by H A CULLEY
The camel archers used similar tactics on the other flank; swooping in to attack the sides and then the rear, then circling back to halt the Sumerians’ outflanking manoeuvre head on. Meanwhile the Babylonian archers kept up a steady rate of fire at high trajectory from behind their spearmen.
But it was a different story in the centre where Sin-Nasir’s men had pushed the Babylonians back so far that their line resembled a concave arc. The Sumerian prince knew that one more push and his men would break through and be able to reach the chariot with the blue banner. The King of Babylon wasn’t the sort of man to flee when danger threatened and, once Hammurabi was dead, the Babylonians would crumble.
Hammurabi watched as the Sumerians battled the last few rows of spearmen. His men were fighting heroically in his defence; it was difficult to remember that they were made up of equal numbers of the defeated Sumerians from the Army of the North and Babylonians. Suddenly a score of men broke through the defence and ran towards where the chariots of Hammurabi and Uktannu stood with his personal guard of ten horsemen. The latter charged forward and scattered the infantry who had broken through, spearing three of them in the process. Then more broke through and the horsemen started to get the worst of it, most being pulled from their saddles and killed.
In addition to the king and his commander, each had an archer and a charioteer in their chariots. The archers started to loose off arrow after arrow at the spearmen as the latter fought their way ever closer. Uktannu thought about urging the king to flee but he knew that he would be wasting his breath. Hammurabi would never leave his men; if they faced death, so would he.
Ten or so reached the two chariots. The archers dropped their bows and they and the charioteers seized one of the throwing spears that each chariot carried in a leather case attached to the side. Uktannu did the same whilst Hammurabi drew his curved bronze sword from its wooden scabbard and picked up his heavy circular wooden shield covered in leather. The horses had been trained to stand still but the smells and noise of the battle had unnerved them and they started to fidget. Suddenly one reared up, almost tipping Uktannu’s chariot up, and his hoof smashed against the skull of one of the attackers. The copper helmet crumpled as if it was made of paper and there was a sickening crunch as the man’s forehead was smashed into splinters of bone.
Five more went down to spears thrown from the chariots, then the last four reached the chariot with the blue banner. Two engaged the archer and the charioteer whilst the other two tried to kill Hammurabi. The king batted away the spear of one man whilst bringing his sword round and slicing open the man’s stomach. His nose was assailed by the smell of his slippery grey intestines as they spilled from his body and the acrid stench of human faeces as his bowels involuntarily voided themselves.
Hammurabi scarcely noticed it as the second man’s spear dented the bronze breastplate he was wearing. He was dimly aware of a couple of his ribs cracking as he brought his sword down on the spearman’s forearm, cutting into it and breaking the bone in two. The man screamed in agony until his cries where choked off by Uktannu sending a throwing spear through his neck.
The chariots’ occupants paused for breath but a minute later twenty or more men broke through and headed for the blue banner. Just as the Babylonians prepared to sell their lived dearly, a hole appeared in the forehead of the leading spearman and he stopped dead in his tracks. A second man dropped his spear with a howl of pain and grasped his shattered forearm. Soon most of the Sumerians who threatened the two chariots were dead or had broken bones.
Hammurabi turned and nodded his thanks at the boy slingers who had seen the predicament of the king and their former captain from where they stood in reserve. A hundred or more had rushed forward to help. Uktannu gave them a warm smile and waved his thanks. Then the pressure seemed to go out of the attack. Sumsu-Iluna’s vanguard had arrived on the battlefield and had charged into the rear of the enemy’s centre.
Half an hour later it was all over. Sin-Nasir had gone down fighting and eight thousand Sumerians had gone to serve him in the afterlife. Seventeen thousand had surrendered on the battlefield and ten thousand had fled, pursued by the chariots, camel archers and a hundred and fifty horsemen. By nightfall the city council of Shurruppak had surrendered unconditionally and confirmed their sudden change in loyalty in the most conclusive way. They had hung their governor by the neck from the parapet above the main gate. Having killed the last remaining grandson of their former king, they could hardly change their minds now.
