Esarhaddon

Esarhaddon (Akkadian: Aššur-aḥa-iddina "Ashur has given a brother"; Hebrew:

Esarhaddon
‫אֵ סַ ר חַ דֹּן‬, Modern ’ēsár ḥadón, Tiberian ’esār ḥādon;[1] Ancient Greek:
Ασαρχαδδων;[2] Latin: Asor Haddan[2]) was a king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
King of Assyria, Babylonia, Akkad,
who reigned 681 – 669 BC. He was the youngest son of Sennacherib and the West
Sumer, Egypt and Kush
Semitic queen Naqi'a (Zakitu), Sennacherib's second wife.

Contents
Rise to power
Military campaigns
Death
See also
References
Bibliography
External links
Esarhaddon, closeup from his
victory stele

Rise to power Reign 681 – 669 BC

Predecessor Sennacherib
When, despite being the youngest son, Esarhaddon was named successor by his
father, his elder brothers tried to discredit him. Oracles had named him as the person Successor Ashurbanipal
to free the exiles and rebuild Babylon, the destruction of which by Sennacherib was Died 669 BC
felt to have been sacrilegious. Esarhaddon remained crown prince, but was forced Akkadian Aššur-ahu-iddin
into exile at an unknown place beyond Hanilgalbat (Mitanni), that is, beyond the
Greek Ασαραδδων
Euphrates, most likely somewhere in what is now southeasternTurkey.
(Asaraddon)
Sennacherib was murdered in 681 BC. The biblical account is that Esarhaddon's Hebrew ‫אסַר חַד ֹּן‬
ֵ
brothers killed their father after the failed attempt to capture Jerusalem (2 Kings
Father Sennacherib
19:37). Esarhaddon returned to the capital of Nineveh in forced marches and
Mother Naqi'a
defeated his rival brothers in six weeks of civil war. He was formally declared king
in the spring of 681 BC. His brothers fled to the land of Ararat and their followers
and families were put to death. In the same year Esarhaddon began the rebuilding of Babylon, including the well-known Esagila and
the Ekur at Nippur (structures sometimes identified with the Tower of Babel).[3] The statues of the Babylonian gods were restored
and returned to the city. He also ordered the reconstruction of the Assyrian sanctuary of Esharra in Ashur as well. Foreigners were
forbidden to enter the temple. Both buildings were dedicated almost on the same date, the second year of his reign.

Military campaigns
The first military campaigns of Esarhaddon were directed against nomadic tribes of southern Mesopotamia, the Dakkuri and
Gambulu, who had been harassing the peasants. In 679 BC, the Cimmerians, who had already killed his grandfather Sargon II,
reappeared in Cilicia and Tabal under their new ruler Teushpa. Esarhaddon defeated them near Hubushna (Hupisna), and defeated the
rebellious inhabitants of Hilakku as well. The Cimmerians withdrew to the west, where, with Scythian and Urartuan help, they were
to destroy the kingdom ofPhrygia in 676 BC.
The Sidonian king Abdi-Milkutti, who had risen up against the Assyrian king, was
defeated in 677 BC and beheaded. The town of Sidon was destroyed and rebuilt as
Kar-
Ashur-aha-iddina, the "Harbor of Esarhaddon". The population was deported to
Assyria. A share of the plunder went to the loyal king of rival Tyre, Baal I, himself an
Assyrian puppet. The partly conserved text of a treaty with Tyre mentions the kings of
Judah, Edom, Moab, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, Byblos, Arvad, Samsi-muruna, Ammon,
Ashdod, ten kings from the coast of the sea, and ten kings from the middle of the sea
(usually identified withCyprus), as Assyrian allies.

In 676 BC, Esarhaddon took the towns of Sissu and Kundu in the Taurus Mountains.
The Mannaeans, the Scythians under their king Ishpakaia, and the "Gutians" of the
Zagros proved to be a nuisance as well, as is attested by numerous oracle-texts. The
Mannaeans, former vassals of the Assyrians, were no longer restricted to the area
around Lake Urmia, but had spread into Zamua, where they interrupted the horse trade
between Parsuash and Assyria and refused to pay further tribute. After the fall of Victory stele.
Phrygia, a daughter of Esarhaddon was wedded to the Scythian prince Partatua of
Sakasene in order to improve relations with the nomads. The Medes under
Khshathrita (Kashtariti) had been the target of a campaign as well, the date of which
is unclear (possibly before 676 BC). Later, Assyrian hosts reached the border of the
"salt-desert" near the mountain Bikni, that is, near Teheran. A number of fortresses
secured the Zagros: Bit-Parnakki, Bit-kari and Harhar (Kar-Sharrukin).

