Battle of Diyala River
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Diyala River took place in 693 BC between the forces of the Assyrian empire
and the Elamites of southern Iran
.
into Judea
and Babylon
. After defeating the Babylonians in 689 BC, King Sennacherib sought to punish the Kingdom of Elam for its support towards Babylonia
.
n allies from Babylon, managed to raise an army and met the Assyrian forces of Sennacherib in 693 BC at the Diyala river. According to the Assyrian account of the battle, the Elamites were heavily defeated. However, many historians believe that the Assyrians suffered heavy casualties as they failed to launch any invasions in 692 BC. In 647 BC, the Assyrians returned and this time destroyed the Kingdom of Elam.
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
and the Elamites of southern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
Assyrian expansion
From the 9th century BC onwards, the Assyrians had been expanding their domain from northern MesopotamiaMesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
into Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
and Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. After defeating the Babylonians in 689 BC, King Sennacherib sought to punish the Kingdom of Elam for its support towards Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
.
Battle
Prior to the battle, Sennacherib had sacked a number of Elamite settlements in 694 BC in an attempt to assert his authority over the region. Despite this, the Elamites, with their ChaldeaChaldea
Chaldea or Chaldaea , from Greek , Chaldaia; Akkadian ; Hebrew כשדים, Kaśdim; Aramaic: ܟܐܠܕܘ, Kaldo) was a marshy land located in modern-day southern Iraq which came to briefly rule Babylon...
n allies from Babylon, managed to raise an army and met the Assyrian forces of Sennacherib in 693 BC at the Diyala river. According to the Assyrian account of the battle, the Elamites were heavily defeated. However, many historians believe that the Assyrians suffered heavy casualties as they failed to launch any invasions in 692 BC. In 647 BC, the Assyrians returned and this time destroyed the Kingdom of Elam.