Assyrian Siege Warfare in Antiquity

Before the dawn of the concept of the nation-state, ancient cities, and civilizations fought fiercely for lands and resources. Siege warfare was commonplace in the Bronze and Iron Ages as empires looked to extend their hegemony, such as the Assyrians.

The ancient Assyrian Empire in the old, middle, and neo periods fought fiercely in siege tactics to turn rivals into vassalage and extend their force projection across the ancient Near East. These Semitic peoples would lay the foundations of siege warfare along with extraordinary cultural achievements for modern human civilization.

What is Siege Warfare?

Siege warfare includes armies conducting offensive operations against a fortified city or outpost by cutting off supply lines, resources, and lines of communications. Weaponry used to overtake walls or conduct operations underground is frequently used.

Weapons used in ancient siege warfare included catapults, siege towers, and bartering rams. With the birth of the Iron Age, Assyrians started to set the example of besieging cities with minimal casualties taken.

Assyrian Tactics

The Assyrian Empire, notably the Neo Assyrian Empire, was effective in siege tactics and overall warfare. The Iron Age was the perfect era for them, as they were the sole empire in the Mesopotamian region and Near East to utilize and revolutionize iron weaponry.

Iron weaponry could be mass-produced at a faster rate than the late bronze weapons and were far stronger. With the Assyrians being one of the few ancient civilizations not negatively affected by the Late Bronze Age Collapse, their strength was intact for further gains.

Assyrian kings such as Ashurnarsipal II and Sennacherib perfected the use of battering rams, with the latter utilizing multiple rams in one concentrated wall or gate to puncture through defenses. One such example was the Siege of Lachish in 701 BC which saw the Assyrians conquer the strategically essential and symbolic city from the Kingdom of Judah.

The Assyrian army was molded to be utterly loyal to the state, with soldiers going through rigorous training courses before serving in military conquests. Discipline was essential in the empire‘s military as ancient sieges could take years, or sometimes up to a decade until innovations in weaponry would arise hundreds of years later.

A key factor they would have other than their adversaries was the chariot, which was molded into a form of ancient cavalry. With iron weaponry, they would smash through armies once they breached the walls of cities.

Adapting to Siege Warfare

Besieging a well-fortified city was often tricky, even with iron weapons. As a result, Assyrians were sometimes forced to be innovative to catch their enemies by surprise.

Assyrians would conduct some of the earliest surveillance uses by using goatskin to help them swim underwater undetected by enemies. This was a highly effective strategy as it would allow scouts to plot defenses of cities and the potential to open up gates to the main army at night, especially for cities near rivers and streams.

Assyrian Psychological Warfare During Campaigns

Arguably what made Assyrians dominate at the height of their empire was their aura and reputation for brutality. Those who submitted without a fight and paid tribune were spared, but those who fought and their walls fell suffered fates worse than death.

Opponents were tortured, massacred, flayed, impaled, and burned alive. Ashurbanipal, who led the Neo Assyrian Empire at its height, would detail his cruelty to his enemies in the ancient texts as Assyrians would create the world’s first modern library.

Additional Assyrian kings would be just as cruel with their sacks of Babylon, Urartu, Judah, Egypt, and other ancient civilizations in the region. To have a constant stream of workforce along with minimal enemies, deportations became a standard after sieges as slavery was a valuable resource to the empire. Unfortunately for them, it would become overstretched, and the cruelty put forth onto enemies would be the fate of the Assyrians in 612 BC.

After decades of regression, usurpations, and civil war, Assyrian siege tactics would become a standard bearer for the rest of the ancient world despite losing their empire. The Babylonians, Persians, and Greek Macedonians would all take notes from the once most powerful empire of its time and continue the legacy of ancient warfare.