Page 414 - Four Thousand Years Ago by Geoffrey Bibby

[1160-1090 b.c.] The Wolf on the Fold 351

of the whole of Mesopotamia. Assur-resh-ishi refused, and the
Babylonian marched north and laid siege to the frontier fortress
of Zanki. Assur-resh-ishi marched to meet him, and for the first
time in fifty years or more Assyrian and Babylonian met in battle.
The Assyrian army found their opponents no soft-living
southerners. Nebuchadnezzar’s army was the army that had
conquered Elam in the heat of summer, and the troops had since
been hardened by seasons of desert and mountain warfare. It was
ten years since the Assyrians had engaged in anything more than
garrison duty and patrols against brigands. The battle went

hard and indeed ended undecisively. But the weary Assyrians,
counting their dead and binding their wounds after nightfall had
ended the fight, could grimly agree that their king had done well
to play a drawn game against an old campaigner like Nebuchad­
nezzar. And their good opinion of themselves and their com­
mander was confirmed when the Babylonians raised the siege,
burnt their siege train, and withdrew across the frontier. The
Assyrians expected a respite until the next campaigning season.
But in a matter of weeks Nebuchadnezzar had gathered
reinforcements and once more crossed the border, encamping in
Assyrian territory. Assur-resh-ishi, though, now had the measure
of the Babylonians. Their strength was in their mobility. It was

this that had defeated the Elamite, and had enabled them to
mount this second surprise campaign. But man for man the As­
syrian was the better warrior. He led his troops in a direct attack
on the Babylonian camp, knowing that within the ramparts the
chariotry of the Babylonians would be useless. And the Babylo­
nians broke and fled, abandoning their camp and forty chariots
and even a captured general, in the hands of the Assyrians.
Assur-resh-ishi knew better than to try to follow up his suc­

cess. Assyria needed an army of quite another caliber before it
could seriously try conclusions with Babylonia. It must have both
striking power and mobility. Above all, it must have chariots. And
he set to work to create such an army.
Once again, as in the days when Elamite armies lay a day’s
march from Assur, the young men of Assyria spent every summer
with the colors. At the same time, the number of regiments in the