A certain Mugallu had taken possession of parts of the Syro-Hittite state of Melid,
and associated himself with the king ofTabal. The city of Melid was besieged in 675
BC, but without success. That same year, Humban-Haltash II of Elam began a
campaign against Sippar, but was defeated by the Babylonians, and died soon Easarhaddon cylinder from fort
afterwards. His brother and successorUrtaki restored peace with Assyria. Shalmaneser at Nimrud. It was found
in the city of Nimrud and was housed
A preliminary campaign against Egypt begun by Esarhaddon the next year seems to in the Iraqi Museum, Baghdad. Erbil
have failed. Meanwhile, Esarhaddon was waging war in the land of Bazu, situated Civilization Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan.
opposite of the island of "Dilmun" (Bahrain), probably Qatar, "where snakes and
scorpions cover the ground like ants" - a dry land of salt deserts. In 673 BC,
Esarhaddon waged war against Urartu under king Rusas II, which had strengthened again after the ravages of Sargon II and the
Cimmerians.

In 672 BC, crown prince Sin-iddina-apla died. He had been the oldest son and designated as king of Assyria, while the second son
Shamash-shum-ukin was to become the ruler of Babylon. Now, the younger Ashurbanipal became crown prince, but he was very
unpopular with the court and the priesthood. Contracts were made with leading Assyrians, members of the royal family and foreign
rulers, to assure their loyalty to the crown prince.

In 671 BC, Esarhaddon went to war against Pharaoh Taharqa of Egypt. Part of his army stayed behind to deal with rebellions in Tyre,
and perhaps Ashkelon. The remainder went south to Rapihu (Rafah, near Gazah), then crossed the Sinai and entered Egypt. In the
summer, he took Memphis, and Taharqa fled to Upper Egypt. Esarhaddon now called himself "king of Egypt, Patros, and Kush", and
returned with rich booty from the cities of the delta; he erected a victory stele at this time, showing the son of Taharqa in bondage,
Prince Ushankhuru. Almost as soon as the king left, Egypt rebelled against Assyrian rule.

Death
Esarhaddon had to contend with court intrigues at Nineveh that led to the execution of several nobles, and sent his general, Sha-
Nabu-shu, to restore order in the Nile Valley. In 669 BC, he went to Egypt in person, but suddenly died during autumn of the same
year, in Harran. He was succeeded byAshurbanipal as king of Assyria, andShamash-shum-ukin as king of Babylonia.
See also
Kings of Assyria

References
1. "Ezra 4 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre"(http://www.mechon-
mamre.org/p/pt/pt35a04.htm). Mechon-mamre.org. Retrieved
2012-08-17.
2. "NEW ADVENT BIBLE: Ezra 4"(http://www.newadvent.org/bible/ezr004.
htm). Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
3. Barbara N. Porter (1993).Images, power, and politics: figurative aspects
of Esarhaddon's Babylonian policy(https://books.google.com/books?id=
kUsLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA62). American Philosophical Society. pp. 62–.
ISBN 978-0-87169-208-5. Retrieved 8 June 2011.

Bibliography
Black basalt monument of king
Amitai Baruchi-Unna, "Crossing the Boundaries: Literary Allusions to the Esarhaddon. It narrates
Epic of Gilgamesh in the Account of Esarhaddon's Egyptian Campaign," Esarhaddon's restoration of Babylon.
in Mordechai Cogan and Dan'el Kahn (eds),Treasures on Camels' Circa 670 BC. From Babylon,
Humps: Historical and Literary Studies from the Ancient Near East
Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British
Presented to Israel Eph`al(Jerusalem, Magnes Press, 2008),
Museum, London.
Erle Leichty, "Esarhaddon's Eastern Campaign," in Mordechai Cogan
and Dan'el Kahn (eds),Treasures on Camels' Humps: Historical and
Literary Studies from the Ancient Near East Presented to Israel Eph'al
(Jerusalem, Magnes Press, 2008),
David Damrosch, The buried book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the
Great Epic of Gilgamesh(Henry Holt and Co., 2007),

External links
A summary of Assyrian kings
The murderer of Sennacherib- by Simo Parpola
Vassal treaties and Esharhaddon's "Letter tothe God"
Esharhaddon’s Syrio-Palestinian Campaign
Esarhaddon Chronicle

Terracotta record of king

Esarhaddon's restoration of Babylon.
Circa 670 BC. From Babylon,
Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British
Museum, London.
 King of Assyria Succeeded by
681 – 669 BC Ashurbanipal
Preceded by
Sennacherib Succeeded by
King of Babylon
Shamash-shum-
681 – 669 BC
ukin

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