The Kassite Dynasty of Babylon YouTube

Hey everyone, Sai here and welcome to this edition of History with Sai. Now in this program, we're going to be talking about one of the more obscure dynasties of ancient Mesopotamia. Specifically, the Kassite dynasty of Babylon. To put what we're going to be talking about into greater context, I strongly recommend that you take a look at my videos on the Hittites and also on the Old Babylonian Kingdom. They'll put things into greater context. So, let's begin. In the year 1595 BCE, two watershed events rocked the ancient Near East. One was the total destruction of the once wealthy and powerful Amorite Kingdom of Yamhad. The other was the sack of Babylon, which at the time may have been one of the most beautiful and densely populated cities in the world. Both of these events were carried out by the Hittite king, Mushili I. With regard to Babylon, Mushili and his band of Hittites didn't stay too long, nor did they lay any territorial claims to the region. What happened immediately afterward is poorly sourced and a bit of a mystery. One document uncovered and dating back to the 10th century BCE describes the chaos that followed the Hittites' hasty withdrawal from Mesopotamia. It describes other powers in the region, the Amorites, Hanians, and the Kassites as jockeying for power after the demise of Babylon and its last king, Samsu-Ditana. Of those I just mentioned, the Kassites were the ones who gained the most from the chaos, and it was men from amongst their ranks who would rule Babylon and most of ancient Mesopotamia for the next 450 years. Despite their long reign and influence over ancient Mesopotamia, very little information exists about the Kassites. They, like the Gutians, are one of those mystery peoples who are referred to frequently in various texts, but whose origins are not well understood. So, let's take a closer look and see just what we do know about the Kassites. Who are they, and how did they come to rule Babylon? Politically, the Kassites rose to power after the fall of Babylon to the Hittites in the year 1595 BCE. It's unclear whether they had a role in that event, though many believe that they may have aided the Hittites in their conquest of the city. What is known is that after the Hittites left, the Kassites came in. Under Kassite rule, Babylon and Babylonia once more became one of the dominant powers in the ancient Middle East during the Late Bronze Age. They also helped preserve the cultural traditions of the Old Kingdom of Babylon, which is the Babylon of Hammurabi and his descendants. The Kassites, however, were not Akkadian speakers. They had their own native language, but it's not very well understood. The knowledge that we do have of it comes pretty much from a couple of Kassite Akkadian dictionaries that have been discovered, and these don't really contain much information other than some basic vocabulary and the names of some personal names of people and various deities. There were many Kassite loanwords that filtered into the Akkadian language, many of them dealing with specific types of horses and chariots, which actually shed some light as to what the Kassites may have best been known for. In a letter that's been found between the Kassite king Kadashman Enlil II and the Hittite king Hatushili III, Hatushili states, and I quote, in the land of my brother, meaning Babylonia, horses are more plentiful than straw. Speaking of language and various words, let's take a look at the name of these people, the Kassites. The word used to describe these semi-nomadic peoples in Akkadian was Qashu, and this is where the word Kassite is derived from. The Kassites though called themselves Galzu. It's believed that they came from somewhere in the Zagros mountains of what is today northwestern Iran. We first hear of references to the Kassites in documents from the Old Babylonian period, specifically during the reign of Hammurabi, from the years 1792 to 1750 BCE. These speak of a few clashes with various Kassite tribes, but nothing major. Other, more mundane documents from the city of Sippar also mention Kassites from various clans being hired as farmhands or mercenaries. Like many of the tribes surrounding the peripheries of Babylonian cities, the Kassites were considered by the inhabitants of those urban population centers to be rough nomads who, along with having a different language, culture, and gods, were not very sophisticated. Remember, urban people of Babylonia, who by this time were mostly a mix of Akkadian and Amorite speaking peoples, saw themselves as the inheritors of the great Mesopotamian civilization that started with the Sumerians. Rural, mountain people such as the Kassites were not considered to be part of that great legacy. With the decline of the first dynasty of Babylon, tribal