Kassite dynasty

The Babylonian Empire under the Kassites.

TheKassite dynastywas ruled by the Kassites. They were an obscure mountain tribe who came to power inBabylonafter the collapse of the First Dynasty of Babylon in 1595BCfollowing a Hittite sack of the city, and became rulers of northernBabylonia.

The Kassites

TheKassites(Persian:کاسیها) were anancientpeople fromZagros mountains.Kassites were a federation of several nomadic tribes living in theZagros mountains,in modernLoristan(Iran).

In the 18th century BCE, the Kassites started to infiltrateMesopotamia,which was ruled by the successors of the famous kingHammurabiofBabylon(1792–1750). Kassites threatened Babylonia, which they captured in 1750 BC.

The Kassite dynasty dominated Mesopotamia from the 16th to the 12th century BC.

Importance of this empire

By turning southernMesopotamiainto a state, instead of a group of temple-cities, the Kassites made Babylonia an international power. They ruled Babylonia almost without interruption for about four hundred years — the longest rule by any dynasty in Babylonian history.

Kassite kings established trade and diplomacy withAssyria,Egypt,Elamand theHittites.The Kassite royal house intermarried with their royal families. There were foreign merchants in Babylon and other cities. Babylonian merchants traded from Egypt (a source ofNubiangold) to Assyria and Anatolia. Kassite weights and seals, the tools of trade, have been found inThebesin Greece, in southernArmenia,and even in a shipwreck off the southern coast of today's Turkey.

The Kassite kings set up a network of provinces administered by governors.Nippur,a formerly great city, had been virtually abandoned. It was rebuilt in the Kassite period, and became the most important provincial center. Under the Kassite government, the governor of Nippur ruled as a secondary (lesser) king. Some 13th centuryBCKassite kings even took the title 'Governor of Nippur' for themselves.

The Elamites conquered Babylonia in the 12th centuryBC,thus ending the Kassite state. The last Kassite king, Enlil-nadin-ahi, was taken toSusaand imprisoned there, where he died. However, Kassites survived as a distinct ethnic group in the mountains ofLorestanlong after the Kassite state collapsed.

Other websites

• Richard Hooker, "The Kassites: 1530-1170 The Kassite Interregnum"Archived2005-02-12 at theWayback Machine