Asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography

See Ashurbanipal Legacy. Sumer Introduction. Early Dynastic Period. Sumerian King List. Mesopotamia Introduction. Akkadian Empire Introduction. Battle of Uruk. Sargon the Great. Babylonia Introduction.

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Nebuchadnezzar II. Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Ishtar Gate. Assyria Introduction. Old Assyrian Kingdom. Neo-Assyrian Empire. Minor Kingdoms Introduction. Home People Ashurbanipal. Ashurbanipal like most ancient rulers tackled this by suppressing dissents. Starting from day one of his reign, Ashurbanipal constantly had to battle rebellions across the empire.

For example, he invaded the Egyptian asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography in BC. He had to quickly quell a rebellion started by deposed Pharaoh Taharqawho tried to make a comeback from his base in the south the Kush regions. He sacked city-states after city-states. He also captured and murdered officials in the revolting cities on his way. And quite often, after every sacking of a city, Ashurbanipal appointed governors to steer the affairs of the city on his behalf.

Ashurbanipal carried out similar military campaigns like the ones above several times in Egypt, Anatolia and Syria. In the Arabian Peninsula for example, it is believed that he defeated King Yauta, king of the Qedarites, during a military campaign in BC. His training as a spymaster and intelligence officer came in very handy as he was able to identify regions and officials that were most likely to rebel.

With the help of Ashur [the patron god of Assyria] and Ishtar, I killed them. Their heads I cut off in front of each other. Regardless of how minuscule their chances were, the Elamites did not hesitate to cause a lot of trouble for the Neo-Assyrian Empire. After growing fed up of their troubles, Ashurbanipal razed down to ground the state of Elam.

He ordered the killing of their rulers. To serve as a deterrent mechanism, the frustrated emperor even hanged the heads of the Elamite rulers in his palace garden in Nineveh. Ruthless and barbaric as this looks, Ashurbanipal believed that it was the only way of putting to an end the pain Elam caused him. He killed the old guard in Elam and appointed a new generation of rulers to rule Elam on his behalf.

Military allies of Teumann were also slaughtered and their cities ravaged by Ashurbanipal. This culminated in his brother rebelling in BC. A three-year civil war ensued as the brothers battled for dominance in Mesopotamia. Shamash-shum-ukin was particularly helped by the Chaldeans, the Elamites, Amuru, and the Arameans. In spite of all that help, the Babylonians lost and Ashurbanipal besieged their city for several years.

When the city could not hold any longer, it surrendered to Ashurbanipal. Disgraced and completely ruined, Shamash-shum-ukin committed suicide by setting himself, along with his family, up on fire. To rebels and enemies of the Neo-Assyrian empire, Ashurbanipal was seen as a brute and ruthless ruler. However, back home in Nineveh, the king was much beloved.

Shamash-shum-ukin rebelled in and assembled a coalition of Assyria's enemies but was defeated and died during Ashurbanipal's siege of Babylon in On account of a lack of surviving records, much of Ashurbanipal's late reign is poorly known. Ashurbanipal is chiefly remembered today for his cultural efforts. A patron of artwork and literature, Ashurbanipal was deeply interested in the ancient literary culture of Mesopotamia.

Over the course of his long reign, Ashurbanipal utilized the massive resources at his disposal to construct the Library of Ashurbanipala collection of texts and documents of various different genres. Perhaps comprising overtexts at its height, the Library of Ashurbanipal was not surpassed until the construction of the Library of Alexandriaseveral centuries later.

The more than 30, cuneiform texts that have survived from the library are a highly important source on ancient Mesopotamian language, religion, literature and science. Artwork produced under Ashurbanipal was innovative in style and motifs and is regarded to possess an "epic quality" otherwise absent from much of the art produced under previous kings.