groups like the Kassites became invaluable to the economies and armies of the competing kings and warlords who were springing up all over Mesopotamia. Some fought alongside the Babylonians, others in the armies of cities such as Eshnunna and Der, while others became valuable military advisors for newer kingdoms such as that of the first dynasty of the Selan. Kassites in rural areas lived off the land and for the most part maintained their identity and language. Before long, there were groups of Kassites living within the walls of many of the great cities of Babylonia, including Sippar, Essene, Larsa, Opis, and of course Babylon itself. Now as I mentioned earlier, the Hittite invasion and conquest of Babylonia upended the old order and relative stability created by the first dynasty of Babylon. It's pretty clear that this situation benefited several powerful Kassite families and clans, eventually leading to their ascendancy and ultimate rule of Babylonia. However, exactly when how this happened is unknown. Did the Hittites simply hand over power to the Kassites when they left, or did the Kassites have to fight other tribes and Babylonian resistance groups to gain control? It's hard to believe that a group of Kassites could simply just walk into Babylon and overnight establish a viable kingdom and government, let alone control the surrounding countryside. It probably took decades for them to establish and consolidate their rule over much of Mesopotamia. I've also read in a few sources that they were probably in firm control over much of Babylonia around the year 1570 BCE. Again, and unfortunately, these sources don't tell exactly how that happened. Also, a lot of the sources that we do have do not, uh, let's say they're not very consistent with each other. For example, we have a couple of Kassite king lists from different centuries, but these lists don't always match with each other. That being said, the general history of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon can be constructed as such. The earliest known Kassite ruler was a man named Gandash. He appears in two king lists and also in the inscriptions of a building. The exact date of his ascension to the throne is still unknown, though he must have been relatively powerful because in the building inscription he's addressed as, and I quote, king of the four quarters, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of Babylon, end of quote. Other than that, not much else is known about him. His successor was a king named Agum I, and in one of the king lists, he's also referred to as the son of Gandash. He also has the title Agum the Great. Why? Well, that's not known. We don't know what he actually did, we just have his name. After Agum I, the next Kassite rulers are Kantiliash I, Abirtash, Kantiliash II, and Urzigurumash. The last name, which I mentioned, can also be read as Tazigurimash. Now, I mention these names not because these individuals were known to be great kings, but because some of you out there can probably tell just how different they are than the typical Akkadian names that were common in ancient Mesopotamia at the time. All of the names that I mentioned are very Kassite. That doesn't mean that the Kassites didn't adopt Akkadian names, but at least the early kings kept this aspect of their Kassite identity intact, even though they ruled over a mostly Akkadian speaking population. Now, the next king mentioned in both king lists and in an inscription is Agum There is one inscription about him that states that he was able to return the statue of Marduk, the patron god of Babylon, back to his holiest temple, known as the Isagila. Up until then, it had been in the land of Hana, north of Babylon. It was taken there presumably after the Hittite invasion of the city in 1595 BCE. If true, and we have no other proof that this actually happened other than this one inscription, then this would have no doubt endeared the Kassite king to his Babylonian subjects. It also would have given the Kassites greater legitimacy as kings of Babylonia. As we get to the 1400s BCE, we start to get more information about Kassite activities in Mesopotamia. You may remember that the first dynasty of Babylon under Hammurabi conquered pretty much all of Mesopotamia, meaning Sumer, Akkad, and many of the lands to the north. However, after his death, his successors began to lose control of many of these lands, especially those in the south, the lands that once made up ancient Sumer. As Babylonian control of the area receded, a new power identified as the first dynasty of the Selen arose in its place and probably ruled in the south from what today is known as the Persian Gulf all the way up to the holy city of Nippur. This essentially fragmented Babylonia into two main parts for a few