the army southward and devastate the Karduniash forces as they flee and capture Dur-Kurigalzu so as to halt any more incursions northward. Meanwhile, Sinbanipal rushed to Kalhu and with a small guard of Scythian and Cimmerian riders, rushed to the fronts of Arbela where an army of 12,000 had engaged in the destruction of the insurrection plaguing the cities of Arbela-Arrapha. The forces of the 12,000 now led by Sinbanipal devastated the insurrectionists across the frontlines, defeating them critically and then entering Arrrapha and massacring the merchant quarters before pushing into Nuzi, capturing the city and setting the merchants in the city ablaze and slaughtering deportee communities. As the insurrection came to be destroyed by the onset of the October 560 BCE, the city of Nineveh fell, and the Assyrian heartland was coming to be consolidated. Meanwhile, news had arrived that Dur Kurigalzu had been captured by Aban-Assur and the Karduniash army had been defeated again near Me-Turan and was currently licking its wounds in far away Babylon. Furthermore, the forces of Ninurta-shaknu-siriam remained hesitant to engage the forces of the Wing of Nurgle and the Assyrian army of the royalist cause seemed invincible.
However, just as the Assyrian king was preparing his grand regal resumption of power the expected reconquest of the lands of Urartu, news arrived in Assyria that the forces of Kallu-Dagon had been utterly broken and the Persian army of immense size had set camp in Mania and was preparing an invasion of Assyria as soon as the Fall of 559 BCE. Meanwhile, the Ten Fingers were stationed in Ardini, very near the border with this new Persian menace and to make matters worse, the Ten Fingers had declared the son of Dagon-zakir-shumi as the king of Assyria, as Ariba-Adad III. More worrisome still was that in Egypt, news had begun to be spoken of that Ahmose II, the great king of Egypt, had raised a force that was prepared to campaign sometime in 559 BCE. Once again, the Assyrian central position, a major advantage when other states were weak, was becoming a hindrance for the reeling Assyrian kingdom.
The First War of the Luminaries: 560 BCE
The war of the Luminaries began to rage in the month of November 561 BCE and through the month, the city of Nineveh was put to siege by the Wing of Nurgle, the revolt of Arbela-Arrapha raged and the wars in Marhashi extended. More pressing to the central government was the arrival of Dagon-zakir-shumi, the king of Karduniash and the brother of Sinbanipal, who set forth to march along the Tigris River in late November 561 BCE. Dagon-zakir-shumi had previously failed to gain victory in his war against the Egyptian king Ahmose II and was shamed by the Assyrian court, as such many in both parties in Assyria feared the news of his army of 22,000 warriors marching northward.
The Great King of Assyria, Sinbanipal issued the first warning to his brother to halt in his advance, sending Dagon-zakir shumi commands to remain situated in his capitol at Babylon and to await word and news of the victory of the Great King against the usurping bureaucrats and the treasonous priesthood. Nevertheless, Dagon-zakir-shumi ignored the command of Sinbanipal and marched northward, passing through Me-Turan and moving fast towards Habuba south of Assur, Dagon-zakir-shumi’s intent came into clear view…
Dagon-zakri-shumi and his army of 22,000 soldiers, in an act of clear rebuke of the prior brotherly love of his earlier reign, struck the city of Habuba south of Assur and captured the city after a 4-day siege. The Wing of Assur had already been split into three parts, one part made up of 15,000 soldiers guarding Assur, 13,000 soldiers sent to Harran to capture dissidents of the Palatial Clique and 12,000 soldiers sent to quell the insurrection in Arbela-Arrapha, thus the army from Karduniash exceeded the forces that the Great King could feasibly muster. The capture of Habuba sent the Great King into a flurry of activity and immediately leaving the city of Kalhu, made it to the city of Assur before his brother arrived there and taking command of the Wing of Assur forces stationed in Assur and sallied forth to meet his brother in battle.
