The Isin-Larsa and Old Babylon Period

Isin, Larsa, and Babylon all begin as city states, but they come to dominate the period after the fall of the III Dynasty of Ur. Larsa soon encompases most of traditional Sumer, while Isin and Babylon are more at the Akkadian end of the area. However, just as the Sumerians fade from history, there is the infusion of a new Semitic speaking people, the Amorites. Babylon itself, hitherto unattested in Sumerian or Akkadian texts, could well be an Amorite foundation, although cultural assimilation is rapid, and it is the Amorite kings who permanently establish the cultural dominance of the Akkadian language, now taking on the form of a Babylonian dialect. Amorite itself ends up so poorly attested that its affinities in the Semitic family are uncertain. Under the celebrated Hammurabi, Babylon comes to dominate Sumer and Akkad, beginning the process by which the area simply become "Babylonia." For a while, Babylon expands into a domain comparable to that of Sargon or Ur III. This ended abruptly, has often the case in Mesopotamia, with an invasion, in this case that extraordinary raid of the early Hittites on Babylon. An obscure and poorly dated era follows, with the "Sealand" (Babylon II) Dynasty in the south and the Kassites (Babylon III) filling the vacuum in the middle.

The list and dates here are from Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq [Penguin, 1966, 1992], pp. 507-512. There are some curious differences between the 1966 and the 1992 editions, which Roux does not discuss. The chronology is poorly known.

It was long thought that the Kassites, a people of neither Semitic nor Indo-European linguistic affinity, had an Indo-European/Iranian warrior nobility. The evidence for this was thin, and the tendency now seems to be to discount the possibility [cf. Amélie Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC, Routledge, 1995, 2000, volume I, pp.333-334]. Theirs was the longest lasting Babylonian dynasty. Because of the relative dearth of information, it was long thought to be a period without much in the way of cultural development. However, it now appears that the Kingdom stretched all the way to Bahrain and accomplished much in the way of the cultural unification of Lower Mesopotamia -- which now simply and truly becomes "Babylonia," more than just the imperial possession of a city-state. Babylonian diplomatic correspondence with Egypt is found in the Amarna archive, telling us rather more about the Babylonian Kings than we know from the records in Babylonia.

Of great interest in the period after the fall of the Kassites is the beginning of the chronology later preserved in Claudius Ptolemy's Canon of Kings. Passed on by Hellenistic Babylonian priests, like Kidunnu and Berossos, were astronomical observations dating back to the reign of Nabûnâs.ir (Nabonassar), starting in 747 (Dynasty IX of Babylon). The names of some kings have gotten somewhat garbled in Greek translation:  The Babylonian and Assyrian equivalents are given by E.J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World [Cornell University Press, 1968, 1982], pp.109-110. These were given in regal years. Although there was long some scepticism about the accuracy of the Canon, the dates of the astronomical events can now be confirmed by modern calculation. This makes the reign of Nabonassar the foundation of all Mesopotamian chronology. What Ptolemy did with this, however, made it the basis of all ancient chronology, since he extended the list all the way down through the Persian kings, the Ptolemies, and the Roman Emperors to his own time (in the reign of Marcus Aurelius). This made it possible to date events in the Era of Nabonassar, though for the dates Ptolemy, who lived in Egypt, used the unmodified Egyptian calendar, which had a 365 day year, without leap years. So the Nabonassaran calendar gains a year on the Julian calendar every 1460 years (the "Sothic cycle"). In 1999, the Nabonassaran year 2748 began on April 24. In purely solar years, such as the Babylonian calendar used itself, 1999 would be only Nabonassaran year 2746.

The fall of the Assyrian empire came with surprising suddenness. The Medes and the Babylonians, who cooperated in defeating Assyria, divided the Asiatic domain of the Assyrians between them. (Egypt had meanwhile liberated itself.)

