Fall of Assur
614 BC battle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The fall of Assur, occurred when the first city and old capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire 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. [citation needed]
| Fall of Assur | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Median conquest of Assyria | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Median Kingdom | Assyrian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Cyaxares | Sinsharishkun[2] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~25,000–35,000 (possibly) | ~20,000-30,000 (possibly) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| ~4,000–7,000 killed (needs more research) | ~8,000-12,000 killed (needs more research) | ||||||
Background
Ever since the end of Ashurbanipal's reign in 631 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was in an exposed and critical position; civil war, revolts in Babylonia, Anatolia, Caucasus and in the Levant 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.