Wiseman's Overview

        By the end of the year 608 B.C. the balance of power in the Euphrates-Mediterranean corridor is reasonably well defined. Media and Babylon share domination of the lands east of the bend of the Euphrates; Egypt is sovereign over lands westward to the Mediterranean. There is some question about the allegiance of Carchemish, understandable in view of its location at the juncture of the three lands. It appears to have remained loyal to Egypt.

        According to the Chronicle, sometime late in 607 B.C., the 19^th year of Nabopolassar, the Babylonian army crossed the Euphrates and lay siege to Kimuhu, a well fortified town an unknown distance south of Carchemish, on the west bank of the Euphrates. Although Egypt did not immediately respond, this act of aggression set the stage for a prolonged struggle for supremacy in the vicinity of Carchemish which lasted for over two years. The machinations of the opposing armies are not difficult to follow. We begin by citing for the record Wiseman's summary of the Chronicle for the four year period beginning in 607 B.C..
 

607	Nabopolassar 18/19	Nabopolassar with Crown-Prince (Nebuchadrezzar) leads armies to mountains. Nabopolassar returns. Nebuchadrezzar continues operations in Za.... Nebuchadrezzar returns to Babylon. Nabopolassar goes to Kimuhu (on Euphrates). Nabopolassar captures Kimuhu.	Piankhi 31/32
606	Nabopolassar 19/20	Nabopolassar returns to Babylon. Egyptian (re)capture Kimuhu after four-month siege. Nabopolassar with army to Quramati. Captures Sunadiri, Elammu and Dahammu.	Piankhi 32/33
605	Nabopolassar 20/21	Nabopolassar returns to Babylon Egyptians from Carchemish defeat Babylonians at Quramati	Piankhi 33/34
		Events recorded by B.M.21946
605	Nabopolassar 21/22 (continued)	Nabopolassar stays in Babylonia Nebuchadrezzar and Babylonians defeat Egyptians at Battle of Carchemish Pursuit to Hamath. Conquest of Hatti. Nabopolassar dies after 21 year reign.  (8th Ab) Nebuchadrezzar returns to Babylon (Elul) Nebuchadrezzar ascends throne at Babylon. (1st Elul) Nebuchadrezzar returns to Syria.	Piankhi 33/34 (continued)
604	Nebuchadrezzar 'Accession year' Nebuchadrezzar 1	Nebuchadrezzar returns to Babylon with tribute. Nebuchadrezzar takes the hands of Bel and Nabu and celebrates New Year Festival. Nebuchadrezzar and Babylonian army in Syria. Reception of tribute.  Sack of Askelon.	Piankhi 34/35
603	Nebuchadrezzar 2	Return to Babylon	Piankhi 35

        We shall have to be careful when describing the activities of these years. While the Chronicler dates several actions of the Babylonian army to a specific month, in a few instances his description is less specific, leaving us to speculate on the precise times when the events in question took place. In spite of this difficulty it is possible to reconstruct a probable sequence of events, a month by month timetable of the activities of Nabopolassar and Egypt for the years 607-604 B.C., based entirely on the Babylonian Chronicle. For convenience we re-section Wiseman's data, itemizing events according to the year of the king, rather than according to the Julian year. The result is shown below in table 2. It may benefit the reader to duplicate this table for reference in the discussion which follows.

        There remains the task of adding detail to the outline using the text of the Chronicle. We will then proceed to compare the actions of the Egyptian army therein described with the Annals of Menkheperre for the years in question.
 

