The Fall of

Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal ...

occurred when the first city and old capital of the

Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...

fell to Median, Babylonian and other rebellion led forces. The sack of the city that followed destroyed the city to some degree; however it recovered during the Achaemenid Empire. The city remained occupied by Assyrians until the massacres of Tamurlane in the 14th century AD.

Background

Ever since the end of Ashurbanipal's reign in 627 BC the

was in an exposed and critical position; civil war, revolts in Babylonia,

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

coupled with Median, Babylonian and Scythian invasions proved too much for the empire torn by civil war. In 616 BC, the Babylonians established their ''de facto'' independence from the Assyrians.

Assault on the city

In 615 BC, the Medes and their allies conquered Arrapha. The next year, they besieged Assur. Much of what was left of the Assyrian army was in Nineveh, unable to assist. Finally, after bloody hand-to-hand clashes (many skulls and skeletons were later found), the city was apparently taken in 614 BC.A Companion to Assyria
: page 192

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fall Of Assur 614 BC

7th century BC