Battles in Chapters 2 and 3: Ancient Near East

BATTLES BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHAPTERS 2, 3 and 7
(aggressor listed first)

***Sumerian City-State wars***
Sides: Lagash vs. Umma
Time: 2450 BC
Place: Sumeria (Iraq)
Action: A stele shows Lagash infantry advancing into battle and records their victory.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Lagash gets the spoils of conflict and winning brings pride to the city's adopted god. There were many such battles between the city-states over a period of hundreds of years. The Standard of Ur shows what these battles were like and how they were celebrated afterwards.

***Conquests of Sargon***
Sides: Akkadians vs. Sumerians
Time: 2300 BC
Place: Mesopotamia (Iraq).
Action: Akkad defeated Ur, Uruk, Elba and more cities in 31 battles using bronze, bows and chariots.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Sargon was the first empire builder; by conquering the Sumerian cities, he carved out a small empire in Mesopotamia and the Levant, starting a cycle of the rise and fall of new empires in the Middle East.

***Campaigns of Hammurabi***
Sides: Babylon vs. Akkadians and Sumerians
Time: 1760 BC
Place: Mesopotamia (Iraq)
Action: Hammurabi formed alliances to do battle with non-compliant leaders in other Mesopotamian cities, and possibly by damming up water and releasing it on one city, Larsa, causing a flood. His allies deserted him and he turned on them, defeating all.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Victory created the Babylonian Empire, which got a new Code of Hammurabi's laws (based on lex talionis).

***Hyksos Conquest***
Sides: Hyksos vs. Egypt
Time: c. 1750 BC

Place: Egypt
Action: Hyksos raiders with superior chariot technology came across the Sinai desert and defeated the more culturally advanced but less militarily advanced Egyptians.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Middle Kingdom of Egypt was brought to a violent end. Hyksos rule over Egypt began, lasting 150 years, before an Egyptian uprising led by Ahmose cast them off. Ahmose became the first pharaoh of the New Kingdom.

***BATTLE OF MEGIDDO***
Sides: New Kingdom Egypt vs. Levantines
Time: 1468 BC
Place: Haifa, Israel
Action: Since the Hyksos gave the Egyptians such a rude awakening to the fact that there were other peoples in the world they didn't even know about, New Kingdom Pharaoh Thutmose III decided to expand Egypt into an empire. His forces attacked walled towns in the Levant with chariots, including Megiddo, a heavily defended fortress-town.
Casualties: 83 Levantines killed, 340 captured; Egyptians: unknown
Consequence: Imperial rule by Egypt over the Levant

***BATTLE OF KADESH***
Sides: New Kingdom Egypt vs. Hittite Empire
Time: 1275 BC
Place: Orontes River, Syria
Action: Largest ancient battle between 20,000 Egyptians with 2,000 chariots and 15,000 Hittites with 3,500 chariots. Pharaoh Ramses II is said to have cut down thousands of Hittites himself, a little propaganda perhaps? Hittite King Muwatalli and Ramses agreed to a truce- the world first peace treaty! (It is in the UN building on the wall today).
Casualties: Unknown
Consequence: Hittites win Levant but are soon destroyed, Egyptians claim they won as well

***Sea Peoples' Raids***
Sides: Sea Peoples vs. Hittites
Time: 1180 BC
Place: Anatolia
Action: Raiders from the Greek islands storm into Anatolia and wipe out the Hittite Empire by surprise.
Casualties: unknown, but the Hittites probably merged with the invaders to form the Biblical Philistines (ala Goliath of David and Goliath!)
Consequence: Hittites disappear from history.

***BATTLE OF THE NILE DELTA***
Sides: Sea Peoples vs. Egyptians
Time: 1176 BC
Place: Nile River, Egypt
Action: Sea Peoples swarm in by sea and land after defeating Hittites, Ramses III assembled a fleet, and this is the first recorded sea battle in history. Problem: Egypt's boats were made for the river, not the Mediterranean, but they lured the Sea Peoples' ships into the river's mouth. Bowmen from shore now shot at them, and the more rowing nature of the Egyptian boats was turned into an advantage, and a victory.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Sea Peoples' agree to the Pharaoh's terms- they are resettled in far away Levant and began to be called the Philistines.
 
***BATTLE OF MT. GILBOA***
Sides: Philistines vs. Israelites under King Saul
Time: 1100 BC
Place: Northern Israel
Action: King Saul used guerrilla warfare tactics on the superior enemy because he knew he would be defeated on an open field where the Philistines could use chariots. In the hills, however, the odds would be even. Philistines attacked, however, and defeated Saul anyway. They hung his body on the walls of Beth-Shan city, as a warning to all.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Israelis kept fighting Canaanites and Philistines for control of the Levant

***BATTLE OF QARQAR***
Sides: Assyrians under Shalmaneser III vs. Syrian-Israelite-Arabian alliance
Time: 853 BC
Place: Orantes River, Syria
Action: The mighty Assyrians, using iron and chariots, stormed west to stop 12 renegade provinces like Israel under Ahab and Syria under Hadadezer from rebelling against the empire. They did battle until the renegade leaders agreed to remain in the empire in exchange for keeping their thrones.
Casualties: Assyrians: unknown, Alliance: 14,000
Consequence: Assyria remained in control of Mesopotamia and the Levant

***SIEGE OF LACHISH***
Sides: Assyrians vs. Israelites

Time: 701 BC

Place: Tell Lakhish, Southern Israel
Action: Assryian king Sennacherib moved to punish Israelites for revolting against the empire. He beckoned the Jews to surrender the city and come out but they did not, and a siege began. Bowmen covered wallbreakers who started hacking at the city walls. Later they used a siege engine with battering rams below, covered with wet leather to prevent the Israeli flaming arrows from lighting the wood on fire. They broke in. Slaughter began and no mercy was shown. Sennacherib said, "I captured 46 towns using ramps to bring up battering rams, by infantry attacks, mines, breaches and siege engines." (I Kings, 18). They deported or killed every defender.
Casualties: c. 500 Jews
Consequence: After all these walled downs were captured, Judea fell under the control of Assyria.

