Siege of Babylon
{{Short description|689 BC siege in the Neo-Assyrian Empire}}{{Not to be confused|text=the fall of Babylon (539 BC)}}{{Infobox military conflict
| image = The Destruction of Babylon by Sennacherib.png
| caption = 20th-century illustration of Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon
| conflict = Siege of Babylon
| partof =
| date = 689 BC
| place = Babylon
| result = Assyrian victory
- Destruction of Babylon
| combatant1 = Babylonians
| combatant2 = Assyrians
| commander1 = Mushezib-Marduk
| commander2 = Sennacherib
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| campaignbox = {{Battles involving Assyria}}
}}
The siege of Babylon in 689 BC took place after Assyrian king Sennacherib's victory over the Elamites at the Battle of River Diyala.{{Cite journal |last=Brinkman |first=J. A. |date=1973 |title=Sennacherib's Babylonian Problem: An Interpretation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1359421 |journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=89–95 |doi=10.2307/1359421 |issn=0022-0256}} Although the Assyrians had suffered heavy casualties at the river, they had beaten the Elamites such that the Babylonians now stood alone. Sennacherib then successfully besieged Babylon for up to fifteen months and destroyed it.{{Cite journal |last=Gerardi |first=Pamela |date=1986 |title=Declaring War in Mesopotamia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41662159 |journal=Archiv für Orientforschung |volume=33 |pages=30–38 |issn=0066-6440}}{{Cite journal |last=Van De Mieroop |first=Marc |date=2003 |title=Revenge, Assyrian Style |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3600821 |journal=Past & Present |issue=179 |pages=3–23 |issn=0031-2746}}
Assault
King Sennacherib had lost his eldest son in the revolt and had also suffered heavy losses. Prior to this, most Assyrian attempts at punishing Babylon were lenient, due to a strong pro-Babylon presence in Assyrian governmental ranks. However, Sennacherib, now an old man with nothing to lose, found no pity in his heart and sacked Babylon. Large amounts of desecration took place, even by Assyrian standards. The destruction was so much so, it may have been a factor in Sennacherib's murder by two of his sons, eight years after the destruction. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him and endeavored to compensate Babylonia for his father's sacrilege by releasing Babylonian exiles and rebuilding Babylon.
References
{{Reflist}}{{Assyrian-stub}}
{{Battle-stub}}
{{coord missing|Iraq}}