Hammurabi offered the seventeen thousand captives the option of joining the Babylonian army or being sold into slavery. The tactic had worked well at Nippur, but this time he infiltrated spies from the Sumerians who had joined Uktannu for his campaign in the north amongst them for a couple of days first. They identified nearly a thousand who were plotting to betray Hammurabi at the first opportunity and he executed all of them in front of their former colleagues.
The king left Mutu-Namaha, with Uktannu as his deputy, to weld the much enlarged standing army into a cohesive unit. Abi-Maras also remained to help with logistics and to build siege engines at Shurruppak whilst he returned with Samsu-Iluna to Babylon. He took the militia with him so that they could return to their civilian lives, at least for now.
~#~
Hammurabi returned early in 1762 BCE, leaving Samsu-Iluna with Adiar in Babylon to deal with the mundane affairs of government. As soon as he arrived he called a council of war. Mutu-Namaha had done his best to train the fifteen thousand South Sumerians to the same standard as the standing army of Babylon and had done well. The North Sumerians who had been with Uktannu when he defeated the Assyrians were seasoned veterans and caused him no concern. His twenty five thousand spearmen and five thousand archers were therefore equally divided between veterans who he trusted and recruits who he didn’t.
On Uktannu’s advice, he re-organised the units of one thousand so that they contained five hundred veterans and five hundred untried Sumerians. He also built up his camel archers to a thousand under Haban’s command and recruited another thousand slingers from the urchins of Nippur, Isin, Kissura and Shurruppak. To improve the command structure Mutu-Namaha created a new rank of captain of five thousand for the leaders of the archers and of the five divisions of spearmen. Haban and the commanders of his three hundred chariots and the two thousand slingers were also promoted. These were distinguished by a green plume in their helmets; or in the case of the slinger captain, a green headband. Mutu-Namaha had sensibly given two of the green crest appointments to Sumerians as part of his policy of integration.
All nine green crests, as they were known informally, together with Mutu-Namaha, Uktannu and Abi-Maras rose to their feet and bowed low when Hammurabi entered the large open-sided tent made of goat hair, then sat down cross-legged on the rugs strewn over the dusty floor when he bade them do so.
‘In order to secure the whole of Northern Sumeria we need to take the city of Adab so its surrender will be our first task,’ he began.
At this one of the spearmen captains started to fidget and was obviously itching to say something, but dare not interrupt the king.
‘Yes, I am well aware that you come from Adab and we’ll come to the part that you are to play in what I hope is a peaceful surrender of your city in a moment,’ Hammurabi said with a brief smile. He then turned his attention to the sand model at his feet and used his staff, which was one of the emblems of his kingship, to illustrate what he was saying.
‘Larsa is our main objective but we need to secure Umma, Bad Tibira, Kutallu and Uruk first,’ so saying he pointed to the stones on the model illustrating where the cities were in relation to Shurruppak. ‘That leaves the way open to Larsa,’ he went on pointing to the last stone lying on the blue ribbon that indicated the River Euphrates. Larsa was the final city on the east bank before the estuary where the river entered the Gulf.
‘Once Larsa has surrendered and we have deposed Rim-Sim we can mop up Ur and Eridu to the west here and then
the last four cities around the Tigris estuary,’ he said, pointing to the stones representing Lagash, Girsu, Urukag and Nina.
‘Now Uktannu, I want you to take a small force with the five thousand spearmen commanded by our friend from Adab to persuade the city to surrender without bloodshed.’ At this the green crest who had been agitated earlier positively beamed with relief. ‘You can take a thousand archers, half the slingers and half the chariots as well as fifty horsemen as scouts and messengers. Let me know daily how you are progressing and I will do the same.’ He turned to his son.
