User:Caesar the seventh


 *  Assyria magna

Beginning

In the year 689 B.C., Babylon fell under the rule of the mad emperor Sennacherib I. After a two-year rebellion, the city was conquered and burn to the ground, never to be rebuild. This moment is often considered the beginning of the Assyria magna age.



In the west

The invincible Assyrian army marched against the phoenician and aramaic states who refused to recongnize the new emperor. The invasion was disastrous for the enemies of Niniveh. The aramaic principalities were crushed in the great battle of Byblos (687 B.C.) and anexated to the New Assyrian Empire. Wisely, the Tyrian leader accepted to make peace with the conquerors, keeping his city unharmed and his throne to him. In south, Egypt anexated the two jewish kingdoms and created a belt of fortifications to protect the borders from a Assyrian attack. The planned invasion was halt, when the Great King died in 684 B.C. in a battle with the Urartian state. Unfortunately, the army was forced to retreat leaving the Urartu safe for the moment.

A new emperor

A new ruller was chosen, Esarhaddon, a briliant general and a good organizer. In the first three years of his reign (683-681 B.C.) he made a massive reform in the state, enforcing the god-emperor cult and shrinking the importance of the priesthood. He extended the city of Niniveh building a new section. And after the years of peace, he began the wars. First enemy was Urartu, which was conquered in three weeks and the capital of Van was besieged two months. After the destruction of the water supplies, the urartians capitulated. The eyes of Esarhaddon turned unto the East. A blietzkrieg atack subjected Elam (677). After this conquest, the emperor remained in Iran fighting with the tribes of the Medes and Persians, for a period of ten years. But, he returned victorious to the capital of Niniveh and proclaimed himself "king over the nations of the East".

War in Egypt

The Assyrian war machine marched towards south and attacked the Egyptian province of Palestine, occupied after the battle of Ghibbea. The road to Egypt was free. After the battle of Pelusion the wright arm of the Nile fell to the armies of Esarhaddon. In 663 B.C., the capital Thebes was conquered and Taharqa, the pharaoh was killed. The Middle East was under the control of Assyria.