398 empires and dynasties: The Middle East tary, economic, and cultural power under the Kassite kings It was often at war with Assyria to its north, but it was allied by ties of marriage with the ruling house of Elam to its east, with the Hittites to the north, and with the distant Egyptians in a web of diplomatic relations In about 1154 b.c.e the Elamite king, feeling that he was the rightful successor (through marriage and his Kassite mother’s lineage) overthrew the Kassite Dynasty when his petition to ascend the Kassite throne was rudely rejected The Elamites carried to Susa, a large site in southwestern Iran, the statues of Babylon’s chief god Marduk, symbolizing Babylon’s loss of independence A king of the Second Dynasty of Isin (ca 1158–ca 1027 b.c.e.), Nebuchadnezzar I (r ca 1124–ca 1103 b.c.e.), drove the Elamites out of Babylonia Isin was a city to the southeast of the city of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar I conquered Susa and brought the Marduk statue back to Babylon, which was once again the seat of government Nebuchadnezzar I was a patron of the arts and commissioned many literary works, especially ones about himself His efforts to expand Babylonian control to cities in northern Mesopotamia led to retaliation by the Assyrians, who destroyed a few of the cities in Babylonia The Second Dynasty of Sealand (ca 1026–1006 b.c.e.) in Babylon was begun by a former member of the Assyrian army Little is known about Babylon from 1026 to 732 b.c.e Apparently, a new dynasty arose, perhaps in 979 b.c.e Its kings occasionally tried to break the dominance of Assyria In 689 b.c.e., after King Marduk-apla-iddina II (r ca 700–690 b.c.e.) tried to break away from Assyria, the Assyrians sacked the city of Babylon Marduk-apla-iddina II was a Chaldean, a Semitic tribe that had settled near the southern Euphrates River After his defeat, Babylonians waged a guerrilla war against the Assyrians From 654 to 648 b.c.e Shamash-shumukin, the Assyrian governor of Babylonia, waged war against his rival brother, Assyria’s king Ashurbanipal After defeating the revolt, Assyria appointed a puppet, King Kandalanu (r 648–627 b.c.e.), to rule Babylon NEO-BABYLONIAN DYNASTY (CA 625–539 B.C.E.) A Chaldean leader, Nabopolassar (r ca 625–605 b.c.e.), led a successful revolt against Assyria He expanded the Babylonian Empire, and in 605 b.c.e he sent his son Nebuchadnezzar to lead an army against Egyptian forces in Palestine He died that year, and the ascension of his son Nebuchadnezzar II (r 605–562 b.c.e.) marked the beginning of the Neo-Babylonian Empire Nebuchadnezzar II successfully took control of most of Palestine, yet the Egyptians defeated him when he tried to invade Egypt in 601 b.c.e When the kingdom of Judah in Palestine rebelled against Babylon in 587 b.c.e., the forces of Nebuchadnezzar II sacked Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar II repaired and rebuilt ziggurats and other public structures in his empire and built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, supposedly to please his wife, who missed the Median mountains (in western Iran) where she had grown up Nebuchadnezzar II’s first three successors had trouble keeping control of the throne The last of them was assassinated A commoner named Nabonidus (r 556–ca 539 b.c.e.) became king but was unpopular, and he went into exile in about 539 b.c.e His son Belshazzar (r ca 539 b.c.e.) replaced him but was not fully accepted as king because his father was regarded as still king In 539 b.c.e Cyrus the Great invaded and put an end to the Babylonian Empire ELAMITE DYNASTIES (CA 2900–539 B.C.E.) The history of Elam is customarily divided into three eras: Old Elamite Period (ca 2900–ca 1500 b.c.e.), Middle Elamite Period (ca 1500–1000 b.c.e.), and Neo-Elamite Period (1000– 539 b.c.e.) During the third millennium b.c.e the Elamites established towns in what is now southwestern Iran Their kings ruled from the city of Susa Elam was a vassal state of the Akkadian and later Ur III empires, but in 2004 b.c.e Kindattu of Elam sacked Ur In 1764 b.c.e Hammurabi of Babylon conquered Elam, but Elam successfully rebelled against Hammurabi’s son Samsuiluna In 1154 b.c.e the Elamites conquered Babylon, but in about 1126 b.c.e King Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon conquered Elam In the 700s and early 600s b.c.e Elam supported Babylonian rebellions against Assyria In about 646 b.c.e Assyria destroyed Elam’s capital city, Susa, but despite its destruction a late Neo-Elamite kingdom arose, and it was in this context that Cyrus the Great, called “king of Anshan” (the name of an ancient Elamite city and region near modern Shiraz) arose and finally claimed Babylonia in 539 b.c.e OLD ASSYRIAN PERIOD (CA 1900–CA 1700 B.C.E.) Assyria was a region of northern Mesopotamia, centered on the area of modern-day Mosul along the Tigris River The first notable Assyrian king was Shamshi-Adad (r ca 1813– 1781 b.c.e.), who built an empire partly by war and partly by diplomacy Weaker kings of city-states voluntarily submitted to his rule in the hope that he would use his power to protect them He left in place those kings who submitted to him, allowing them to run their territories and practice their own customs just as long as they paid their taxes to him This made for a weak administration, and he had to constantly patrol his lands to keep them in order His capital city was Shubat-Enlil His sons Yasmah-Addu and Ishme-Dagan, who divided Shamshi-Adad’s kingdom between them, failed to keep a strong presence in their territories, and the empire collapsed when Hammurabi of Babylon invaded it Assyria then became a vassal state of Babylon MIDDLE ASSYRIAN PERIOD (CA 1390–CA 1076 B.C.E.) In about 1500 b.c.e the shadowy kingdom of Mitanni was the dominant power in northern Mesopotamia, with its territory extending from the northern reaches of the Tigris River to the Mediterranean Sea; after the sack of Babylon by the Hittites