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rocketmoney.com/ancient. rocketmoney.com/ancient. For

1:29

all the brilliant blaze of his

1:32

life, Sardori II's eventual passing

1:34

was barely a muffled whisper.

1:38

The man who'd made the Assyrians

1:40

tremble had proved no match for

1:42

Ticlith-Pelaser, who'd invaded

1:44

Arartu, defeated his army,

1:47

and besieged the king in his capital.

1:50

Vanquished but not killed, and that's

1:52

the spot where the trail begins

1:55

to go cold. According

1:57

to historian Christoph Hipp, we

2:00

can only speculate what happened to

2:02

the Arartian king after the campaign.

2:06

The defeat may have stimulated

2:08

the opposition into action against

2:10

Sarduri, who'd failed to

2:12

prevent the Assyrians from devastating

2:14

the countryside. Whatever

2:16

the details, it soon became clear

2:19

that Sarduri was gone, replaced

2:22

on the throne by a figure

2:24

named Ursa or Rusa. Now,

2:26

we know that Sarduri had a son

2:29

named Rusa. The problem is,

2:31

this may not have been that same

2:33

guy. Hip

2:35

lays out three possible scenarios,

2:38

each based on minimal evidence.

2:41

The traditional theory assumes that after

2:43

735, Sarduri's

2:46

son, Rusa, peacefully took power

2:48

in Arartu from his father.

2:52

A second theory claims that

2:54

after the reign of Sarduri

2:56

II, his son and namesake,

2:58

Sarduri III, was in power

3:00

for a short period of

3:02

time, as testified

3:04

to in a single Arartian inscription.

3:07

Then, soon after, Sarduri III

3:10

was replaced by his own

3:12

son named Rusa. The

3:15

third possibility is that the defeat of 735 was

3:17

so disastrous that

3:20

it resulted in a coup d'etat, one

3:23

that saw Sarduri II overthrown

3:25

by a usurper named Rusa,

3:28

the son of Eramena. Hip

3:31

notes that the paucity of the

3:33

source material makes it difficult to

3:36

judge which scenarios most likely. As

3:39

podcaster David Crowther often says, he

3:41

pays your money and he takes

3:43

your chances. Whoever

3:46

he was, the new king

3:48

Rusa showed substantial military prowess.

3:52

Hip relates the letter of

3:54

a local ruler named Asur

3:56

Le'u of the Zagros Kingdom

3:58

of Kerala. city

6:01

of Sarduriani, which

6:03

the Assyrians apparently turned into a

6:05

military base. So

6:07

at the time, Corolla was allied

6:10

with Assyria. We

6:13

don't have the details of the

6:15

conflict's outcome, but we do know

6:17

that Rusa remained king of Urartu

6:20

all through the reign of Shalmaneser V and

6:23

into the current reign of Sargon II. The reason

6:28

that neither king campaigned

6:30

in Urartu is probably

6:32

because Rusa stopped testing

6:34

Assyria's frontiers. Instead,

6:36

he turned his attention north to

6:39

the Ararat Valley, Lake Savan,

6:42

and the southern approaches to

6:44

the Caucasus. He

6:46

also founded a new fortress

6:48

city called Rusa Helini, the

6:50

city of Rusa, at Toprakale,

6:53

just east of Tushpa. But

6:56

according to historian Mirzha

6:58

Salvini, it was Rusa's

7:01

activities in the kingdom of

7:03

Manaea that catalyzed the next

7:05

major conflict. I've

7:07

touched on Manaea a few times in

7:10

some of my Patreon mini-episodes, but

7:12

just to bring folks up to speed, Manaea

7:15

is a large kingdom in

7:17

the Zagros Mountains southeast of

7:19

Lake Urmia. And again,

7:21

you can refer to the Zagros map I

7:23

posted. The Manaeans

7:26

themselves were a Hurrian people

7:28

with a minor Kassite component.

7:31

Historian Richard Fry notes that

7:33

they spoke a non-Semitic and

7:36

non- Indo-Iranian language that was

7:38

related to Urartian, with

7:40

no known modern language connections.

