Sinsharishkun

Sinsharishkun (Sin-shar-ishkun, ca. 627 - 612 BC), who seems to have been the Saràkos (Saracus) of Berossus, was one of the last kings of the Assyrian empire.

Early Years

He was the son of Ashurbanipal, and possibly the brother of the last Assyrian king, Ashuruballit II (612-607 BC). He is the last king who has years attested in most Babylonian records. Little is known about this king due to the lack of sources for his time. It seems that he ascended the throne somewhere around 627. Although there is no actual proof, it is likely that Sinsharishkun's rise to power wasn't peaceful. He had to deal with the rebellious Sinshumulishir and his older brother and predecessor Ashuretililani.

Last Babylonian War

After defeating his rivals, Sinsharishkun faced a much larger threat. His Babylonian vassal state rebelled under the previously unknown Nabopolassar in 626 BC. What followed was a long war fought in the Mesopotamian heartland. Nabopolassar tried to capture Nippur, the Assyrian center of power in Babylonia, but failed because of the arrival of Assyrian reinforcements. However Nabopolassar did defeat the Assyrians in the field, and was crowned king in Babylon circa 626 BC. Sinsharishkun then lost more ground, succeeded in recapturing Uruk about 624 BC only to quickly lose it again. When Shinsharishkun led a large army to Babylonia in 623 BC another rebellion broke out in the Assyrian homeland. A relief army was sent back but surrendered without a fight so that the usurper could reach the capital Nineveh without interference, and then ascend the throne. Chronicles for the next few years are mostly absent and eventually Sinsharishkun was able to quell the Assyrian rebellion but precious time was lost to solve the Babylonian problem. In 621 BC or shortly thereafter Nabopolassar captured Nippur and so broke the main hold of the Assyrians in Babylonia proper.

War in the Assyrian heartlands

In 616 BC Nabopolassar felt strong enough to move the center of operations northward and launched an attack on the Assyrian homeland. In the few short years that followed Ashur, Nimrud, and Nineveh were attacked and destroyed with the help of Medes and Scythians. The fate of Sinsharishkun is not known, as the section of the Babylonian chronicle in which he is mentioned at the siege of Nineveh is damaged. Whether or not he survived the siege and sack of Nineveh by Chaldeans and Medes, his political role was done.

References

* N. Na'aman, ZA 81 1991 - Chronology and history in the late Assyrian empire
* S. Zawadzki, The fall of Assyria and Median-Babylonian relation in light of the Nabopolassar chronicle