Ancient History - Part 39: War and Peace

[A united Hattic Kingdom under Shubbiluliuma]

Shubbiluliuma removed the Harri people from Kissuwadna, confining them to the other side of the Euphrates, where they adopted the lifestyle of riverfolk. In the days that followed, the Hattic king's favorable treatment earned their obedience. The fatal mistakes that monarch-kings often make tend to be leaving problems unsolved, ones that continue to fester, and Shubbiluliuma's handling of Harri in a way that did not result in mass genocide or civil war was something the world took note of.

Next, he traveled to Syria to treat with the princes who ruled from their impressively rich city-states. This entire area bore spheres of influence that included princes aligned with the Mitanni and others with Egypt. In the case of the Mitanni, the Syrian princes were offered protection; with Egypt, innovation; but in the case of Hatta? War.

Shubbiluliuma did not enter Syria with peaceful intentions and carried the near full force of his armies into their lands. The Hattic king wisely chose to leave his internal struggles almost bloodless, but the opposite was true for the external challenge of staking a claim in Syria to form a new dynasty under his one rule. This move was unprecedented and a brutal one, taking Syria itself, along with its new allies in the Egyptians and Mitanni, completely unawares.

It is a fool's bargain to believe in others blindly fighting your battles for you upon nothing more than their word, and when the Hattic soldiers began their raids, Egypt and Mitanni occupied areas also fell to Shubbiluliuma's grasp. The local chieftains quickly submitted and before the Near End knew it, the Hattic nation now possessed all of northern Syria. King Shubbiluliuma's people remembered the old days written and told via oral tradition of the fierceness of the Assyria, and establishing this foothold in upper Syria was considered an effective posture against any notion of western expansion.

Just as one country might absorb another in order to create a buffer of sorts, this was the will of Shubbiluliuma's people, however, his own two reasons were entirely different.

Legacy and power.

[THE DEEDS OF SHUBBILULIUMA]

Ancient History - Part 38: Strength, Honor, and Respect

Shubbiluliuma came to the Hattic throne at 1400 B.C. and immediately sought to solve the longlasting problems which plagued his predecessor. He traveled by horse with his military into Cappadocia, fully restoring Hatti to its unquestionable seat of power. Admittedly, Hattushil faced an uphill battle with the set of challenges that plagued the latter part of his reign, but Shubbiluliuma displayed a level of strength in leadership that people could not help but find contagious.

With the hub of Cappadocia supporting his cause the young king next sought to resolve the Harrian Problem. A rival power that had opposed Hattushil congregated and took over the area of Kissuwadna. The initial clashes were bloody, but soon the local populace gave way to reason, and submitted to the greater power of the Hittite king's might. Kissuwadna and its people were not given a free pass, far from it, and the price for their revolt included increased taxes and the removal of their favored leaders from government.

And finally, the Tauric provincialities were beginning to develop sympathies with outside Hattan rivals, particularly Egypt and Assyria, whose traveling citizenry had now transformed into moderate migration. The prince who ruled one particular region, the westernmost of these states, Arzawa, preceded over what had effectively turned into an Egyptian proxy state. Knowing that if this potential issue was to exist as it stood, painful implications would threaten the remainder of the Hittite states, as the war-like Assyrians, in theory, might develop their own proxy state and as neighbors spelt out nothing less than death and destruction.

Arzawa was notable for having correspondence with Egypt, but the great king Shubbiluliuma did not let this dissuade him from what he needed to do. He fought and defeated the Arzawa state, fully absorbing it into Hattic power, expelling any foreigner, particularly those belonging to any nomadic tribe harboring semi-hostile sensibilities. And once all of this was accomplished, a message was sent to Egypt and Assyria where the boundaries lie and the internal issue with the Harri people also vanished simultaneously as Shubbiluliuma's Hittite kingdom kicked off the next millennia.

The overwhelming confidence by which certain leaders exude often rings peculiar to the eyes and ears of people looking to the past. But it stands so powerfully within the region of Asia Minor during this time of antiquity that might was often right, strength and power was respected, and he who made the least mistakes was welcomed as the greatest leader of men. It may be difficult for modern eyes to understand but this simple lesson puts on display that this was a time and place where the difference between a strong king and a weak king meant life or death, feast or famine, freedom or subjugation. 

And the Hittites rightfully and proudly decided: Shubbiluliuma was to be their strong king.

[An example of Arzawa stone art-relief of one of their local kings]

Ancient History - Part 37: Hittite Imperial Power

[EMPIRES OF 1300 B.C. (BY COLOR) - HITTITE; EGYPTIAN; ASSYRIAN-BABYLONIAN; MYCENAEAN]

Moving backwards and with an introspective eye on the former Hittite empire:

The Hittite civilization dwelled primarily in eastern Turkey (specifically, Anatolia), northern Syria, expanding throughout the 15th to 13th centuries to the Euphrates and the Mycenaean coastal waters. The power of the Hattic capital stood within Cappadocia.