Ashurbanipal is recognized as one of the most brutal Assyrian kings; he was one of the few rulers to boast of his gory massacres of rebellious civilians. His extensive destruction of Elam is regarded by some scholars as a genocide. The Assyrians won many battles under Ashurbanipal, campaigning further from the Assyrian heartland than ever before, but several of his campaigns achieved little strategic advantage.

Ashurbanipal failed to maintain control of Egypt, and his wars in Arabia cost time and resources without establishing longterm Assyrian control. His extensive sack of Babylon after defeating Shamash-shum-ukin weakened the resources of the empire and fanned anti-Assyrian sentiment in southern Mesopotamia, perhaps contributing to the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire five years after Ashurbanipal's death.

Whether Ashurbanipal's policies led to the fall of the Assyrian Empire only two decades after his death is disputed in modern Assyriology. A distorted legend of Ashurbanipal was remembered in Greco-Roman literary tradition under the name Sardanapaluspurportedly the effeminate and decadent last king of Assyria whose vices led to the fall of his empire.

Born c. The Assyrian court was thrown into upheaval upon the unexpected death of Sin-nadin-apli in Esarhaddon's own father Sennacherib had bypassed Esarhaddon's elder brother Arda-Mulissu for the crown, and the rejected heir had murdered Sennacherib, with Esarhaddon winning the ensuing civil war. After the death of his own heir, Esarhaddon quickly made new succession plans, [ 17 ] naming his younger son Ashurbanipal as primary asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography and emperor of Assyriaand his eldest surviving son Shamash-shum-ukin as king of Babylon southern Mesopotamiawith the two to rule as "equal brothers".

Scholars have speculated at Esarhaddon's reasons for the divided succession, which broke with the Assyrian tradition of unitary rule. The two princes arrived at the Assyrian capital of Nineveh together and partook in a celebration [ 24 ] in May [ 25 ] with foreign representatives, Assyrian nobles and military commanders. Ashurbanipal entered the "House of Succession", the palace of the crown prince.

He began training for his duties as ruler, learning hunting, riding, scholarship and wisdom, archery, chariotry, and other military arts. Ashurbanipal became king of Assyria in late following Esarhaddon's death, having been crown prince for only three years. His grandmother Naqi'a wrote the Zakutu Treaty, which bound the royal family, aristocracy, and all Assyria to swear loyalty to Ashubanipal.

Asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography: 4,2 Esar Hadon Asirski

His coronation was marked by Ashurbanipal's gift of the sacred Statue of Mardukstolen from Babylon by Sennacherib twenty years before. Shamash-shum-ukin would rule Babylon for sixteen years, apparently without open conflict with his younger brother, but there would be repeated disagreements on the extent of his independence. Esarhaddon's succession decrees equivocated on the balance of power between the two heirs.

Ashurbanipal was the primary heir to the empire, and Shamash-shum-ukin was to swear allegiance to him, but Ashurbanipal was not to interfere in Shamash-shum-ukin's affairs. Esarhaddon sent troops to garrison Egyptian cities and appointed local Egyptian nobles as vassal rulers of the country. The campaign lapsed while Ashurbanipal was succeeding to his father's throne, and many of the Egyptian vassal rulers joined the revolt to expel the foreign conquerors.

After they massacred the Assyrian garrison in MemphisAshurbanipal sent an army against the rebels. On their way to Egypt, the Assyrian army collected tribute and military reinforcements from the various Levantine vassal states, including Manasseh of Judah and various rulers from Cyprus. The expeditionary forces fought their way through Egypt, winning a decisive battle at Kar-Banitu in Lower Egypt.

According to Assyrian sources, Taharqa and his supporters fled from Memphis to Thebesthen escaped back to Nubiaand the Assyrian army re-occupied Memphis. After Taharqa's death inhis nephew Tantamani proclaimed himself pharaoh and invaded Egypt, swiftly gained control of Thebes, and marched on Memphis. Ashurbanipal once again sent the Assyrian army.