The betrayal of the Kingdom of Karduniash was not known throughout the kingdom however and war raged across the empire that was setting in upon disaster as the coalition of noble generals led by Ninurta-shaknu-siriam, arrived from the west with a coalition army of 15,000 soldiers to relive the siege of Nineveh and to ‘depose the recalcitrant Sinbanipal.’ The Coalition force, which would later be called the Aram Coalition or the Aram Clique, reached the city of Carchemish and secured the city before heading eastward towards Irridu, which was defended by a garrison force of Elamite deportees, who were rapidly defeated and massacred by the advancing Coalition forces which reached the city of Haran where they were faced with the army of Great King, numbering 13,000. While no mention of the battle is given by the records, the army of the Great King was defeated in battle as Ninurta-shakanu-siriam entered Haran in March of 560 BCE, where he appointed a governor of the city, a eunuch named Aru-Dagon to operate the city while the army moved forth east.
The War in Marhashi
Kallu-Dagon and his army pushed south into the Marhashi region, while the army of Kadu-Ishtar fled before him to the east with a small force of 3,300 soldiers, after suffering 700 loses in recent skirmishes with the imposing force of Kallu-Dagon. Kadu-Ishtar’s eastern flight took his force into direct conflict with the ongoing siege of Sinsharruderi by the month of April 560 BCE.
Agu-Sin, the leader of the deportee revolt against Assyria in the Eastern Protectorate and the architect of the Marhashi incident, set siege on Sinsharruderi for five months, finally capturing the city on the 4th of April, slaughtering the inhabitants of the city, including the guardsman Dagon-rihu. The Akkadian populace which had fled the city to the north, sought refuge with the tributary states of the Mazandaran which welcomed specialists and nobles from Assyria, perhaps Agu-Sin would have followed them had the army of Kadu-Ishtar not appeared on his frontier. Lacking sufficient knowledge of the situation, Agu-Sin and his force left the city and engaged Kadu-Ishtar in a short battle, devastating the general, who according to legend, escaped riding a donkey southward towards Elam. Agu-Sin just as his army had devastated the forces of Kadu-Ishtar, was set upon by the more fearsome and professional army of Kallu-Dagon, which harried his forces mightily and drove Agu-Sin from the field, slaying 1,000 of the enemy soldiers, before surging eastward, capturing Sinhsarruderi and driving the rebels into the east and southeastern parts of the Eastern Protectorate by the month of May. The victory of Kallu-Dagon was however short lived indeed.
The Persian Intervention
King Cyrus II, fresh from a victory in 563-562 BCE against the Medes and against the punitive Eastern Protectorate invasion, had remained outside of the congoing wars to his north and west. Cyrus II was known by the later texts as a shrewd and strategic conqueror, who did not seek to absorb too great of an expanse without first measuring the distances and preparing for his rule in complexities. As such, Cyrus II spent a full year subduing tribes and states across Balochistan which his kingdom had conquered from the Medes, creating tax farmers from the various tribal leaders and appointing local ‘satraps’ in regions, a new form of Persianate terminology. However, as the Baluch situation was brought under control and the tribes therein formed into new satraps, the King of Persian turned north and west.
In the first months of 560 BCE, Epiru-daru-Shamash, the ‘king’ of Elam had remained outside of the conflict and remained stalwart in his neutrality and did not press the Persians. Increasingly reasons for this began to emerge when a force of Persians entered Elam demanding tribute, which the king submitted to and in March of 560 BCE, Elam submitted to tribute to Persia to avoid invasion. Once Elam had submitted to tribute, Cyrus II began raising a large army to invade Marshashi, which was completed by the later part of the month of May. Thus, at the beginning of June, Cyrus II cross the border and invaded Marhashi with a force of 45,000 soldiers drawn from his territories, a veritably fearsome army indeed. Agu-Sin which had taken refuge in the southeast of the Eastern Protectorate, was the most immediate victim and the rebel was captured by the Persian army whilst attempting to flee north. In a grand ceremony of mercy, Cyrus II forgave the rebel for his actions and appointed him the Satrap of Parthia and sent him with his existing force to subdue the land of Parthia under the name of the King of Persia. The idea of the grand and merciful king would become a defining motif in Persianate kingship going forward in emulation of Cyrus II, who would define the idea of magnanimity.
