Esarhaddon

(reigned ca. 680-669 b.c.)

   one of the most accomplished of the kings of the Assyrian Empire and the first to successfully invade Egypt. Esarhaddon and his brothers assassinated their father, Sennacherib, in 681 b.c.; after a struggle among the royal usurpers, Esarhaddon, the youngest, seized the throne. The new king's first significant act was to rebuild the city of Babylon, including the temple area, which his father had demolished. This large-scale project continued throughout Esarhad-don's reign, and he bragged about the achievement in an inscription: their shrines to adorn them forever. . . . The sons of Babylon . . . their cli-entship I established anew.

   Esarhaddon also concluded a treaty with the Medes, with whom the Assyrians had been at odds for some time. These excerpts from the treaty were discovered in the ruins of Kalhu (Nimrud):

   This is the treaty that Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Sennacherib . . . concludes with Ra-mataia, prince of the city of Urakaza-barna [in Media], with his sons, his grandsons, with all the people of [his] realm. . . . In the presence of the [gods] Ashur, An, Enlil, Ea, [and] Sin. . . . Assurbanipal, the [Assyrian] crown prince, son of your lord Esarhaddon . . . will exercise the kingship and sovereignty of Assyria over you [when I die]. You shall protect him in town and country. You shall fight and die for him. . . . You swear that you shall not be hostile to him.. . . You swear that you will not alter this treaty, that you will not consign it to the fire, or cast it into the water. . . . If you do so . . . let [the god] Sin . . . invest you with leprosy.

   Not all of Esarhaddon's pursuits were as constructive as building projects and treaties, however. He showed that he was willing and able to employ the same aggressive foreign policy and harsh military methods as the Assyrian monarchs who had preceded him. When the Phoenician city of Sidon rebelled against his rule, for example, he crushed the revolt, beheaded the city's ruler, destroyed all the buildings, and deported the surviving inhabitants to Assyria. Esarhaddon also launched two invasions of Egypt, in 674 and 671 B.c.The Egyptians managed to keep the Assyrians more or less at bay in the first attack but they lacked the military resources to stop Esarhaddon's second and bigger offensive. He subdued the capital, Memphis, and most of the countryside, surrounding it in less than a month. Still, the proud and stubborn Egyptians continued to resist; only two years after the main Assyrian army left the country, they staged a large insurrection. Esarhaddon was on his way back to put down this revolt when he died unexpectedly. His son, Ashurbanipal, succeeded him on Assyria's throne.

   See also: Ashurbanipal; Egypt; Sennacherib