By Ashurbanipal's account, Tantamani fled south as soon as the Assyrian army entered Egypt. In asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography for the repeated rebellion, the Assyrians heavily plundered Thebes. The city might have been razed to the ground but for the skillful diplomacy of its governor Mentuemhat. Upon the return of the Assyrian army to Ninevehspoils from Thebes were paraded through the streets and many treasures and obelisks were refashioned to incorporate into for Ashurbanipal's projects.

Inthe Elamite king Urtakwho had kept peaceful relations with Esarhaddonlaunched a surprise attack against Babylonia. Urtak was successfully driven back into Elam, dying shortly thereafter. He was succeeded as Elamite king by Teummanwho was unrelated to the previous monarch and had to stabilize his rule by killing his political rivals. Three of Urtak's sons, chief rival claimants to the Elamite throne, escaped to Assyria and were harbored by Ashurbanipal, despite Teumman demanding them to be returned to Elam.

Following the victory over the Elamites, Ashurbanipal had to deal with a series of revolts within his own borders. Bel-iqishachieftain of the Gambulians an Aramean tribe in Babyloniarebelled after he had been implicated as supporting the Elamite invasion and was forced to relinquish some of his authority. Little is known of this revolt, but there is a letter preserved in which Ashurbanipal orders the governor of UrukNabu-usabsi[ d ] to attack Bel-iqisha.

Nabu-usabsi apparently claimed that Bel-iqisha was solely to blame for the Elamite invasion. Shortly thereafter inBel-iqisha's son Dunanu also surrendered to Ashurbanipal. After a long period of peace, Teumman attacked Babylonia in Though Teumman marched to meet the Assyrians, he soon changed his mind and fell back to the Elamite capital of Susa.

The final battle in the war with Teumman, the Battle of Ulaitook place near Susa and was a decisive Assyrian victory, partly due to asirski kralj ashurbanipal biographies in the Elamite army. Teumann was killed in the battle, as was one of his vassals, Shutruk-Nahhunte of Hidalu. In the aftermath of his victory, Ashurbanipal installed two of Urtak 's sons as rulers, proclaiming Ummanigash as king at Madaktu and Susa and Tammaritu I as king at Hidalu.

Like the onset of a terrible hurricane I overwhelmed Elam in its entirety. I cut off the head of Teumann, their king, — the haughty one, who plotted evil. Countless of his warriors I slew. Alive, asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography my hands, I seized his fighters. With their corpses I filled the plain about Susa as with baltu and ashagu. Dunanu, who had joined the Elamites in the war, was captured alongside his family and executed.

The Gambulians were attacked by Ashurbanipal's army and brutally punished, with their capital of Shapibel being flooded and many of its inhabitants slaughtered. In Dananu's stead, Ashurbanipal appointed a noble called Rimutu as the new Gambulian chieftain after he had agreed to pay a considerable sum in tribute to the Assyrian king.

The Cimmeriansa nomadic Indo-European people living in the southern Caucasus north of Assyria, had invaded Assyria during the reign of Ashurbanipal's father. After Esarhaddon defeated them, the Cimmerians turned to attack Lydia in western Anatoliaruled by Gyges. After allegedly receiving advice from the Assyrian national deity Ashur in a dream, Gyges sent his diplomats to ask Ashurbanipal for assistance.

The Assyrians did not even know that Lydia existed; after the two states successfully established communication with the help of interpreters, the Cimmerian invasion of Lydia was defeated c. Two Cimmerian chiefs were imprisoned in Nineveh and large amounts of spoils were secured by Ashurbanipal's forces. The extent to which the Assyrian army was involved in the Lydian campaign is unknown, but it appears that Gyges was disappointed with the help since he just twelve years later broke his alliance with Ashurbanipal and allied with the increasingly independent Egypt instead.

After this, Ashurbanipal cursed Gyges. When Lydia was overrun by its enemies c. While the Assyrian forces were on campaign in Elaman alliance of PersiansCimmerians and Medes marched on Nineveh and managed to reach the city's walls. To counteract this threat, Ashurbanipal called on his Scythian allies and successfully defeated the enemy army.