As Agu-Sin was sent forth with 6,000 warriors to subdue Parthia, the force of Cyrus II pushed forward conquering town after town and receiving the submission of local elites wherever he went. The push by Cyrus II forced the army of Kallu-Dagon to take flight from Sinsharruderi and flee to the west, setting Sinsharruderi alight, which Cyrus II moved past and pushed forward into the west moving towards the Zanjan hill country when Cyrus II received a letter from an unlikely source…
While the war in the east was progressing, the situation in the north for the King of Urartu, Ishpuini II was once more pressed as in the month of July, an army of Colcheans and their allies, crossed the borderzone with a force of 25,000 soldiers and began capturing towns in the vicinity of Lake Van. Knowing that he could not simply request for aid from the Assyrian king, Ishpuini II decided to march forth to battle with 20,00 soldiers to meet the Colchean king Zurab II in battle. At the Battle of the Hills of Krushi, the Urartian army under Ishpuini engaged the army of Zurab II and his Scythian allies and the forces of Ishpuini II were defeated decisively, losing a significant number of soldiers in the battle. The victory of Zurab II, only another in a long line of martial victories, led to the great host surging southward capturing Arberani, Qallania and then reaching the vicinity of Tushpa, received the long-awaited triumph of the King of Colchis over his southern enemy in Urartu.
The Triumph of Zurab II
After a fearsome campaign from July until November of 560 BCE, Zurab II had taken advantage of the ongoing Assyrian civil war to invade deep into Urartu, inflicting deep wounds onto its king Ishpuini in the land of Kurshi and then capturing the north Biai plain before reaching Tushpa. In the past centuries, Colchis had been subjected to consistent raids and invasion by both Urartu and Assyria and had in ancient times even more prior, subject to the advances of the Hatti kingdom. Long had it been the case that Colchis was confined and weakened and the mountain tribes north of Urartu subject to the people to the south, yet now, the tide had turned and just as Urartu, once pressed by Assyria, stood atop Assyria as they did in the 770s BCE, now Colchis stood above Tushpa. In a sign of submission and cowardice, Ishpuini II despite the advice of his guards and allies, declared a surrender in Tushpa upon the arrival of the Colchean army.
Leaving his city on a chariot, wearing nothing but sackcloth, the great king of Ishpuini II, the servant of the Gods of Urartu, presented himself before the king of Colchis and did prostration and submission. Zurab II received the submission and ordered his army to enter Tushpa. Despite the surrender of the king of Urartu, the army of Colchis set about sacking the city while taking the palace and declaring the former king, Ishpuini II as governor of Tushpa and regent of Urartu, subject to the ‘Great King of Colchis.’ This victory of Zurab II heralded a new era for the kingdom of Colchis, the rise to new heights. However, for now, the Colchean armies remained well north of Assyrian borders and the Colchean army remained in Urartu, plundering the cities, and capturing the countryside, leading to a third major refugee crisis as peoples across the central Biai plains began to flee into the hills or south into Assyria.
Adding further to the chaos in Urartu, many of the tribal affiliates associated to the Urartu king began to fracture away and form into independent states resisting the power of Zurab II and his army. Chiefly among these was the formation of the state of Mushka centered around the city of Palu and the land of Shebeteria and Suhni and the formation of the ‘Kingdom of Gurzan’ on the northern side of Lake Urmia, which made its capitol the city of Bastam and resisted the army of Zurab II from the east. On the other side of Lake Biai (Van), the people of Zenzium rallied into a coalition force to retake Tushpa and avert the full conquest of the lake by the northern invaders. Finally, in the city of Arszashkun, a general of the Urartu army with a force of 4,000 soldiers took the city and declared himself king of Arzashkun and took the name Argishti. Thus, the Colchean army, while ever victorious in the field, was beset by the folly of victory and faced with immense civil and internal pressure amongst its new captures in Urartu.
The Siege of Nineveh 560 BCE
At the city of Nineveh, the Ten Fingers and their allies held the city of Nineveh against the Wing of Nurgle and their forces. The Wing of Nurgle was placed at a heavy disadvantage in the siege due to the large population of the city and the relative size of the royalist army attempting to capture the city. However, the skill of the Wing of Nurgle was the highest in all of the Assyrian armies and the most proficient in siege warfare and the forces of the Wing of Nurgle, steadily captured every fort on the outskirts of the city and set to torch the suburbs, the so-called lower cities. In desperation, the Ten Fingers fearing the city guards insufficient, sought to escape the city and all but 2 managed to escape in the month of March 560 BCE, escaping from the northern end of the city and taking flight to the city of Ardini and thence sending requests of aid to the general Ninurta-shaknu-siriam in Haran to make haste to rescue the city of Nineveh. However, the great general and hero of the Anatolian campaign, remained stationed in Haran and did not move, due to the concerning news regarding the battles between the Great King and the king of Karduniash, unwilling to make a move that would lead to his forces becoming endangered.
