The Military Failure of Assyrian Kings

Abstract

This research tackles one of the important political aspects in Assyria further to its characteristic as an evidence enables us to recognize the genuine dimensions which led to the exhaustion of the Assyrian military mechanism and finally the collapse of Nineveh in 612B.C. It has become quite clear through the induction and analysis of Assyrian royal annals further to the cuneiform documents related to the nations who simultaneously lived with the Assyrians that several direct and indirect evidences can throw some light on the real shortcomings the Assyrian kings suffered in their foreign affairs and their military campaigns. This is, in deed, related to several reasons which have been thoroughly tackled in the present paper. The present research is divided into two main parts: Part one shows the indirect evidences of the above mentioned shortcomings which are embodied in the repeated allegations of false triumphs added to the exaggerations with regard to showing foes'' casualties. These exaggerations have been proved as supernatural after the induction of the political development added to what have been referred to by posterior monarchs that contradicts with the ancestral annals. In addition to the crystal clear contradiction with regard to the supernatural allegations of foes'' casualties found in monarchical annals of same content. Part two tackles the direct evidences of the above mentioned shortcoming, and this part is subdivided into two subdivisions: The first shows the evidences of political failure which are embodied in the disobedience of some petty states and kingdoms which were under the leverage of the Assyrian kings. The second shows the military shortcomings found in the Assyrian texts added to the texts of peoples who defied the Assyrian leverage and military aggrandizements in the region. Furthermore, the military shortcomings are classified in the light of the Assyrian'' attacks from one hand and the nations they invaded on the other.