The Median king, Phraortesis generally held to have been killed in the fighting. This attack is poorly documented and it is possible that Phraortes was not present at all and his unfortunate death instead belongs to a Median campaign during the reign of one of Ashurbanipal's successors. After his death c. Because the Scythians had driven the Cimmerians from their homes, the Cimmerians invaded Lydia again and successfully captured of the kingdom.

As his father had before him, Ardys also sent for aid from Ashurbanipal, stating that "You cursed my father and bad luck befell him; but bless me, your humble servant, and I will carry your yoke". It is unknown if any Assyrian aid arrived, but Lydia was successfully freed from the Cimmerians. They would not be driven out of Lydia completely until the reign of Ardys's grandson Alyattes.

Although Esarhaddon 's inscriptions suggest that Shamash-shum-ukin should have been granted the entirety of Babylonia to rule, contemporary records only definitely prove that Shamash-shum-ukin held Babylon itself and its vicinity. The governors of some Babylonian cities, such as NippurUruk and Urand the rulers in the Sea Land, all ignored the existence of a king in Babylon and saw Ashurbanipal as their monarch.

In letters, Shamash-shum-ukin addressed Ashurbanipal simply as "my brother" unlike how he addressed his father Esarhaddon, "the king, my father". Although there are several letters preserved from Shamash-shum-ukin to Ashurbanipal, there are no known replies. It is possible that Ashurbanipal, on account of his network of informers, did not feel a need to write to his brother.

Zakir reported that though Shamash-shum-ukin was angered, he and his governor of Babylon, Ubaru, chose to not take action against the visitors. Aspiring to become independent of Ashurbanipal and free Babylonia under his own rule, [ 48 ] Shamash-shum-ukin revolted in In Ashurbanipal's inscriptions, Shamash-shum-ukin is quoted to have said "Ashurbanipal will cover with shame the name of the Babylonians", which Ashurbanipal refers to as "wind" and "lies".

Soon after Shamash-shum-ukin began his revolt, the rest of southern Mesopotamia rose up against Ashurbanipal alongside him. In these days Shamash-shum-ukin, the faithless brother of mine, whom I had treated well and had set up as king of Babylon, — every imaginable thing that kingship calls for, I made and gave him; soldiers, horses, chariots, I equipped and put into his hands; cities, fields, plantations, together with the people who live therein, I gave him in larger numbers than my father had ordered.

But he forgot this kindness I had shown him and planned evil. Outwardly, with his lips, he was speaking fair words while inwardly his heart was designing murder. The Babylonians, who had been loyal to Assyria and faithful vassals of mine, he deceived, speaking lies to them. According to the inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, Shamash-shum-ukin was very successful in finding allies.

Ashurbanipal identified three groups who aided his brother: first and foremost there were the ChaldeansArameans and the other peoples of Babylonia, then there were the Elamitesand lastly the kings of GutiumAmurru and Meluhha. This last group of kings might refer to the Medes as Gutium, Amurru and Meluhha no longer existed at this point but this is uncertain.

Meluhha might have referred to Egyptthough the Egyptians are not documented to have aided Shamash-shum-ukin in the war. Shamash-shum-ukin's ambassadors to the Elamites had offered gifts called "bribes" by Ashurbanipal and their king, Ummanigashsent an army under the command of Undashethe son of Teummanto aid in the conflict. The war quickly turned chaotic; several minor players repeatedly changed sides and both Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin found it difficult to keep track of their allies.

Among the most notorious double agents were Nabu-bel-shumatia governor of the far south in Babylonia whose repeated betrayals enraged Ashurbanipal. Despite this seemingly strong alliance of Assyrian enemies, Shamash-shum-ukin failed to halt Ashurbanipal's advance. Ashurbanipal's account of the siege claimed that some of the citizens grew so hungry and desperate that they ate their own children.