‘Mutu-Namaha, you and I will head for Umma in the morning with the rest of the army. I don’t expect them to hold out in the light of such a display of force but we may need to test Abi-Maras’s new siege towers if they do.’
~#~
Adiar and Samsu-Iluna watched as the delegation backed out of the audience chamber, bowing every few steps as they went.
‘Obsequious traitors!’ the queen spat out as soon as the doors had close behind them. ‘Sulu-Sin betrays us by attacking Hiritum with the accursed Assyrians and he, after slinking home when Uktannu thrashes his new allies, thinks he can crawl back into our good graces by sending that slimy lot with a few trinkets to appease us!’
‘Hurrump,’ Ipqu-Api, now foreign minister since the death of Sin-Bel-Alim the previous year, cleared his throat diffidently. He had hoped that Ibbi-Addad, chief minister since Isiratuu had finally been persuaded to retire due to ill-health, would speak first and risk the queen’s wrath, but he seemed intent on studying the stone flagged floor.
‘Lady, it may be politic to play for time whilst the king and the army are engaged in Sumeria,’ he tentatively suggested.
‘Nonsense! Hammurabi may have the standing army but we still have the militias from all the cities to call on if there is any trouble. We can afford to treat robustly with the usurper Sulu-Sin, and should do so. I suggest that my son sends those curs back to their master with a flea in their collective ear.’ It was with a certain amount of difficulty that Adiar acknowledged that her elder surviving son was regent in place of her husband, now that he was of age. She had been used to ruling on her own when the king was on campaign and, much as she loved Samsu-IIuna, she found it difficult to defer to him.
‘We haven’t heard from our chief minister,’ the latter said, more to buy thinking time than because he was interested in Ibbi-Addad’s views. He was no Iseratuu, that was for sure. He only said what he thought his superiors wanted to hear. Privately Samsu-Iluna thought that he should be replaced, and as soon as possible, but he had many friends and supporters who would be upset by such a move. In any case, he was his father’s choice and, if anyone was going to get rid of him, it would have to be the king.
‘Well, er, um, hopefully we won’t need to call up the militia again soon. The city is only just recovering from the last time they were needed.’
Samsu-Iluna looked at him in surprise. Was he actually voicing an independent opinion? Then the man reverted to type.
‘But if the queen, and, er, um, of course, Prince Samsu-Iluna think that we need to reject the Eshnunnans’ overtures and prepare for war, then, well, perhaps we should consider it.’
‘No, I don’t think that. Ibbi-Addad is right. We play for time by offering to renew the alliance with them in return for the payment of a sizable tribute to pay for Uktannu’s campaign. They will, I suspect, reject it but offer a compromise. All this will take time.’
Adiar looked as if she was about to remonstrate with her son, but she merely flashed him a glance which conveyed her disagreement and stayed silent.
‘Good. What’s next, chief minister?’
‘Er, um, well; a delegation from King Zimri-Lim of Mari.’
‘Oh, this should be interesting,’ Samsu-IIuna rubbed his hands together in anticipation. ‘I wonder what excuse they have come up with for failing to honour their alliance with us when asked to come to the relief of Hiritum?’
‘Huh! Hiritum again,’ his mother snorted. ‘That place is a positive drain on our time and resources. I have never understood its strategic significance; it’s just a minor city state. Why do we care who rules it?’
Samsu-Iluna looked at his mother in amazement. She was normally so astute. Hiritum stood on the Tigris at the meeting point of three major powers: Mari, Assyria and Eshnunna. By including the city in the Babylonian sphere of influence, they had a stronghold from whence they could threaten any of the three kingdoms. He came to the conclusion she was just being petulant and he decided to ignore her.
‘Bring them in; let’s get this over with.’
The embassy from Mari had arrived in response to a letter from Hammurabi sent two months ago, demanding to know why Zimri-Lim had, yet again, delayed in coming to the aid of Hiritum and, by association, Babylon.