7:44

But like all the peoples

7:46

of the Iranian plateau, the

7:48

Manaeans had been subject to

7:50

an ever-increasing Iranian penetration. In fact,

7:54

two of the earliest known Manite

7:56

kings, Udukki and Aza,

7:58

have names to

8:00

old Iranian terms. Sargon's

8:04

Annals for 719 give a

8:06

detailed discussion of a civil

8:08

war taking place in Manan

8:10

territory. He records

8:13

that the people of the

8:15

cities Shu'an Dahul and Dukduka, fortified

8:18

cities, plotted resistance

8:20

against Iranzi, the

8:23

Manan, the king, their lord,

8:25

one who pulls Ma'yoke and

8:28

put their trust in Matati of

8:30

the land Zakirtu. Zakirtu

8:33

was a former province of

8:35

Manaea that it apparently declared

8:37

independence. Sargon

8:39

continues that Matati of

8:42

the land Zakirtu gave these

8:44

two fortified cities his combat

8:46

troops together with their cavalry

8:49

and thus aid was provided to them.

8:52

I mustered the numerous troops of

8:54

the god Asur and marched forth

8:56

to conquer those cities. I

8:59

shattered their very strong walls with

9:01

a mighty battering ram leveling them

9:04

to the ground. I

9:06

carried off as booty their people

9:08

together with their property. I

9:11

destroyed, demolished, and burned down those

9:13

cities with fire. He

9:17

then records that three more Manan

9:19

cities, Sukayah, Bala, and

9:22

Abitikna, deliberated

9:24

an evil plan that was to tear out

9:26

the root of their own land and gave

9:29

their word to Rusa the Orartian to do

9:31

obesions to him. Because of the crime that

9:33

they had committed, I

9:38

deported them from their own places and

9:40

resettled them in the land Hati and

9:43

the land Ammuru. So

9:47

the episode tells us a couple of

9:49

things. First, Manaea was clearly a

9:51

hot mess. Second,

9:54

Rusa was angling to break off cities

9:56

to expand his kingdom's influence. cities

10:00

that belonged to Arranzi of Manaea,

10:03

a vassal of Sargon II, and

10:07

third that his latest attempt had

10:09

failed. Sargon's

10:11

focus for the rest of 719, along with 718 and 717,

10:17

was mostly out west, in

10:20

Malacha, Tabal, and Karchemish.

10:23

But for 716, the Eponym Chronicle

10:26

says a lot with a

10:28

little, with its typically terse entry

10:30

of two Manaea. Fortunately

10:33

for us, Sargon II gives

10:35

much more detail in his

10:37

annals. In

10:39

my sixth regnal year, Russo

10:41

the Arartian sent his mounted

10:44

messenger with a mendacious message

10:46

to Bhagdati of the land

10:48

Vishdish and the ruler of

10:50

the land Zakir II, governors

10:53

of the land of Manaea. He

10:56

made them hostile to Me, Sargon,

10:58

and to Aza, the son of

11:01

their former lord, and made them

11:03

side with him, meaning

11:06

side with Russo.

11:08

So Arranzi'd apparently passed away and

11:10

been succeeded by a son named

11:13

Aza, who was now facing

11:15

down his own rebellion. Sargon

11:18

reports that the rebels brought

11:20

about the rout of the

11:22

Manaeans on Mount Ua'ush, a

11:25

rugged mountain, and threw

11:27

down the corpse of Aza, their

11:29

lord, there. So

11:32

for the second time in four

11:35

years, Russo was busy fomenting rebellion

11:37

in the Zagros kingdom of Manaea.

11:40

And honestly, it's a bit hard

11:42

to know why he felt compelled

11:45

to poke the Assyrian lion. Maybe

11:48

his devastating victory out of

11:50

the gate and the likely

11:53

inconclusive follow-up with Tiglath-Pileser had

11:55

given Russo a healthy dose

11:57

of false confidence. Or

11:59

actually, a very unhealthy dose.

12:02

Anyway, this time his proxies had

12:05

gone so far as to kill

12:07

the latest Manan ruler, King Aza.

12:10

Luckily for him, Sargon II was

12:12

in a really good mood and

12:14

decided to let bygones be bygones.

