Every alliance built upon the shrewd diplomacy of Hattushil, due largely in part to the Hittite king's silver tongue, began to fall beneath the weight of Assyrian attack. But what of Babylonia?
King Hattushil had left the Kassite nobility disenchanted with the strong dictates he'd impressed upon their decision-making, during the selection process of their new king, and the consequences of this grave offense quickly manifested. For when Assyria attacked the west, the north, and the Hittite-lands of the east, Babylonia did not come to the aid of her allies. Once it became apparent that king Shalmaneser would not invade Babylonia, opting to instead leave the powerful nation of the south untouched, the ruling Kassites thusly remained quiet, sentencing the Hittites to their fate.
As the Assyrian king and his armies neared to attack Carchemish, the power center of the Near East, along with the surrounding Syrian cities, and their ruling puppet princes, bound together by Hittite influence, a pivotal event occurred:
The Great Assyrian Temple of Ashur burned to the ground.
King Shalmaneser, who hungered for blood and conquest, did so only in the name of his god (Ashur, the spiritual embodiment of the Assyrian capital city of the same name). If war was his sole interest, surely religion would topple that sentiment as its only exception.
When news of the Great Temple of Ashur's destruction reached him, king Shalmaneser ceased all further attacks, fortifying the monumental lengths his kingdom had expanded, and traveled back to his capital at once. Shalmaneser spent the remainder of his reign at home, rebuilding the Great Temple of Ashur in a manner of dignity befitting only to that of a god worthy of his people's worship might deserve.
I wonder if the fire at Ashur Temple was intentionally started, so that Shalmaneser would abandon his Hittite offensive. I just followed you on Twitter and will message you there further
ReplyDeleteAn interesting theory, though unlikely. Remember, Assyria was wholly united by an emerging religion on the level of zealotry that extended from soldier to peasant which provides three counter-points to the idea of an intentional burning of E-Kharsag-kurkura:
Delete1. The citizenry held the successful war campaign of king Shalmaneser as a place of national pride, offering no anti-war sentimentality or motive from the populace.
2. There were no reports of foreign spies at work.
3. By the 13th century BC, every Assyrian held their god, Ashur, near to their heart, such that everyone in their society would largely find it unfathomable to burn it down themselves.