KINGS OF EGYPT; LATE PERIOD; XXVI DYNASTY, of Sais
Neko (Nechaô) I	672-664
Psamtik (Psammêtichos) I	664-610
Expels Assyrians, 655
Neko II	610-595
Psamtik II	595-589
Wah.ibre (Apriês/Uaphris)	589-570
Ah.mose (Amôsis) II	570-526
Psamtik III	526-525
Persian Conquest, 525

The system of Thirty Dynasties was formulated by the Egyptian priest Manethô, writing in Greek under the Ptolemies. The Persians, who overthrew the XXVI Dynasty in 525, were reckoned by Manethô as the XXVII Dynasty. Sometimes the last Persian rulers of Egypt (Artaxerxes III, etc.) are called the "XXXI Dynasty." This proposal is an ancient one, handed down by the Christian Chronographer Julius Africanus. Sometimes the Ptolemies are called the "XXXII Dynasty," but this is a modern suggestion.

The XXVI Dynasty represents the greatest flowering of the Egyptian state and civilization since the New Kingdom. Sadly, it was also the last hurrah of Ancient Egypt. The Saite Kings almost seem aware of that themselves. They carried out probably the first official exploration of the pyramids, copying the Old Kingdom art they discovered and introducing their own burials into tombs that were already two thousand years old. This antiquarian project is then found together with the first hints of the Hellenistic Age, since the reliance of the Saite Kings on Greek mercenary soldiers and the significant presence of Greek traders in Egypt launches a Greek presence that soon enough becomes dominant. This may have been a factor in the overthrow of Apriês by Ah.mose II. Apriês may have become unpopular by being too closely associated with the Greeks, since the Egyptians didn't like foreigners very much. Then Ah.mose dealt with this by directing the foundation of Naucratis as the emporium and colony for all the Greeks in Egypt. That succeeds admirably, and Egypt continues to draw on Greek help all through the history of the Persian empire.

GREAT KINGS OF PERSIA ACHAEMENIDS
Achaemenes
Teispes	675-640
Cyrus I	640-600
Cambyses I	600-559
Cyrus (Kurush) II, the Great	559-530
overthrows Medes, 550; conquers Lydia, 547; conquers Babylon, 539
Cambyses (Kambujiya) II	530-522
conquers Egypt, 525; XXVII DYNASTY of Egypt
Darius (Darayavahush) I	522-486
invades Greece, defeated at the battle of Marathon, 490
Xerxes (Xshayarsha) I	486-465
invades Greece, defeated at the battles of Salamis and Platea, 480, 479
Artaxerxes (Artaxshassa) I Longimanus	465-424
Xerxes II	424-423
Darius II	423-404
Egypt breaks away, 404
Artaxerxes II Mnemon	404-359
Artaxerxes III Ochus	359-338
reconquers Egypt, 343; "XXXI" DYNASTY
Arses (Arsha)	338-336
Darius III Codomannus	336-330
Macedonian Conquest

Cyrus the Great overthrew, in turn, the Medes, Lydians, and Babylonians, suddenly creating an empire far larger than even the Assyrian. Cyrus was better able, through more benign policies, to reconcile his subjects to Persian rule; and the longevity of his empire was one result. The Persian king, like the Assyrian, was also "king of kings," xshayathiya xshayathiyânâm (shâhanshâh in modern Persian) -- "great king," megas basileus, as known by the Greeks. Alexander the Great, after he ultimately overthrew the Persians, deliberately assumed the universal pretensions of the Achaemenid kings, but the division of his empire after his early death eliminates any factual universality until the Roman Empire.

 
Macedonia quietly grew into a power that, under Philip II, would dominate Greece and, in short order, turn against Persia. It is a little odd to think of all these monarchs, so important in Greek history, as not actually being Greek; but, like neighboring Epirus, they are not. A revealing point in this respect is the epithet "Philhellene" of Alexander I. No Greek needs to be called "loving the Greeks." Exactly what the linguistic affinities of the Macedonians were is unclear. That it could be to the later Illyrians, or Thracians, or even modern Albanians, is always possible, but the matter is largely speculative. Whatever it was, the Philhellenism of the Kings soon created a layer of Greek culture that made them seem proper Greeks to everyone except, of course, the actual Greeks. The Macedonian monarchy itself also struck the Greeks as rather un-Greek. When Philip added his own statue to a procession of the Twelve Olympians, his assassination shortly thereafter suggested that the gods had been offended. If so, his son, Alexander III, was untroubled, initiating Hellenistic practice by assuming divine attributes -- something else to scandalize the Greeks, if by then anyone actually cared. The modern Macedonians are actually Slavs, but nearly everything about both the ancient and modern peoples is disputed by them and by Modern Greeks.