As Ninurta-shaknu-siriam failed to move as requested by the Ten Fingers, they in the greatest urgency and hearing of the news of the war waged now between Dagon-zakir-shumi and the success of Cyrus II in Marhashi, sent word to both. According to the Kalhu Codex, the Ten Fingers ignobly sought the aid of the Persians and likewise requested for Dagon-zakir-shumi place his son, Ariba-Adad, a child, on the throne of Assur. Cyrus II evidently agreed to the request to aid the Ten Fingers against the royalist king of Assyria and marched into the Zanjan hill country and began to push aside Kallu-Dagon.
Meanwhile in Nineveh, the city of subdued the enemy army until the month of October when the city defense weakened by lack of supplies and uncertainty fell to the royalist army and the Wing of Nurgle took the city, slaying two members of the Ten Fingers and executing by flaying, the Head Chamberlain of Assyria, Assur-shalushtu. The fall of Nineveh was a blow to the Ten Fingers and their cause, however, the sudden loss in fortune, sprung the generals in the Aram into action, and Ninurta-shaknu-siriam, receiving relief forces from his superiors in Aram, proceeded eastward.
In the north, the Field Marshal of Assyria, Kadashman-Shamash, remained attendant to his own duties and ignored calls for war from either party. During the early part of 560 BCE, the forces of the Protector of the North sacked the frontier of the Lydian kingdom and gained the submission of many of the former vassals of the Odryssian kings whom Ninurta-shaknu-siriam had slew several years earlier. However, after the fall of Nineveh, the Wing of Adad dispatched a force of 3,000 cavalry, mostly from Cimmerians, to ride to aid the Ten Fingers and act as their bodyguard in Ardini.
The War in Assyria and Karduniash
As was mentioned, the two brothers engaged in the flatlands around Assur, Dagon-zakir-shumi and his larger army of 22,000 arrayed against the 15,000 of Sinbanipal. In the battle, despite the numerical superiority of the Karduniash army, the forces of the king of Karduniash were vanquished by the smaller royalist army, which drove the enemy from the field, before marching and retaking Habuba and then chasing the brother southward into Karduniash. Sinbanipal appointed his subordinate, Aban-Assur to lead the army southward and devastate the Karduniash forces as they flee and capture Dur-Kurigalzu so as to halt any more incursions northward. Meanwhile, Sinbanipal rushed to Kalhu and with a small guard of Scythian and Cimmerian riders, rushed to the fronts of Arbela where an army of 12,000 had engaged in the destruction of the insurrection plaguing the cities of Arbela-Arrapha. The forces of the 12,000 now led by Sinbanipal devastated the insurrectionists across the frontlines, defeating them critically and then entering Arrrapha and massacring the merchant quarters before pushing into Nuzi, capturing the city and setting the merchants in the city ablaze and slaughtering deportee communities. As the insurrection came to be destroyed by the onset of the October 560 BCE, the city of Nineveh fell, and the Assyrian heartland was coming to be consolidated. Meanwhile, news had arrived that Dur Kurigalzu had been captured by Aban-Assur and the Karduniash army had been defeated again near Me-Turan and was currently licking its wounds in far away Babylon. Furthermore, the forces of Ninurta-shaknu-siriam remained hesitant to engage the forces of the Wing of Nurgle and the Assyrian army of the royalist cause seemed invincible.
However, just as the Assyrian king was preparing his grand regal resumption of power the expected reconquest of the lands of Urartu, news arrived in Assyria that the forces of Kallu-Dagon had been utterly broken and the Persian army of immense size had set camp in Mania and was preparing an invasion of Assyria as soon as the Fall of 559 BCE. Meanwhile, the Ten Fingers were stationed in Ardini, very near the border with this new Persian menace and to make matters worse, the Ten Fingers had declared the son of Dagon-zakir-shumi as the king of Assyria, as Ariba-Adad III. More worrisome still was that in Egypt, news had begun to be spoken of that Ahmose II, the great king of Egypt, had raised a force that was prepared to campaign sometime in 559 BCE. Once again, the Assyrian central position, a major advantage when other states were weak, was becoming a hindrance for the reeling Assyrian kingdom.