It was from this power center around 1450 B.C. that king Dudkhalia established correspondence with the surrounding powers. These included but were not limited to Hanigalbat and Aleppo. Impressed by the Hittite king's shrewd attitude along with a willingness to share in the wealth that his friendship might suggest, Dudkhalia united a region known for its warworn history without ever firing a single arrow.

Upon Dudkhalia's passing, the throne went to Hattushil, a man who clashed for control against an opposing faction within the Hattic lands. This faction, ethnically Harrian, were supported by both northern Syrian people as well as the native riverfolk of the Euphrates. While the historic details might be described by some as sketchy at best, the following generations were predominently Hattic in nature, ushering in the imperial period of the Hittite empire, and thus signifying Hattushil's victory amid this struggle.

The last bastion of hope for the opposing Harrian leadership was towards the end of Hattushil's reign (1415), which saw a revival of sorts rebel against the Hattic king. At the far south, within a place called Kissuwadna, the Harrians rallied the surrounding southern lands in revolution. Simultaneously, Assyria's soldiery began to encroach from across the Euphrates and into Tauric territory (Crimean migrant lands) from the east. This started a fifteen year trajectory of growing opposition for Hattushil's successor, his son, and most famous of the Hittite kingly line, Shubbiluliuma.

All empires crumble sooner or later, finger pointing aside, the same pattern remains ever prevalent to this day. But the beauty and awe of an empire at its peak is still something for a historian to behold. Hattusa, Hittite, Hatti, Hattic, Hatta, Hattan... These are all variations describing a people who existed a long time ago primarily in what we now consider the country of Turkey who had many kings of impressive measure, though more than a few who suffered significant missteps in focal decision-making. Our retrospective on the Hittites and the rise and fall of their kingdom begins henceforth.

[HITTITE METALWORK]

Ancient History - Part 36: The Lesser of Two Men

[KING MARDUK-NADIN-AKHE OF BABYLONIA]

The time for peace expired by the end of Tiglath-pileser's reign as the despot of the Orient waged battle with the king of Babylonia, Marduk-nadin-akhe (1116-1101).

If a word could be said about Marduk-nadin-akhe it might be "bold", as the king order a raid upon Assyria in the year 1107 B.C, where his soldiers murdered and stole two major religious artifacts, the statues of the Assyria gods Shala and Adad. The greater crime was not the slaying of the citizens within close proximity to the statues, but rather the grave offense to their religious customs that brought the two nations to war.

At first there were a series of excursions leading the armies to clash in small skirmishes. This was a way for both sides to gauge the other side's mettle. However, it was the most heavily documented and largest of the early battles that bore significant results.

Both armies met for a full-scale collision at Lower Zab, stomping grounds the Assyrians had become extremely familiar. It was at this battle site that they routed the Babylonian forces, sending a large remainder in retreat, as they reclaimed the mountain territory and regrouped. The time for a subsequent battle yielded even more definitive results as the old king of Assyria fought the encroaching army near his own city of Akkad (specifically, Upper Akkad).

Tiglath-pileser not only defeated king Marduk-nadin-akhe's army, destroying every unit to the last man, but in retaliation, counter-attacked, launching a full-scale invasion upon Babylonia, who without a standing army, could no longer defend herself. First Dur-Kurigalzu fell, before Babylon and Opis soon followed. More towns and smaller cities were plundered and the Assyrian king had one final day of celebration to end his legendary time of rule.

The massive strategic error of Marduk-nadin-akhe's decision in attacking Assyria is the reminder that weaker men tend to pose within the shadows of truly great leaders. It's a pattern that usually sees the pettier of two rulers to act out as a bratty child might against their elder, leading to a violent confrontation, ultimately dooming the lesser individual's very subjects. They alone bear the price of their king's petulance and the king of Babylonia in this case highlights such a historic example.

[DUR-KURIGALZU]

Ancient History - Part 35: A Kingdom United

For just a limited time, there was some semblance of peace, if it could even be imagined. So much bloodshed and war once again soaked the lands of Asia Minor, and yet the campaign had ended.

Following his conquests, Tiglath-pileser was a man of many leisurely interests. He possessed superior quality hunting skills and bore a penchant for hunting elephants, particularly upon the Euphrates, admiring them for their size as well as the challenge that accompanied their tenacity for survival. Elephants were not all he hunted. He often boasted of slaying lions by chariot and nearly as many by foot. Wild bulls were another favored sport, commonly found throughout the plains bordering the Arabian Desert.

The Assyrian king did more than just hunt, rebuilding many temples throughout his vast kingdom, most notably Ishtar, but also the historic Adad and Anu, among others. He took particular strides to improve not just the temples of his own god, but the new subjects who knelt beneath him, such as the Amorites and other Semitic tribes folk. With the flair of an architect, he constructed new palaces and refurbished the old.