According to his own inscriptions, Ashurbanipal initiated a bloodbath: "their carved up bodies I fed to dogs, to pigs, to wolves, to eagles, to birds of the heavens, to fishes of the deep". In addition to suicide through self-immolation or other means, it is possible that he was executed, died accidentally or was killed in some other way.

Asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography: Bitka kod Suse se zbila godine

After Shamash-shum-ukin's defeat, Ashurbanipal appointed a new vassal king of BabylonKandalanuof whom little is known. Kandalanu's realm was the same as Shamash-shum-ukin's with the exception of the city of Nippurwhich Ashurbanipal converted into a powerful Assyrian fortress. He might have been another one of Ashurbanipal's brothers or perhaps a Babylonian noble who had allied with Ashurbanipal in the civil war and had consequently been rewarded with the rank of king.

Kandalanu probably lacked any true political and military power, which was instead firmly in the hands of Ashurbanipal. Due to the defeat and death of a member of the Assyrian royal family, [ 60 ] the defeat of Shamash-shum-ukin was Ashurbanipal's most problematic victory. Though Babylonia slowly recovered after the war, the war exhausted economic resources and decreased the power and authority of the Assyrian Empire.

Signs of decline had already been visible before the civil war but its conclusion is regarded by modern historians to mark the end of the height of Assyrian authority. The Elamite effort to support Shamash-shum-ukin in the civil war had largely come to an end with the early defeat of Ummanigash 's army near the city of Der. As a result of Ummanigash's defeat, he was deposed in Elam by Tammaritu IIwho then took the throne for himself.

Ummanigash fled to the Assyrian court where he was granted asylum by Ashurbanipal. Tammaritu II's rule was brief and despite success in some battles against the Assyrians, alongside the rogue governor Nabu-bel-shumati already notorious for his role in the war with Shamash-shum-ukinhe was deposed in another revolt in The new king, Indabibihad an extremely brief reign and was murdered after Ashurbanipal threatened to invade Elam again because of the kingdom's role in supporting Shamash-shum-ukin and his other enemies.

Nabu-bel-shumati continued fighting against Ashurbanipal from outposts within Elam and though Humban-haltash was in favor of giving up the Chaldean rebel, Nabu-bel-shumati had too many supporters in Elam in order for this to go through.

Asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography: 4,2 Esar Hadon Asirski kralj oko

Because Humban-haltash could thus not respond to Ashurbanipal's threats, the Assyrians invaded Elam again in After the Elamite defense collapsed, Humban-haltash abandoned his seat at Madaktu and fled into the mountains. After the Assyrians had plundered the region of Khuzestan they returned home, prompting Humban-haltash to reemerge from the mountains and retake the throne.

The Assyrians returned to Elam in and Humban-haltash again abandoned Madaktu, fleeing first to the city Dur-Untash and then into the mountains in eastern Elam. Ashurbanipal's forces pursued him, plundering and razing cities on their way. All major political centers in Elam were crushed and nearby chiefdoms and petty kingdoms who had previously paid tribute to the Elamite king began paying tribute to Ashurbanipal instead.

Among these kingdoms was Parsuapossibly a predecessor of the empire that would be founded by the Achaemenids a century later. On their way back from their campaign, the Assyrian forces brutally plundered Susa. In Ashurbanipal's triumphant inscriptions detailing the sack it is described in great detail, recounting how the Assyrians desecrated the royal tombs, looted and razed temples, asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography the statues of the Elamite gods and sowed salt in the ground.

Susa, the great holy city, abode of their gods, seat of their mysteries, I conquered according to the word of Ashur and Ishtar. I entered its palaces, I dwelt there in rejoicing; I opened the treasures where silver and gold, goods and wealth were amassed [ I destroyed the ziggurat of Susa [ I reduced the temples of Elam to naught; their gods, their goddesses, I scattered to the winds.

