his brother, but failed. A four-year war followed. In 648 BCEBabylon was taken
and pillaged after a siege of over two years, in which extreme famine and plague had
raged in the city (see Figure 37. 4 ). Shamash-shumu-ukin perished in the fire that
destroyed most of his capital. In the south of Babylonia the fighting continued until
646 BCE(Ahmed 1968 ; Cogan and Tadmor 1981 ; compare Brinkman 1984 : 93 – 104 ;
Gerardi 1987 ).
The Assyrian army was able to recapture the whole of Babylonia, but it took a
great amount of time, money and manpower. For about twenty years, the situation
remained calm. According to the economic texts we have from this period, Kandalanu
( 647 – 627 ), the Babylonian king appointed by Ashurbanipal, was gradually placed in
charge over the land and he lost control in the same gradual way (Brinkman 1984 :
105 – 111 ). In 627 BCEa new Chaldaean rebellion under Nabopolassar started. In the
following year he was crowned king of Babylon and by 620 BCEthe Assyrians had
lost the whole of Southern Mesopotamia. But this was not the end. The Babylonians
joined forces with the Iranian Medes and invaded Assyria itself. One after the other
the Assyrian cities were conquered: first Ashur in 614 , then Kalchu and, finally in
612 , Nineveh. After the fall of Assyria it was the king of Babylon who ruled the
whole of Mesopotamia.
CULTUREBeside the historical interrelations between Assyria and Babylonia, there were strong
cultural ties. But although the two states were part of the same Mesopotamian culture
based on the same mythologies and world views, transmitted through the same
— Hannes D. Galter —Figure 37. 4 Assyrian relief depicting the deportation of Babylonians. From Nimrud
(courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).