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The Assyrian army failed to capture Babylon and Nabopolassar's garrison at Uruk also successfully repulsed them. [3] On November 22/23 626 BC, Nabopolassar was formally crowned as King of Babylon, the Assyrians having failed to capture and kill him, which restored Babylonia as an independent kingdom after more than a century of Assyrian rule. [3]
The fall of Babylon occurred in 539 BC, when the Persian Empire conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The success of the Persian campaign, led by Cyrus the Great , brought an end to the reign of the last native dynasty of Mesopotamia and gave the Persians control over the rest of the Fertile Crescent .
In the first half of the seventh century, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was at the height of its power, controlling the entire Fertile Crescent, and allied with Egypt.However, when Assyrian king Assurbanipal died of natural causes in 631 BC, [4] his son and successor Ashur-etil-ilani was met with opposition and unrest, a common occurrence in Assyrian history. [5]
Babylon was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about 85 kilometres (55 miles) south of modern day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-speaking region of Babylonia .
[6] [5] [1] However, the Hittites chose not to subjugate Babylon or the surrounding regions and instead withdrew from the conquered city up the Euphrates River to their homeland "Hatti-land". [1] The Hittite's decision to invade southern Mesopotamia and sack the city of Babylon is subject to debate among contemporary historians. [ 9 ]
When their forces encountered one another in this region, the Assyrian king Ashur-resh-ishi I met and defeated Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon on a number of occasions. Assyria then invaded and annexed Hittite-controlled lands in Asia Minor, Aram (Syria), and Gutians and Kassite regions in the Zagros, marking an upsurge in imperian expansion.
The siege of Babylon in 689 BC took place after Assyrian king Sennacherib's victory over the Elamites at the Battle of River Diyala. [1] Although the Assyrians had suffered heavy casualties at the river, they had beaten the Elamites such that the Babylonians now stood alone.
Babylon is perhaps most famous today for its repeated appearances in the Bible, where it appears both literally (in reference to historical events) and allegorically (symbolizing other things). The Neo-Babylonian Empire is featured in several prophecies and in descriptions of the destruction of Jerusalem and subsequent Babylonian captivity.