***BATTLE OF DIYALA RIVER***
Sides: Assyria vs. Elam
Time: 693 BC
Place: Central Mesopotamia
Action: King Sennacherib invaded Elam and sacked its cities and towns. But Elam got a coalition of Babylonians together and fought back. The deciding battle took place on the riverfront, but, "The [Assyrian] king cut the throats of the Elamites like sheep, filling the plain with the corpses of their warriors."
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Assyria's hold on the empire remained firm.

***FALL OF NINEVEH***
Sides: Babylonian-Mede Coalition vs. Assyria
Time: 612 BC
Place: Assyria (northern Iraq)
Action: Fed up with harsh rule, Babylonian king Nablopolassar formulated a coalition and began plundering cities up and down the Euphrates river. The usually ruthless Assyrians did... nothing. There was revolt in the air, and the coalition advanced north towards the capital. They were defeated at Ashur, ancestral city of the Assyrians on the way, and took refuge in Tikrit (later Saddam Hussein's hometown). Then a fresh army of Medes came from the east and joined them; they laid siege to the capital, Nineveh, for three months. The Assyrian king died, the city fell and was obliterated.
Casualties: unknown.
Consequence: The Assyrian Empire came to an end, and Babylonian ascendency began.

***SECOND BATTLE OF MEGIDDO***
Sides: Egypt vs. Israel
Time: 606 BC
Place: Northern Israel
Action: Pharaoh Necho II, famous for hiring Phoenician sailors to chart the coast of Africa, moved an army across the region to help the remnants of the Assyrians defeat the coalition that ended them, because Egypt was a bitter enemy of Babylon. The Israelites under Josiah sided with the Babylonians and ran guerrilla tactic on the Egyptians as they moved through. The Pharaoh offered peace but Josiah rejected it, and at Megiddo, Egyptian chariots vanquished the Israelites and Josiah was killed.
Casualties: unknown
Consequences: Ironically, the Israelites delayed the Egyptians from helping the Assyrians and that aided in accomplishing their ultimate defeat.

***FALL OF JERUSALEM***
Sides: Babylonians vs. Israelites
Time:586 BC
Place: Central Israel
Action: Between Egypt and Babylon lies Israel. The Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, went to war over the region. The Israelites under Zedekiah sided with the Egyptians, whom they fought 20 years earlier, turning on the new rulers of the Middle East. A Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem, Israel's most important city, for months, until "there was no bread for the people of the land." The Jews escaped the city and were cut down, Zedekiah's sons were butchered in front of him.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: After the battle, Jerusalem was burned, the Babylonians destroyed the Temple of Solomon, and the Jewish people were carried away to Babylon, where they lived for 50 years until being freed by the Persians. (Much of the Old Testament of the Bible was written during these 50 years).

***BATTLE OF SARDIS***
Sides: Persians vs. Lydians
Time: 546 BC
Place: Western Anatolia (Turkey)
Action: Under Cyrus, the Persians began their rise to world power. They put together a growing empire that began east of Babylon and then encircled it to the north, the land of the Medes, who joined the alliance. They moved further west now, into former Hittite lands, where the Lydians lived, followed by the Ionian Greeks on the far western coast. The Persians developed the 10,000 Immortals fighting unit, which made up part of the invasion of 50,000 heading to the Lydian capital, Sardis. But  Lydian king Croesus (who was reputedly very rich) fielded a grand defense force featuring Spartan commandos. Now Cyrus' genius came into play. He lined up his archers behind the camels, and the Lydian horses didn't like the smell of the camels, which threw their cavalry charge into chaos. They wrapped around the Persians, who then fought out from every direction and took the city.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Croesus was left in charge provided he remained loyal to Cyrus. Lydia became part of the Persian Empire.

***FALL OF BABYLON***
Sides: Persians vs. Babylonians
Time: 539 BC
Place: Central Mesopotamia (Iraq)
Action: Cyrus the Great of Persia is one of the greatest conquerors in history. After taking the Kingdoms of Media and Lydia, it was time to challenge the weakened and decadent Babylonians for rule over the region. One Babylonian city resisted and everyone was massacred. General Gobryas met the Babylonian emperor and secured his surrender following scattered fighting. Cyrus marched into Babylon a hero, and he liberated the Jewish people, who went back to Israel to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. It is said the Prophet Isaiah foretold of this happening [in Isiah 44 and 45].
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Babylonian Empire was over, and the Persians ruled the Middle East from Lydia to India, including Egypt and northern Arabia. The only people they did not rule, were the Greeks. Cyrus' successors, Darius and especially Xerxes, would find that unacceptable.

Sources: 
Grant, R.G. 2005. Battle. London: DK Publishing.
Grant, R.G. 2010. Commanders. London: DK Publishing.
Keegan, John. 1993. A History of Warfare. New York: Knopf. 
Shaw, Robert. 1937. One Hundred Seventy Five Battles. Harrisburg: Military Publishing Co.