 

 
Egypt, which was added to the Persian empire by Cyrus's son Cambyses, frequently revolted against the Persians. The Persian invasion of Greece in 490 was in part to be punishment of the Greeks for helping the Egyptians in these revolts. Since the invasion of 480 was then in revenge for the failure of the invasion of 490, we could say that the consequences of Greek interference in Egypt were persistent. But the Egyptians and the Greeks kept at it, and eventually...

 

EGYPTIAN KINGS; XXVIII DYNASTY, of Sais
Amyrteos	404-399
XXIX DYNASTY, of Mendes
Nepheritês I	399-393
Psammûthis	393
Achôris	393-380
Nepheritês II	380
XXX DYNASTY, of Sebennytus
Nekhtnebef, Nectanebês, Nectanebos I	380-363
Takhôs	362-361
Nekhth.areh.be, Nectanebos II	360-343
Persian Reconquest, 343

A revolt succeeded, and Egypt was independent for sixty years late in the empire. This was the last time Egypt was actually ruled by Egyptians until King Farûk (who was descended from the Albanian Muhammad Ali) was overthrown in 1952.

Little is known about this entire period apart from the names given by Manethô and references by Greek historians. The name of the only ruler of the XXVIII Dynasty is not even known from any Egyptian inscriptions. Only the XXX Dynasty, with two substantial reigns, did any kind of building in the old royal manner. After the brief restoration of Persian rule, the next established dynastic government in Egypt was the Ptolemies.

The Kings of the XXX did a great deal of building. Nekhtnebef began the temple at Philae, at Aswan, that later was enlarged by Ptolemies and the Romans, and which many centuries later was the last place where hieroglyphics were still being inscribed. Nekhth.areh.be fled before the Persians into Kush. We do not know how long he then lived, but King Nastasen of Kush may have made an attempt to restore him -- despite the way that the XXVI Dynasty Kings had attempted to erase from Egypt the names of all the XXV Dynasty Kings.

 

Less epochal but of particular interest is an event of 361. King Agesilaus II was given a banquet by the King of Egypt (this would have been Takhôs of the XXX Dynasty). As customary at Egyptian celebrations, the Egyptians wore cones of fat and perfume on their heads. Agesilaus was so offended by the perfume -- prohibited at Sparta -- that he walked out.

Sparta maintained its independence into the Hellenistic Period, but it began to lose its distinctive cultural and political character. Areus I introduced silver coinage, and wealth eroded the old communal and miltary traditions of the city. Indeed, wealth and poverty grew together, and the number of Spartan citizens was gravely reduced as many fell below the property qualification. King Agis IV tried to reverse all this with a program to forgive debts, redistribute land, and recruit new citizens from the perioikoi, the non-citizens who had always lived around Sparta. Agis forced his royal colleague, Leonidas II, into exile; but then Leonidas returned and killed Agis. Nevertheless, the son of Leonidas, Cleomenes III, put all of Agis's reforms into effect. Cleomenes even allowed many Helots, the virtual slaves at the bottom of Spartan society, to buy their freedom. All this attracted the attention and support of the many of the poor elsewhere in Greece, and Spartan affairs took on larger overtones. Cleomenes himself was tempted to expand against the Achaean League, but he was defeated and driven into exile by the Achaeans and Macedonians (222). The last Spartan King, Nabis, tried his own version of Cleomenes' social revolution; but Sparta was annexed by Achaea when Nabis was assassinated.

This list is from E.J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World [Cornell Univesity Press, 1968-1982], p. 126. Bickerman mentions that "the earlist datable kings are Polydoris and Theopompus (first half of the seventh century). A reliable list of kings begins with" those shown.

Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D.