The secret groves where no outsider had ever penetrated, where no layman had ever trod, my soldiers entered, they saw their mysteries, they destroyed them by fire. The tombs of their ancient and recent kings who had not feared [the goddess] Ishtar, my lady, and who were the cause of torments to the kings, my fathers—those tombs I devastated, I destroyed, I exposed to the sun and I carried away their bones toward the land of Ashur.

Despite the thorough and brutal campaign, the Elamites endured as a political entity for some time. After Humban-haltash was deposed, captured and sent to the Assyrians in a revolt shortly thereafter, Assyrian records cease to speak of Elam. Assyrian interests in the Levant and other western territories were at times challenged on account of Arab tribal groups raiding Assyrian territories or disrupting trade.

On occasion, the Assyrian army intervened, deposing and replacing problematic tribal rulers. The Arabian campaigns have received relatively little attention from modern historians but they are the conflicts with the most lengthy and detailed accounts in Ashurbanipal's own writings. Ashurbanipal's first campaign against the Arabs was conducted some time before the war with Shamash-shum-ukinprimarily against the Qedarites.

Controlling such a far-flung empire required nearly constant action by Assyrian military forces. Nevertheless, Ashurbanipal's asirski kralj ashurbanipal biography generally prospered and benefited from his capable administration. After subduing Arab revolts in the s, he turned again to pacifying Elam. Ashurbanipal was proud of his scribal education.

He was one of the few kings who could read cuneiform script in Akkadian and Sumerian and claimed that he even understood texts from before the great flood. He was also able to solve mathematical problems. During his reign he collected cuneiform texts from all over Mesopotamia, especially Babylonia, in the library of Nineveh, which was rediscovered in the late nineteenth century.

Besides their intrinsic value, the documents proved extremely helpful in deciphering cuneiform. Many of the mythic literary texts would remain unknown had Ashurbanipal not preserved them in his library. Ashurbanipal also demonstrated a substantial commitment to religious building. He improved virtually all of the major religious shrines of both Assyria and Babylonia, especially Nineveh's Temple of Ishtar.

He took a keen interest in omens, many of which he read himself. He also took part regularly in religious festivals. Finally, it should be mentioned that Ashurbanipal was also a major patron of the arts. He adorned his palaces with scenes depicting both his military victories and religious events of his reign. Art critics indicate that the epic quality of these bas-reliefs are unequaled.

During the final decade of Ashurbanipal's rule, Assyria was seemingly peaceful, but it also faced decline due to economic exhaustion and military over-extension. Documentation from the last years of Ashurbanipal's reign is uncharacteristically scarce, given the abundance of evidence for his earlier years. Even the date of his death is not known for certain.

The latest attestations of Ashurbanipal's reign are of his thirty-eighth regnal year, B. Chronological difficulties that arise from this date lead scholars to speculate that he probably died closer toor that, during his old age, he may have shared power with his son and successor Ashur-etil-ilani. In any case, after his death, a power struggle ensued, involving several parties, including Ashur-etil-ilani, his brother Sinsharishkun, a general named Sin-shumu-lishir, and the eventual new king of Babylon, Nabopolassar.

Babylon would soon take ascendancy over Nineveh, an empire over which Ashurbanipal had presided would give way to the new Babylonian Empire. After Ashurbanipal's death, the Assyrian Empire began to disintegrate rapidly. The Scythians, Cimmerians and Medes immediately penetrated Assyria's borders, marauding as far as Egypt, while Babylonia again became truly independent.

Despite being a popular king among his subjects, Ashurbanipal was also known by enemy nations for his exceedingly cruel treatment of defeated kings. Many bold depictions boast of such cruel acts, showing that he cultivated an image that would make his enemies fear him. On the other hand, his interest in culture and writing gained him a reputation in some quarters for effeminacy, and his portrayals in art may be designed to counteract this.

It was Ashurbanipal's appreciation for the value of written texts that provided his most lasting legacy.