12:17

I'm entirely joking. It was actually

12:19

this. I raised

12:22

my hands in supplication to the

12:24

god Asur, my lord, that I

12:27

might avenge the Manaeans. Then

12:30

on Mount Uwa Ush, the mountain

12:32

where they had thrown down the

12:34

corpse of Aza, I flayed

12:36

the skin from Bagdati and then

12:38

showed it to the people of the

12:41

land of Manaea. As

12:44

for Ulu Sunu, who they had

12:46

set on the throne of his

12:48

brother, Aza, and to whom they

12:50

had entrusted all the wide land

12:52

of Manaea, the wrath

12:54

of the god Asur was directed

12:56

against Ulu Sunu, ordaining

12:58

the dissolution of his land.

13:02

In the face of this existential

13:04

threat, Ulu Sunu doubled down on

13:06

his allegiance to Urartu and even

13:09

convinced a few neighboring kings to

13:11

join him. The

13:13

ones he names are Iti

13:15

of Alabria and our record-keeping

13:18

friend from earlier this episode,

13:20

King Asur Leu of Corala.

13:23

Sargon's response was, I'm

13:25

gonna say, unsurprising. Angrily,

13:29

I mustered the numerous troops of

13:31

the god Asur and set out

13:33

to conquer the land Manaea. I

13:37

enveloped those lands like a

13:39

swarm of locusts and overwhelmed

13:41

Izirtu, the royal city of

13:43

the land Manaea, as with a bird

13:45

trap. I inflicted

13:47

a major defeat on them. As

13:50

a result, Ulu Sunu, the

13:52

Manaean, together with his whole

13:54

land, assembled as one and

13:56

grasp hold of my feet.

14:00

The only surprise in the whole

14:02

affair is actually what happened next.

14:06

Sargon reports that I

14:08

then had mercy on them and

14:11

overlooked Ulusunu's crimes. I

14:14

had him sit again on his royal

14:16

throne and receive tribute from him. The

14:20

kings that Ulusunu'd enlisted to join

14:22

his rebellion didn't get off quite

14:24

as lucky. Sargon

14:26

notes that I deported

14:28

Iti of the land Alabria together

14:31

with his family and the people

14:33

of the land Karala. Historians

14:36

M. Dondamaev and E. Grantovsky

14:39

add that Asur

14:41

Le'u, ruler of Karala,

14:43

was skinned alive and

14:46

his territory was annexed to Zamua.

14:50

Sargon remained in the Zagros

14:52

for some time, reducing rebel

14:54

cities and reinforcing Assyrian control.

14:58

But the following year, 715,

15:00

Rusa compelled him

15:02

to return. This

15:05

time, the Orartian king convinced

15:07

a Manian governor named Da'yuku

15:09

to defect, along with his

15:11

22 fortresses. Sargon

15:14

quickly re-conquered the fortresses and

15:16

deported the governor. But

15:19

seriously, it was becoming blazingly evident

15:21

that all this was only a

15:24

band-aid. If he

15:26

really wanted to staunch the rebellions, he

15:28

needed to terminate their source, the

15:31

Orartian empire of Rusa I. And

15:33

it was in

15:35

716 or 715 that Sargon began making detailed plans for

15:42

the total obliteration of Urarku.