The embassy consisted of two men, in itself an insult as it was normal to send three unless the lead ambassador was a member of the ruling family. The absence of the customary goodwill gifts was also a discourtesy. They bowed low as they entered and then knelt and lowered their heads to the ground as they reached the dais on which the queen and her son sat; the members of the council standing behind them.
‘Prince Samsu-Iluna, Queen Adiar. My master, the King of Mari, has sent me in response to the rather intemperate letter King Hammurabi sent to him,’ the man began in a somewhat haughty manner as soon as he had regained his feet.
‘Stop, you impertinent little man!’ Adiar glared at him and was about to tell him what exactly she thought of him and his king when her son laid a calming hand on her arm.
‘Perhaps you would like to reconsider the phraseology of your message, ambassador? Or have you really been sent here to make matters between our two kingdoms worse, rather than better?’ he asked quietly.
‘Umm, I apologise if my delivery caused any offence,’ he began again nervously, all traces of his previous arrogance having disappeared. ‘But my master has asked me to say that, at the time of the Assyrian attack, Mari was concerned about the possibility of a Hittite attack on Yamhad, who are also our allies, and he didn’t think it would be prudent to send an army to Hiritum. I’m sure you will appreciate that it would have hardly been sensible in the prevailing circumstances. In the event, you seem have managed remarkably well without our help.’
The ambassador was being disingenuous. At the time of the siege of Hiritum the Hittites were fully occupied with an internal struggle for the throne between Labarna, himself a usurper, who held the old capital of Kussara, and his nephew Hattusi, who had occupied the new capital of Hattusa, named after himself. The Assyrians would never have dared embark on their siege of Hiritum if there had been any possibility of an attack on their territory by the Hittites.
‘Tell me, ambassador,’ Adiar said sweetly, ‘which of the two competing Hittite kings did you fear the most – Labarna or Hattusi?’
For a moment the man was lost for a suitable reply, but not for long. ‘Well, that’s it, you see, Queen Adiar. With the situation on Yamhad’s north-western border so unstable, Zimri-Lim felt that he needed to keep all his forces close at hand.’
‘That does seem a good policy, now at any rate. However, I would worry more about your southern and eastern borders in the future. This is the second time that Zimri-Lim has failed to honour the treaty between our two kingdoms. The first time he didn’t move until after Babylon had won the victory on its own and more recently he didn’t come to our assistance at all. My father may well wonder what the point is in having an ally like Mari.’
The second delegate from Mari whispered urgently in the other man’s ear, who nodded before turning back towards the dais.
‘We would ask you to consider carefully and to consult King Hammurabi before reaching any firm decisions. Mari needs allies and, if Babylon isn’t prepared to continue her alliance with us, we may have to look towards Assyria.’
Ipqu-Api leant forward and whispered in Samsu-Iluna’s ear. The latter nodded and turned back to the amb
assador.
‘If that is a threat it is a poor one. We already know that Zimri-Lim took a bribe from Ishme-Dagan of Assyria to remain neutral during the siege of Hiritum. It seems to us that Mari has already made her choice. Now get out of my sight.’
~#~
When Hammurabi heard of the visit of the Marian embassy he groaned. ‘Why does everyone seem to think it’s a good idea to fight in the north and the south at the same time,’ he asked no-one in particular.
Later that day another messenger arrived just after he had delivered a message to the city council of Umma offering them the choice of surrender before nightfall or having their city raised to the ground once it was captured. It was not something that he wanted to do - he preferred to have productive cities producing taxes and young men for the army – but he needed to keep the momentum of the conquest of Sumeria going before Rim-Sim could raise another field army.
This second messenger brought more welcome news. Adab had surrendered without a fight and Uktannu had installed the green crest who came from there as governor. The previous governor had been unpopular and he had been ejected from the city by the people. A day later Uktannu’s men re-joined the main army.