Fall of Nineveh
612 BCE · Nineveh (modern Mosul, Iraq) · World · Ancient
After a siege of several months, the coalition breached the dikes to flood the city with the waters of the Tigris, and after taking it set Nineveh on fire.
Belligerents
Babylonian-Median coalition
- Commanders
- Nabopolassar, Cyaxares
- Strength
- Neo-Babylonian and Median coalition
Assyria
- Commanders
- Sin-sharra-ishkun
- Strength
- Assyrian garrison
Background
Assyria's long record of relentless warfare provoked revolts in its subject lands, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire and Media formed an alliance to attack the Assyrian homeland, against which they had long harbored grievances.
Course of the battle
- Coalition besieges the cityThe Babylonian-Median coalition joined forces to besiege Nineveh
- Flooding the city by breaching dikesCoalition breaches dikes so river water batters the walls
- City burned, state destroyedThe city fell and was burned, and the Assyrian Empire was destroyed
Outcome at a glance
| Date | 612 BCE |
|---|---|
| Place | Nineveh (modern Mosul, Iraq) |
| Result | After a siege of several months, the coalition breached the dikes to flood the city with the waters of the Tigris, and after taking it set Nineveh on fire. |
| Winner | Babylonian-Median coalition |
| Casualties | The Assyrian king Sin-sharra-ishkun reportedly died when the city fell, and the garrison was almost entirely wiped out. |
| Territorial change | The Assyrian capital fell; the remnants of Assyrian power retreated to Harran and were completely destroyed soon afterward. |
Impact
The Assyrian Empire, which had dominated the Near East for centuries, was thus destroyed, and power in Mesopotamia passed to the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
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