15:46

Again, Rusa may have misjudged

15:48

the Assyrian threat, based on

15:50

some fortunate early engagements. And

15:53

there's even a chance that, if it

15:56

were only Assyria, Rusa may have actually

15:58

stood a chance. Unfortunately,

16:01

at the very same time,

16:03

the bleeding edge of a

16:06

new and overwhelming power was

16:08

stalking Rus' northern frontiers. It

16:12

was a force that shared a

16:14

common history with the Iranian rulers

16:16

of Bronze Age Mutani and Kassite

16:18

Babylon, as well as

16:20

the coming classical powers of the

16:23

Scythians, Medes, and Persians. And

16:26

over the next few decades, it

16:28

would kill one major regional king

16:30

and lead to the deaths of

16:32

two others. As

16:34

some of you may have guessed,

16:37

I'm talking about the advent of

16:39

the Iranian nomadic steppe people called

16:41

the Sumerians. That's

16:43

not Sumerians, it's Cimmerians,

16:46

with a very capital C. Guys,

16:50

I could do a whole series

16:52

on the history of the peoples

16:54

who occupied the Pontic Caspian Steppe

16:56

from the 5th millennium BC right

16:58

down to the Classical Age. In

17:01

fact, maybe I will someday, who knows. But

17:04

to keep things a little more recent, the

17:07

Sumerians were an eastern,

17:09

ironic, equestrian nomadic people

17:11

originating on the Pontic

17:13

Caspian Steppe, basically

17:16

the region just north of the

17:18

Caucasus Mountains. Although

17:20

they were culturally indistinguishable from

17:22

the neighboring Scythians, they formed

17:25

a separate ethnic unit. Like

17:28

the Scythians, they owed their

17:30

success to the development of

17:32

mounted nomadic pastoralism and the

17:34

adoption of effective weapons suited

17:37

to equestrian warfare. In

17:40

the past few decades, the Sumerians had

17:42

been dislodged from their Pontic

17:45

Caspian home by a significant

17:47

movement of the nomads of

17:49

the Eurasian Steppe. The

17:52

apparent instigators far to the

17:54

east were a related Central

17:57

Asian nomadic, Aaronic tribe. the

18:00

Mesogutai or the Icedones.

18:03

Their westward migration pushed the

18:06

bulk of the Scythians into

18:08

the Caspian and Caucasian steppes,

18:11

where they assimilated most of

18:13

the Sumerians and conquered their

18:15

territory. The

18:17

rest of the Sumerians were

18:19

forced to migrate across or

18:21

around the Caucasus Mountains into

18:24

the region of Kalkus along the

18:26

Black Sea coast and

18:28

the Oroxes River Valley near

18:30

Lake Sivan. And

18:32

you may remember that both these

18:35

regions had recently been annexed to

18:37

Oraku. The

18:39

name Sumerian likely derives from

18:41

one of two old Aaronic

18:43

terms, either Gaia

18:46

Mira, meaning Union of

18:48

Clans, or Gamera, meaning

18:50

Mobile Unit, both

18:53

of which seem super appropriate. They

18:56

were conventionally known as Gamerians,

18:59

and the territory they held

19:01

in the Trans Caucasus was

19:04

also called Gamer. I'll post

19:06

a super helpful map that

19:08

tracks Sumerian migrations. According

19:11

to historian Tim Bridgman, some

19:13

of the earliest mentions of

19:15

the Sumerians in Assyrian texts

19:18

were in military intelligence reports

19:20

about Oraku, written by the

19:22

Assyrian crown prince, Sargon

19:25

II's son, Sennacherib. The

19:29

reports describe the Sumerians as a

19:32

numerous well-armed, highly mobile

19:34

military force, considered

19:37

to be a particularly dangerous threat

19:39

to the security of both

19:42

the Oratian and Assyrian empires.

19:45

Sennacherib also reported to his

19:47

father that right around the

19:49

time of our story, the

19:51

Sumerians had attacked Oraku's province

19:53

of Uwasi through the territory

19:55

of the kingdom of Manaea.

19:59

As you can see on my map, map, Owasi was

20:01

located just southwest of Lake

20:03

Urmia, very close

20:05

to the Orartian vassal kingdom

20:07

of Musasir. Historian

20:11

Ascolt Ivancik relates that,

20:13

in response, King Rusa

20:15

launched a counterattack against

20:17

the Sumerians at Goryania

20:19

in modern Georgia. So

20:22

basically an assault on their new homeland

20:24

of Gomir. The

20:27

major offensive featured Rusa himself,

20:29

his Turtanu equivalent, as well

20:31

as 13 governors, representing

20:35

the combined armed forces of the

20:37

kingdom. Despite

20:39

this, they were heavily defeated

20:41

by the Sumerians, and

20:43

the governor of the Orartian province

20:45

of Owasi was killed. So

20:48

please put a pin in the

20:50

fact that not only was the

20:52

Orartian army thoroughly mauled by the

20:54

Sumerians, around 716 or

20:57

715, but the governor

20:59

of the region closest to Musasir was

21:02

killed. Because both

21:04

of those things will factor into what

21:06

comes next. So

21:08

hey Scott, what comes next? Well

21:11

it's probably easiest if I just let

21:13

Sargon tell you. In

21:16

my eighth regnal year, also

21:18

known as 714 BC,

21:21

I marched into the lands Manaea and

21:23

Medea. I've also

21:25

discussed Medea, the land of

21:27

the Medes, in previous Patreon

21:29

mini-episodes. The important

21:32

thing on this occasion is

21:34

that not only were the

21:36

Medes Assyrian allies, but they

21:38

were also surprisingly urbanized. Or

21:41

at least those allied with Assyria were.

