Page 83 - History of War - Issue 30-16

THE ASSYRIAN WAR MACHINE

The difi cult terrain of the Levant reduced the the sight of an Assyrian army taking position in Above: The might of the
efi ciency of these chariots, paving the way for front of a city sufi ced to make its inhabitants Assyrian and Egyptian armies
were smashed by Babylonia at
the cavalry as the new heart of the Assyrian surrender. To control the lands he conquered,
the Battle of Carchemish
offense. In the 7th century BCE, the cavalry had the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser III, introduced
developed into a heavily armed and protected mass deportation as a regular policy, thereby
combat troop. The horses represented a high removing the enemy’s elite – the most likely
strategic value, which is why the Assyrians to instigate a rebellion. Areas which had been
invested a lot of effort and resources into politically decapitated in such a way were
breeding, feeding and training. easier to rule.
In open battles, the heavy infantry – joined
by archers, slingers and shield bearers – took The Hebrew kingdoms
the centre of the Assyrian line, with cavalry and In the 9th century BCE, the Assyrian Empire
chariot forces being deployed at the l anks. The became a regional great power of the Middle
battle formation was more than 2,000-metres East and expanded towards the Levant. King
long and almost 100-metres deep. The archers Shalmaneser III (859-824 BCE) conducted
and slingers usually opened the battle with 21 campaigns during his reign of 35 years,
long-range shots. Afterwards, the chariots and establishing the Assyrian dominance from
cavalry pushed forward – the chariots were Babylon to the coast of the Mediterranean. At
supposed to crush through the enemy’s lines, that time, the small city states and kingdoms of
while the cavalry was to exploit the breaches the Levant experienced a period of political power
and roll up the enemy’s battle. Afterwards, the and economic wealth. Among those Levantine
infantry would deal the i nal blow. realms were the Hebrew kingdoms of Israel and
These armies also excelled in the art of siege Judah in the land of today’s State of Israel.
warfare. A typical siege began with a complete Under the legendary rule of kings David and
lockdown of the targeted city, then the generals Solomon in the 10th century BCE, a unii ed
examined the defence systems and searched kingdom had formed. However, at the end of the
for weak spots – usually the city gates. The
besieger i rst prepared huge earth ramps at the
identii ed points to overcome the glacis, and
then put the siege engines to work. Mounted
on wheels, these consisted of a battering ram BRINGING DEADLY SHOTS FROM AFAR
with an iron pike and a siege tower, the top of Although sometimes simple bows were used, the composite
which was covered by hides that were kept wet bow was the Assyrians’ main offensive weapon. Archers usually
at all time in order to prevent the tower from operated in pairs with the second man being a shield bearer.
catching i re. The tower was manned by archers The shields made of reeds were bigger than a man and curved
bombarding the walls with arrows. on the top in order to protect the archers. The composite bow’s
Psychosocial warfare also played a part: the shot range was 600 metres. Archers wore the typical conical iron
Assyrians were infamous for their brutality after helmet of the early 7th century with hinged earpieces.
capturing a dei ant city. This meant that even

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