hundred years. Around the year 1475 BCE, the Kassites are believed to have conquered the kings of the so-called Selen dynasty and annexed southern Mesopotamia, reuniting Sumer and Akkad once again. In a Babylonian text known as Chronicle 40, we're told how the Selen dynasty ended and the fate of its last king. Now this conquest was actually a pretty big deal in Babylonian history because it unified Babylonia once and for all. Though parts of Babylonia at times were occupied by hostile neighbors, the country would never again be split by rival dynasties. For the most part, the Kassites would rule over all of Babylonia uninterrupted for the next 300 years. Add to that about the 150 years they had been ruling previously and you have the longest reigning dynasty, about 450 years, in the history of ancient Mesopotamia. Around the year 1415 BCE, we start to get better records and references, starting with the Kassite king Kara-Indash. In the world of archaeology, he's probably most famous for restoring the holy Iana temple in Uruk, the famous shrine or sanctuary of the goddess Inanna, also known as Ishtar. A brick found at the site reads, and I quote, To Inanna, the lady of the Iana temple, his lady, Kara-Indash, the mighty king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the Kassites, king of Khardunyash, built a chapel in the Iana temple. End of quotes. What's really interesting is that this text is actually written in Sumerian, which sort of shows Kara-Indash's respect and reverence for the ancient traditions of Mesopotamia. Either that, or it's sort of there to help legitimize the recent Kassite conquest of southern Mesopotamia from the Selan dynasty. Now, this dynasty, the first dynasty of the Selan, often liked to portray themselves as a revitalized version of the Neo-Sumerian dynasty that was based centuries earlier in the city of Ur. I'll probably do a program about them shortly, so we can discuss that more over there. Anyway, another interesting thing in this inscription is that the word Khardunyash is used. From around this time onward, this term became synonymous with Kassite Babylonia, as we'll see in later documents, treaties, and letters from the same period. One example is a treaty with Assyria that reads, and I quote, King Kara-Indash of Khardunyash and King Ashurbel Nishishu of Assyria concluded a mutual accord and took a reciprocal oath, specifically on the matter of this boundary. End of quotes. The term Khardunyash is also frequently used in the now famous Amarna letters, which we'll also take a closer look at in another program. The next kings that we actually have some decent records for called themselves Khuri-Galzu, meaning Shepherd of the Kassites. There were actually two of them on record. The reign of Khuri-Galzu I is a bit hard to date, though he probably ruled around the 1390s BCE. The second one's reign, though, can be more accurately placed between the years 1332-1308 BCE. What's interesting is that both of these kings appear on many inscriptions from many different cities, not just Babylon, but Kish, Sipar, Nippur, Adad, Isin, Uruk, Ur, and even Eridu. Most scholars believe that the majority of these inscriptions were commissioned by the first Khuri-Galzu. At times, it's hard to tell because the inscriptions simply mention the name, but not the date or rulers before him. Now these are all well and good, but probably the greatest achievement of Khuri-Galzu I was the creation of a new Kassite royal residence called Dur-Khuri-Galzu, located about 100 kilometers north of Babylon. The name means Fort Khuri-Galzu. While not Babylon, Dur-Khuri-Galzu was a royal capital of sorts and contained royal palaces, administrative buildings, and of course temples, including a large ziggurat. These temples were mostly dedicated to the god Enlil, the patron god of the city of Nippur. Now let's take a quick look at some of Kassite Babylon's neighbors. Shortly after the Hittite withdrawal from Babylonia, a new power known as the Mitanni come to the fore in northern Syria and southern Anatolia. Now their focus was really creating an empire in south-central Anatolia, northern Syria, the Levant, and amongst the Canaanite cities along the eastern Mediterranean. To the east of them lay the land which would soon be identified as Assyria. The small and petty kings there, especially those of the city of Ashur, paid tribute and served as vassals to the Mitanni kings. However, sometime in the middle of the 15th century BCE, for reasons that I couldn't find, the Mitanni grew upset with the Assyrians and launched a military campaign against them, sacking the holy city of Ashur in the process. Decades later, as the Mitanni empire went into decline due to its wars with the Hittites, the Assyrians were able to reassert their independence and then