21:44

Sargon notes that I received tribute

21:47

from the people of the lands

21:49

Manaea, Elipi, and Medea, whom

21:52

he pointedly refers to as the

21:54

city lords of the mountains. And

21:57

Again, I'll refer you to the Zagros map.

22:00

System needs were located south east

22:02

of Money up The King Apparently

22:05

began the year with the swing

22:07

through the central zag rose but

22:09

before too long we get to

22:12

the meet a direct frontal assault

22:14

on Arrar to. I

22:17

came across a map by a

22:19

story and h dentists mass that

22:21

shoes all the possible routes are

22:24

gone me abuse to invade the

22:26

rocky and heartland and they are

22:28

literally as they say all over

22:30

the map. But aka

22:32

miss Razor wise it seems likely

22:34

that Sarah gone looked back up

22:37

through money up then entered or

22:39

are to via Lasik, the region

22:41

whose gov the Sumerians had just

22:43

killed. At some

22:46

point between there and the capital

22:48

of to spot to Russa lead

22:50

a combined defense or at least

22:52

what remnant he could pull together

22:54

in the wake of the Sumerian

22:56

defeat. But his efforts

22:58

were effectively do. According

23:01

to Sar gone I defeated countless

23:03

troops of Russo the your rorty

23:06

and and captured to one hundred

23:08

and sixty members of his royal

23:10

family and his cavalry mess. In

23:13

order to save his life, Russa

23:15

mounted a mare and took to

23:17

the hills and ancient the Syrian

23:20

troops for depicting a coward. In

23:23

the wake of the battle, sorry

23:25

go on record stripping Arrar to

23:27

have captured Monday and territories and

23:29

returning them to his ally will

23:31

Soon, who have. Money. And

23:34

then, well, sorry gone. Kept right

23:37

on marching through Aurora to. Again,

23:40

as to the exact route you

23:42

pay your money and you take

23:44

your chances, but the outcome in

23:47

each region was the same. Every

23:50

fortified city and settlements he

23:52

encountered was conquered and burned

23:54

to the ground. Dozens

23:56

at least of cities and

23:58

all. And maybe a thousand

24:00

settlements. Sword

24:03

on next records receiving horses, oxen

24:05

and sheep and goats as tribute

24:07

from aeons Who king of the

24:10

land now Uri in his fortified

24:12

city who best year. Which

24:15

suggests that sorrow gone and followed

24:17

the western shores of Lake or me

24:20

up before cutting westward into who bisque

24:22

year. Which positioned

24:24

him perfectly for a fatal

24:26

blow on his campaign spinal

24:29

target the a rocky and

24:31

vassal kingdom and major religious

24:33

center of Mousse or Seer.

24:37

Sir Gone relates that as for

24:39

or his honor of the city

24:41

moose a seer who and transgressed

24:43

against the oath sworn by the

24:46

gods as Or and Marduk and

24:48

sent tribute to Russa the a

24:50

rocky and the god As or

24:52

my lord encouraged me and so

24:54

I constantly moved on with only

24:57

my own single chariot and one

24:59

thousand and my ferocious personal cavalry

25:01

and foot soldiers who were skilled

25:03

and. Served

25:06

on appears to be characterizing reason

25:08

up as a former vassal at

25:10

least for a time who defected

25:13

back to Iraq to. Which,

25:15

according to historian Peter Dubowsky may

25:18

have actually been the case. At

25:21

the very least or Zona and

25:23

sorrow gone and had pretty warm

25:25

relations. History and

25:28

Karen Radner highlights a recovered

25:30

a Syrian cylinder seal and

25:32

apparent gift to resign and

25:34

by sorrow gone decorated with

25:36

the image of a for

25:38

wing bear headed genius throttling

25:41

to ostriches. A

25:43

text on the cylinder seal reads: seal

25:45

of result of the King of Mousse

25:47

or seer the city of the Raven.

