Brill’s New Pauly Supplements I - Volume 3 : Historical Atlas of the Ancient World

The map covers the phase in Assyrian history when its kings Tiglatpileser III, Shalmaneser V and Sargon II realized Shalmaneser III’s long-standing plans of conquest in Syria and western Iran by prevailing against the Urarṭian Empire for good in both regions. I. Assyria Tiglatpileser III (745–727 BC) succeeded in reunifying the empire’s fragmented powers and using them to full effect, which meant that for several generations further conflict among the Assyrian elite was either avoided or at least quickly resolved: when Sargon II (722–705…

This map covers the long period from the end of the succession war between the sons of Shalmaneser III to Tiglatpileser III’s accession to the throne. It is marked by the temporary demise of the Babylonian Kingdom and the dynamic territorial expansion of Urarṭu. Assyria, although shaken by the war of succession, resumed its policy as a great power, albeit on a smaller scale compared to Shalmaneser III’s time. In addition it was greatly hampered by internal strife from 764 BC onward. I. Babylonia The Babylonian king Marduk-zākir-šumi ( c. 855/851–819? BC) had helped to end the Assyri…

Map A describes the decline and ultimate fall of the Assyrian Empire after the death of Assurbanipal. Map B shows the brief intermediate phase between the empire of the Assyrians and that of the Persians, a period characterized by equilibrium among several major powers in Asia Minor. I. Assyria (Map A) At the time of the death of Assurbanipal (631 BC), the empire was in a more favourable position than ever before, since it no longer faced any serious foreign opponents. However, because the king had not succeeded in satisfactorily ordering the su…

Maps A and B show the Assyrian Empire at its height as a world power. Map A covers the period when Assyria subjugated first Babylonia and then Egypt while practising peaceful coexistence with Urarṭu. A new phase began around 660 BC (map B), but the radical changes in the Near East caused by Egypt’s emergence as a great power, the disintegration of Urarṭu and Elam and the havoc wrought in Anatolia by the Cimmerians, failed to affect Assyria, which even benefited from these events. I. Babylonia and Elam From 710 to 689 BC, Sargon II (722-705) and Sennacherib (705-681) were predominan…

Map A illustrates how the Assyrian Empire slowly regained its strength. Its rulers focussed all their energies on retrieving the territories it had lost in the turmoil of the 11th and 10th cents. The starting point of map B is the foundation of the new Assyrian capital of Kalḫu; it topicalizes the subsequent phase of Assyrian power politics, which – after continually expanding its scope – came to a halt with the wars for the succession of Shalmaneser III. I. Assyria (maps A and B) Around the middle of the 10th cent., the Assyrian Empire had been reduced to the core area around t…

In Mesopotamia, the period in question encompasses the later Early Dynastic ( c. 2500–2200 BC), the Akkadian (ca 2200–2050 BC) and the Neo-Sumerian ( c. 2050–1950 BC) periods. In northern Syria, it includes the Early Bronze Ages III and IV and the beginning of the Middle Bronze period. The state of the source material on this period shows little homogeneity. For the Neo-Sumerian period we have at our disposal a considerable number of texts from several cities in southern Mesopotamia, whereas there are only isolated dat…