It wasn't merely culture and leisure that was his focus, but practical applications as well, as water-mechanisms that aided in transporting water long distances were repaired along with granaries built to store grain for the people. His breeding techniques from back home were implemented to improve the number of cattle, horses, donkeys, and sheep, thereby eliminating starvation amongst the kingdom. Tiglath-pileser is solely credited with the tripling of populations of wild deer and wild goats of Syria.

Tiglath-pileser was also fond of this foreign plant-life and took great efforts to curate massive exotic gardens and parks everywhere he traveled. This same affectation extended to the indigenous animal-life new to his eyes and it is said that the Egyptian king presented him a gigantic crocodile as a gift. For a time, Assyria had earned the respect from world's greatest detractors.

Ancient History - Part 34: The Fight For Phoenicia

Quelling the northern district, king Tiglath-pileser crossed south-east beyond Lower Zab, conquering further into the lower mountain lands that laid in wait. Assyria's armies did not get far before news broke that the Kurti left behind had revolted in the north. Rather than risk falling for an old canard at worst or accepting distraction at best, the Assyrian king chose to remain in the southern district, his forces encroaching upon land belonging the Nairi people.

There, a collection of leaders, totaling twenty three kings and the warriors who followed, met Tiglath-pileser's men in the field. Again, the Assyrians triumphed. With the Nairi and her allies soundly defeated, the Assyrian had shattered all opposition on two of her sides. The western and northern districts remained a troublesome nuisance however.

Within Hanigalbat, the former lands of the Mitanni, the city of Malatya, along with her sister strongholds resisted. In the old Hittite empire, Carchemish and her sister cities raised arms to ready a counter-assault intended to push back against Assyrian expansion as well. Rumor had swelled that even in Cappadocia, specifically Cataonia, warriors trained daily in their steadfastness, expectant of any pending attack.

Despite the challenge that waited in earnest, Tiglath-pileser never once succumbed to fear. From Lower Zab to the opposite side of the Euphrates, his forces marched forth, and in the end, by the fifth year of the warrior-king's reign, forty-two countries and kingdoms were conquered at his hand. The Assyrian king left his mark in many ways:

1. Rock sculptures and cuneiform left at Nahr el-Kelb in Phoenicia.
2. Tolled Lebanon of their strong trees, particular cedars, for building material.
3. A portrait of himself was sculpted into the cliffs of the Nairi heartland.
4. All cities now paid Tiglath-pileser tribute in gold during his visits for the remainder of his reign.

The inevitability of Assyrian expansion during this period was undeniable and even though many civilizations resisted, upon defeat, these smaller kingdoms relented to taciturn servitude than to sacrifice more lives in a fit of negligence. 

Ancient History - Part 33: New Direction, Same Directive

[THE COMMAGENE KINGDOM WITHIN THE LANDS OF ARZANENE]

Despite his hungry nibbling at the disorganized former Hittite lands, king Tiglath-pileser's victories on the west were soon plagued by a distraction back home. The Commagene people had risen once again in open-rebellion causing the Assyrian king to return with a vengeful aim at retribution. But once he did return to the northern outskirts of Assyria, he'd found that the majority of the uprising voices had absconded to their mountain fortresses.

Irked at his inability to reach the dissenting voices amongst the Commagene, as they each lay hidden safely within dangerously steep holdfasts, Tiglath-pileser and his advisors knew it would be a lengthy wait to starve the rebels out. And yet, wait they did, but not for so long, as the local inhabitants of the mountain lands, beginning with the Kurti people then others to follow, took umbrage with Assyrian soldiers upon their soil.

Quickly forgetting the rabble who'd withdrawn to the mountaintops, king Tiglath-pileser found himself filling the shoes of a conqueror once again, and it was said that upon finalizing his excursions, the Assyrian army had overtaken twenty five cities and countless villages. The lands of Arzanene (modern Armenia) and lands that extended to the great river now known as Amu Darya were all captured.

Many of these places surrendered to the much greater Assyrian forces without resistance. Fight or no fight, the result was the same, their lands became Tiglath-pileser's land, and a greater part of Assyria's borders had expanded once again.

The irony in the Commagene's uprising is that no matter which direction the Assyrian king would have chosen to expand, expansion would've occurred. His original intent decided upon the west, but with the Commagene drawing his attention back north, his military simply shifted geographical objectives and the mountain villages suffered a great wroth by proxy on behalf of their well-hidden and troublesome neighbors.

Rather than be gored by Assyria's might on the field, the people within the Arzanene region submitted whilst withholding any desire to grumble, but as the years beyond will tell they'd opt to fight another day. 

Another day and against another king.

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Typical mountain village during this period (as rendered by archaeologists by the 1800s):