launch expansionary expeditions of their own. Just south of Assyria was Kassite Babylonia, aka Kardunyash. Now due to their proximity to each other, the kingdoms of Kardunyash and Assyria shared many mutual interests, especially commercial ones. These strong relations eventually led to marriage alliances. According to Babylonian documents, the king of Assyria at the time, Ashur-Ubalit I, married his daughter, Mubalitat Shirua, to Burna-Buryash II, the Kassite king of Babylonia. The two of them had a son, Kara-Hardash, who in 1333 BCE became king of Babylon. Not even on the throne for a year, Kara-Hardash was reportedly killed by his own troops in a rebellion, after which they picked and crowned a new king, Nazi-Bugash. Ashur-Ubalit I of Assyria was infuriated at the murder of his grandson and decided to intervene directly into Babylonian affairs. A document known as the Synchronistic History, which is actually an Assyrian source, describes the series of events as such, and I quote, In the time of Ashur-Ubalit I, king of Assyria, Kassite troops rebelled against Kara-Hardash, king of Kardunyash, son of Mubalitat Shirua, the daughter of Ashur-Ubalit I, and killed him. They appointed Nazi-Bugash, a Kassite, son of nobody, as king over them. Ashur-Ubalit I marched into Kardunyash to avenge Kara-Hardash, his grandson. He killed Nazi-Bugash, king of Kardunyash, appointed Kuri-Galzu the Younger, the son of Burna-Buryash II, as king and put him on the throne of his father. The Kuri-Galzu the Younger mentioned is Kuri-Galzu II, who we discussed a bit earlier. He was the brother of Kara-Hardash and Ashur-Ubalit's chosen successor for the throne of Babylon. The Babylonian version of events gives basically the same story, but with some inconsistencies. Now, the next 100 years or so from the time of Kuri-Galzu II is the best documented of all Kassite history, both by the Babylonians themselves and their neighbors, the Assyrians. It's also one of mounting conflict between the two. During Kuri-Galzu II's reign, border clashes between the two start to become much more frequent. Sometimes the Assyrians gain a fortress or two, other times it's the Babylonians who do the same. It's basically a tit-for-tat kind of situation, with neither side gaining anything substantial. However, by the 13th century, Assyria is clearly the more powerful of the two, especially after its annexation of what was once the territories of the now defunct Mitanni Empire. One ambitious Assyrian king, Dikulti-Ninurta I, turned his gaze south towards Babylonia. Ruling from the years 1243 to 1207 BCE, Dikulti-Ninurta I was one of the most powerful kings in the long history of Assyria. After attacking and then concluding a peace treaty with the Hittite king Turhalia IV, he steered his army south to attack the Kassite king Kastiliash IV. The reasons for this attack are unknown, but some historians think that Kastiliash took advantage of Dikulti-Ninurta's conflict with the Hittites to seize some Assyrian territory on his northern border. That's one explanation. However, in a document known as the Epic of Dikulti-Ninurta, which is pretty much a work of Assyrian propaganda, the war with Kastiliash is described in moral terms. It's stated in the text that the conflict began because Kastiliash had broken an oath to the sun god, Shamash. What this oath was is not stated, just that Kastiliash was an evil man for breaking it. Now most likely, it was probably some sort of treaty between the two great kingdoms. For breaking it, or breaking his oath, the god Enlil became furious with Kastiliash and ordered Dikulti-Ninurta to avenge him. The epic goes on to describe the several ways in which Dikulti-Ninurta showed his goodwill to the Kassite king. However, Kastiliash still behaved arrogantly and without remorse. Finally, Dikulti-Ninurta has no choice but to invade Babylonia to correct the great injustice brought about by the Kassite king. In the end, he becomes the new king of Babylon. The event is described in one of Dikulti-Ninurta's inscriptions as such, and I quote, At the time I approached Kastiliash, king of Karduniash, to do battle, I brought about the defeat of his army. In the midst of that battle, I captured Kastiliash, king of the Kassites, and I brought him, bound as a captive, into the presence of the god Ashur, my lord. Thus I became the lord of Sumer and Akkad, in its entirety, and stood over its inhabitants with joy and excellence. It all sounds nice, but this is Dikulti-Ninurta's version, which as we said is more propaganda than anything else. The Babylonian version of events is much harsher. In Babylonian Chronicle 45, we're told that Dikulti-Ninurta destroyed Babylon's walls, slaughtered many of its inhabitants, and plundered the Isagil, the holiest temple of Babylon's patron god Marduk. In