25:50

Of which like a snake and

25:52

difficult mountains the mouth is open.

25:56

Which makes zero sense until you

25:59

realize. That to play. The words moose

26:01

to exit and zero snake

26:03

which combined make up mousse

26:06

or seer. And

26:08

then, well, My it makes

26:10

slightly more sense. Slipped.

26:12

Not everyone gets Oregon's humor. Okay,

26:16

But. Those of course where the

26:18

good old days. During

26:20

his advance on "Moose", a seer

26:22

saw Gone relates travelling on horseback

26:24

over easy to rain and on

26:27

foot over difficult for. Then

26:30

when was honor of the

26:32

city Monsieur heard of the

26:34

advance of my expeditionary force.

26:36

He flew off like a

26:38

bird and took to the

26:40

rugged hills. I surrounded the

26:42

city moose a seer the

26:44

abode of the god whole

26:46

d and brought out resigned

26:48

his wife, his sons, his

26:50

daughters, thousands of his people

26:52

and countless livestock. Though

26:54

he actually counted them pretty precisely.

26:58

Similar. The Car chemist

27:00

The plunder was vast, including

27:02

thirty four talents and eighteen

27:04

mean as gold, a hundred

27:06

and sixty talents and two

27:08

and a half minutes of

27:11

silver, shining copper, ten and

27:13

precious stones in large quantities.

27:16

As a final humiliation,

27:18

Saga records that. I

27:20

brought his day at ease. poll d

27:22

and bag bar to end of the

27:24

temple of the god Osu are. So.

27:28

Yeah, the cold titles of the

27:30

chief gods of the a rocky

27:32

and pantheon word now symbols of

27:35

a Syrian conquest. And

27:37

really p should probably just stop

27:40

there. but Sarah gone loves to

27:42

roll and that gloat. I

27:45

cause there to be lamb and taishan

27:47

in the wide land arrar to. i

27:50

made russa their king use

27:52

flint blades razors and scalpels

27:55

to slash himself in mourning

27:57

for as long as he

27:59

lived I made Musa

28:01

Seer part of the territory of

28:03

Assyria. The awesome

28:06

splendor of the god Asur,

28:08

my lord, overwhelmed Rusa the

28:10

Arartian. And so,

28:12

with his own iron dagger, he

28:14

stabbed himself in the heart, like

28:17

a pig, and put an end

28:19

to his life. Though

28:22

he'd continue ruling for nearly

28:24

a decade, the destruction of

28:26

Arartu and Musa Seer would

28:28

be Sargon's greatest legacy. As

28:32

I mentioned back in Episode C20,

28:34

we actually have a detailed relief

28:36

of Musa Seer's Temple of Haldi,

28:39

recovered from Sargon II's new

28:41

royal fiddie of Dursharukan. I'll

28:44

post a picture. As

28:47

Radnor relates, the illustration of

28:49

Haldi's shrine, with its unique

28:51

roof construction and its facade

28:54

decorated with shields, spears, and

28:56

statues, is perhaps the

28:58

most celebrated architectural representation in

29:01

all of Assyrian art. Though

29:05

some scholars question Sargon's portrayal

29:07

of despair driving Rusa to

29:10

suicide, none dispute that the

29:12

Arartian king died in 714 BC. To

29:16

be succeeded by his son, Argishti II. Though

29:21

the proximate cause was Sargon

29:23

II, Rusa was also the

29:25

first major king to lose

29:28

his life, at least in

29:30

part, as a consequence of

29:32

Cimmerian actions. To

29:35

say the next such death

29:37

would be highly ironic would

29:39

be a fairly colossal understatement.

29:43

So here we sit on the threshold

29:45

of the series finale. And

29:48

as I've hinted a few times, the final

29:50

episode will be a bit different. One

29:53

of the great things about this season

29:55

is that my Patreon supporters helped me

29:57

purchase the annals of Sargon II. is.