Battle of Carchemish

The Battle of Carchemish was a military conflict between the armies of Egypt and Babylon, the BC took place near the ancient city of Carchemish in 605. It ended with the defeat of the Egyptian troops. The battle takes place in the Bible a brief mention (Jeremiah 46:2-12 ).

Events

Since the end of the 7th century BC the Assyrian empire was increasingly under the pressure of expansive Babylonian Empire. In 614, the capital of Assyria, 612 Nineveh fell to the Babylonians, after the Assyrians had to move to Harran. When they were even there 610 BC attacked by the Babylonians, they had to retreat beyond the Euphrates under their king Ashur uballit II. There they were supported by Egyptian troops of Pharaoh Necho II, and tried unsuccessfully to recapture Harran in the following year. In the years 607/606 BC, the fighting concentrated on the area around Kummuh, is being reported that the Egyptian troops were stationed in Carchemish and had operated from there. For this reason, the Babylonian crown prince Nebuchadnezzar II undertook in the year 605 BC an expedition against Carchemish.

Nebuchadnezzar crossed the Euphrates, as Vogt suggested about 20 km south of Carchemish in Til Barsip, where there was a ford. The crew of the city stood in front of the city to a pitched battle, after she had been reinforced by a support army. The Egyptian army was broken up by the Babylonian march from Egypt even before the message and may have been personally led by the Pharaoh. In the course of the fighting the Babylonians invaded the suburbs of Carchemish. Traces of urban warfare could still be found during excavations in 1912. Finally, the Egyptians suffered a defeat. Some of them fled to the south-west, another in the city itself Then Nebuchadnezzar pursued them to Hama, where he aufrieb the Egyptian army finally.

After this crushing defeat of Egypt had to give up all the territory up to the Wadi al -Arish. Although it was possible to stop further penetration of the Babylonians in 600 BC and reconquer the lost city of Gaza in the meantime, but the supremacy of Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean was initially broken.