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Oh man what an update. When things go wrong for Assyria they go very wrong. What are the Phoenicians and other Levantine subjects making of all this, are they represented in the Aram Clique at all? Or more concerned with the Egyptian mobilization for now? I think i'm leaning Royalist in this conflict, Sinbanipal has made mistakes but all the betrayal tastes bad. That excerpt from the Kalhu Codex calling the 10 fingers cowardly has me hopeful for him.
Colchis on the rise is another interesting development, I'm kind of rooting for the Uratians here but could be interesting to see how the Akkadian kingdoms react to a strong northern neighbour.
Colchis on the rise is another interesting development, I'm kind of rooting for the Uratians here but could be interesting to see how the Akkadian kingdoms react to a strong northern neighbour.
Was that link there posted by accident? It appears to only point to the main page.
Giving up claims of imperial overlordship would of course be a huge mistake but the Assyrians need in practical terms to really consolidate their rule over Assyria proper or we'll be back in the same boat in a few decades.
Indeed. It may be necessary to lose the empire temporarily and recalibrate the Assyrian heartland.
The Phoenician City States are supporting the Aram Coalition indirectly. The Aram Coalition/Clique are the representative generals of the Assyrian army stationed in Syria and the northern Levant. It should be noted that the Egyptians have yet to make their move and they are still quite high after Ahmose II defeated Dagon-zakir-shumi and has instituted his whole 'expel the invaders motif' in regards to Assyrian/Akkadian interference in Egyptian affairs.
Sorry everyone for the bump, but I'm hoping someone can nominate this timeline for best Ancient timeline in this years Turtledoves
You just need to copy paste:
Best Ancient Timeline: The Burning Cauldron: The Neo Assyrian Empire Defended; @John7755 يوحنا
Into the nomination thread, I'll second it if no-one else beats me to it
Edit: @ZeSteel has it covered, thanks
You just need to copy paste:
Best Ancient Timeline: The Burning Cauldron: The Neo Assyrian Empire Defended; @John7755 يوحنا
Into the nomination thread, I'll second it if no-one else beats me to it
Edit: @ZeSteel has it covered, thanks
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Reintroduction --- 'He Who is King of the Universe'
The Great King of the Universe, Sinbanipal
'He Who is King of the Universe'
Assyria had long been a great realm, but its divisions and difficult situations had led it to decline many times before and this was no exception. In the reign of Sinsharishkun, the realm suffered under intense conflict and the Assyrian realm had to restore its borders and territory. Now, the situation is similar once again, but perhaps even more dangerous as the Ten Fingers aggrandize power, Cyrus of Persia marches forth, and the rebellious and inactive governor-marshal stands passive in the lands of Hatti, may he be cursed. Nevertheless, the Great King was readied, he would make war against the enemies and restore Assur. Yet, the dreams of one king and his many soldiers often are to naught when faced with the changing tides of history. Many would say that the survival of the Assyrian kingdom was a miracle after the poor late reign of Assurbanipal and the tumult of the transition to Sinsharishkun. Indeed, the Assyrian kingdom had survived that chaos, and its power was seemingly being spent and draining, new powers would rise, but the efforts by Sinsharishkun to reestablish Assyrian power and culture would ensure the survival of Assyria and the Akkadian culture through even a foreign conquest or slow disintegration and or breakaway of the frontiers. New powers emerged such as Persia and Colchis to challenge Assyria, whilst old powers such as Egypt discovered new life through combinations and mixing with the Hellenes and with the experimentation of old ideas. Truly, a new age was coming, but what role would Assyria play in this new landscape and could the Burning Cauldron, truly at the heart of the universe, ignite once more into an expanding overflowing empire?
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Hey! Hope everyone enjoys this light post, that formally announces the resumption of this TL!
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Wonderful news! This one of the tls that got me into Ah.com in the first place. I remained steadfast in my hopes for Assyria to expand to the size of the Achaemenid Persia.
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Nice. I'm looking forward to seeing how the kings of Assyria fall to or survive the next crises of a changing world.