Nabopolassar 19th Menkheperre/      Piankhi 32nd	Mar/April 607 Apr/May 607 May/June 607 June/July 607 July/Aug 607 Aug/Sept 607 Sept/Oct 607 Oct/Nov 607 Nov/Dec 607 Dec 607/Jan 606 Jan/Feb 606 Feb/Mar 606	. . . . . . Nabopolassar crosses Euphrates and attacks Kimuhu  Siege of Kimuhu ends sucessfully.  . . . .
Nabopolassar 20th Menkheperre/      Piankhi 33rd  8th Campaign	Mar/April 606 Apr/May 606 May/June 606 June/July 606 July/Aug 606 Aug/Sept 606 Sept/Oct 606 Oct/Nov 606 Nov/Dec 606 Dec 606/Jan 605 Jan/Feb 605 Feb/Mar 605	. Egyptian assault on Kimuhu begins . . Egyptian army (re)captures Kimuhu after four-month siege. . Nabopolassar with army to Quramati.  Assault on Sunadiri, Elammu and Dahammu begins. . . Assault ends successfully. Nabopolassar returns to Babylon Egyptians from Carchemish defeat Babylonians at Quramati
Nabopolassar 21st Nebuchadrezzar    Accession Year Menkheperre/      Piankhi 34nd  9th Campaign	Mar/April 605 Apr/May 605 May/June 605 June/July 605 July/Aug 605 Aug/Sept 605 Sept/Oct 605 Oct/Nov 605 Nov/Dec 605 Dec 605/Jan 604 Jan/Feb 604 Feb/Mar 604	. Nabopolassar stays in Babylon. Probably ill. Nebuchadrezzar and Babylonians defeat Egyptians at Battle of Carchemish. Pursuit to Hamath. Conquest of the Hatti lands. Nabopolassar dies after 21-year reign. (8th Ab). Nebuchadrezzar returns Nebuchadrezzar ascends throne at Babylon. (1st Elul) Nebuchadrezzar returns to Syria. Tour of the Hatti lands. . . . Nebuchadrezzar returns to Babylon with heavy tribute.  .
Nebuchadrezzar 1st Menkheperre/      Piankhi 35th  10th Campaign	Mar/April 604 Apr/May 604 May/June 604 June/July 604 July/Aug 604 Aug/Sept 604 Sept/Oct 604 Oct/Nov 604 Nov/Dec 604 Dec 604/Jan 603 Jan/Feb 603 Feb/Mar 603	. . Nebuchadrezzar & army to Hatti lands. Marched unopposed until Kislev (Nov/Dec). All kings of Hatti lands come before Nebuchadrezzar & bring tribute.  . . . . Nebuchadrezzar move south to Ashkelon which is sieged, captured, plundered and destroyed. Its king is taken captive.  Nebuchadrezzar returns to Babylon. .

        There is no need to comment further regarding Nabopolassar's 19^th year. The Annals indicate that no Egyptian campaign took place this year, a fact entirely consistent with the Chronicle which makes no mention of an Egyptian army where one might otherwise be expected. After all, Kimuhu lies on the west bank of the Euphrates, in or adjacent to lands under Egyptian control. If an Egyptian army were resident in Syria we would expect it to have responded.

        The fact that the Egyptian army remained at home also explains what emboldened Nabopolassar to venture west of the Euphrates.

        The account of the siege of Kimuhu is brief. It consists of a single line to set the stage, and a second to record the event.

In the month of Elul the prince [Nebuchadrezzar] returned to Babylon and in the month of Tisri the king of Akkad [Nabopolassar] mustered his army and went to Kimuhu which is on the bank of the River Euphrates.
He crossed the river and did battle against the city, and seized the city in the month of Kislev. (BM 22047 lines 12-14)

        At least in their mutual silence the Chronicle and the Annals are in agreement for the 19^th year of Nabopolassar, the 32^nd of Menkheperre. It is rather in the 20^th and 21^st years of Nabopolassar that we will have opportunity to compare the records of the two documents. These years correspond to the 33^rd and 34^th years of Menkheperre, during which the Egyptian king launched his 8^th and 9^th campaigns. Our attention will therefore be focused on these two critical years, the last in the illustrious career of Nabopolassar, and the first in the lengthy kingship of his son and heir Nebuchadrezzar.