Babylonia from Nebuchadnezzar I to Tiglath-pileser III

Abstract

Abstract Between the collapse of the Kassite Dynasty in the mid-twelfth century bc and the assumption of the Babylonian throne by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III in 728 bc, Babylonia endured a prolonged phase of political decline and decentralization, punctuated by brief periods of dynastic continuity and the rule of strong kings at Babylon. During these centuries, Assyrian power gradually waxed, and while Babylonia occasionally enjoyed the upper hand over its northern neighbor or was at peace with Assyria, by the eighth century bc, the Assyrian Empire was dominant and capable of extending its hegemony over Babylonia. Domestically, Babylonia was destabilized by the appearance of new tribal groups in southern Mesopotamia, most notably the Arameans and Chaldeans, whose members competed with the residents of Babylonia’s traditional urban centers for land and resources, but also allied with some of these cities against Assyria; Chaldean chieftains who claimed the Babylonian crown would organize some of the most effective resistance to Assyrian encroachments. In spite of these tumultuous conditions, or perhaps in response to them, the traditions of cuneiform scholarship and Babylonian culture were maintained and even flourished. The god Marduk’s position as head of the Babylonian pantheon was advanced during these centuries, and literary works such as The Poem of Erra and Ishum, which contemplated Marduk’s supremacy in light of the turmoil that plagued Babylon, were composed.