a sense, you could also say that they kidnapped Marduk by taking his great statue back to Assyria. Dikulti-Ninurta then appointed his own governors and puppet kings to rule Babylon. Only in 1216 BCE did a legitimate Kassite king of Babylonia, Adad-Shuma-Usur, who was also one of Kashtiliash's sons, come to the throne. He seems to have been very popular with the people, and ultimately ended up ruling for 30 years, decades which for the most part were peaceful and prosperous. Dikulti-Ninurta's sack of Babylon and the treatment of the city and its people would ultimately be the bitter turning point in Babylonian-Assyrian relations pretty much for the rest of time. Well, at least for the next 600 years or so, until the demise of the Assyrian Empire. The Babylonians would always view the Assyrians with suspicion and contempt, despite their many cultural and religious similarities. In fact, this wouldn't be the last time that the Assyrians would sack Babylon. Other future kings would do the same, which we'll discuss in other programs on Assyria. As for Dikulti-Ninurta, he was eventually assassinated. After this, Babylon once again became independent, though for centuries it would continue to still remain weaker than its ascendant northern neighbor, Assyria. Now, I don't want to say that the fall of the Kassite dynasty was unexpected, but it was rather quick. Babylon never really recovered from Dikulti-Ninurta's sack of the city. In the end, it was a combination of both Assyrian and Elamite attacks that brought about the end of Babylon's and the ancient world's longest reigning dynasty. In 1158 BCE, the Assyrian king, Ashurdan I, attacked and defeated the Kassite king, Zababa-Shuma-Idina, weakening but not totally dislodging the Kassites. The death knell, though, came the same or perhaps the next year with the Elamites. Yes, those Elamites, who for the past few thousand years, at least according to Mesopotamian sources, constantly were interfering and causing havoc in the affairs of the ancient lands of Sumer and Akkad. The Elamite king, Shutruk-Nanhunte, raided northern Babylonia and plundered the cities of Dur, Kurigalzu, Sippar, Opis, and a few others. The Kassites are reported to have fought back for the next three years, but in 1155 BCE, the last Kassite king was captured and taken back to Elam along with Babylon's great statue of Marduk. Yes, this is the same statue of Marduk we were talking about before, and it seems that the statue has been traveling around quite a bit. Now, one last thing I wanted to mention is that in many books, Kassite rule, especially the first 200 years or so, is often referred to as a sort of dark age for Mesopotamia. I think that this term, though, can be a bit misleading because it implies a period of stagnation and ignorance, which, if we examine the texts from Babylonia as well as the archives from Egypt, Assyria, and even Anatolia, turns out not to be the case. Overall, Kassite rule of Babylonia seems to have been very beneficial for the country's land and people for several reasons. One is that the Kassites unified or consolidated what we today know as Babylonia into one more or less cohesive political unit. Gone were the days of individual city-states. People within Kassite lands identified or affiliated themselves less with their city or immediate region and more with belonging to, you could say, a greater Babylonia. This was probably because the Kassites provided a good deal of stability. To be part of the Kassite realm was to be part of an ordered, relatively peaceful, and eventually powerful state. It was this state which would go on to defend them from the Assyrians and mountain peoples of Anatolia to the north, the Elamites to the east, and Egyptian influence in the west. By the time the Kassite dynasty had been firmly established, individual city-states didn't stand a chance against larger powers. To survive, one needed to be part of a larger political apparatus, like that provided by the Kassite rulers in Babylonia. Another thing is that the Kassites, though originally outsiders from the Zagros mountains, actually did a lot to promote and preserve Babylonian culture. Though keeping aspects of their own culture and religion, Kassite kings promoted those of their subject peoples as well. It's actually thanks to them that much of the arts and sciences that we today associate with the Babylonians was preserved during their time for future generations. Overall, Babylonia seems to have flourished under their rule, so to say that they presided over a dark age is really incorrect. Anyway, that concludes this program on the Kassites. I hope you enjoyed it and learned something, and if you did, please hit that like button because it helps the channel out a great deal. Thanks again, and I'll catch you next time.