Ancient History - Part 7: The Old Man's War

Following what was assumed to be Egypt's concessions to both Assyria and Babylon (in gold talents), the king of Babylon shifted gears. Instead of harboring further open resentment towards his rival, he arranged a marriage between Assyria and his own kingdom - In the form of the Assyrian princess Muballitat-sherua, daughter of Ashur-uballit, and his son Kara-khardash.

This marriage had an unintended aftereffect, as their half-Assyrian, half-Kassite firstborn son, Kadashman-Kharbe (1369-1368 B.C.) inherited the Babylonian throne with a focus upon Assyria's well-being as much as Babylon's. He set out to subdue the Bedouin tribes, particularly the Suti, who had plagued the road from Egypt to Assyria, an issue stemming from his mother's time. After successfully driving them far into the deserts, he ordered fortifications to be constructed along the road, guarding against future incursions from any nomadic peoples. 

But what began as a promising start for a new leader, resulted in a short reign, for a sudden civil war broke out in Babylonia, in which Kasdashman-Kharbe was killed.

There are a few theories for why this occurred: 

1. Kadashman-Kharbe's queen-mother was never popular and he thus acquired both her unpopularity along with her Assyrian sensibilities (his harsh actions against the Suti evidence of this).
2. Egypt was losing control over Palestine and Syria. The vast empire of the Nile had undergone a transformation once its pharaoh, Amenhotep IV, renamed himself 'Ikhnaton', living god of the sun, and turned his attentions internally, by first forbidding the worship of numerous deities of Egypt's pantheon. This new era, known as the Amarna Period, echoed into the Near East, who no longer wished to emulate the once proud and powerful empire, and began to seek independence from its waning influence. Babylon had a tendency to copy and Egyptianize their kingdom and perhaps this revolution was a cultural backlash to this multigenerational trend.
3. Lastly, there are those who believe an anti-Assyrian party responsible for fanning the seeds of discontent for many years, that this person or persons or network secretly supported the Suti's efforts in harassing Assyrian travelers on the road, and when the time arrived to remove an unwelcome half-breed from their throne, the knife was firmly twisted, with their former ruler anything but sorely missed.

Ashur-uballit, now a man of venerable age, still sat upon the Assyrian throne, and nothing dissuaded him from quickly announcing in an open declaration, his vow, seeking justice for his grandson's murder. The old king himself led an army into Babylon, who following the transition of their violent coup, was taken completely unawares, and in their unreadiness, Assyria overthrew those who had taken power. The usurper was killed (records conflict if the leader responsible for Kadashman-Karbe's demise was Shuzigash or Nazibugash) and the Assyrian king placed the kingdom of Babylon into the hands of his great-grandson Kurigalzu III.

If the Kassites believed that the Suti would come to their aid . . . They were quite mistaken.