Capital importance that Sargon II attached to the city of Carchemish

by Damien F. Mackey “Because of its glorious past and strategic position, Karkemish was fully entitled to become a sort of western capital of the Assyrian Empire: a perfect place in which to display the grandeur of Assyria, and from which to control the western and north-western territories of the empire.” Gianni Marchesi I, in light of the new geographical revolution as set out by Richard (Royce) Erickson, radically moving Elam and Chaldea far to the NW: More geographical ‘tsunamis’: lands of Elam and Chaldea https://www.academia.edu/104403646/More_geographical_tsunamis_lands_of_Elam_and_Chaldea?f_ri=32226 and hence being forced to consider a new location for Babylon - known to have been situated relatively close to Elam and Chaldea - first toyed with the idea of ancient Byblos for Babylon, before settling, instead, on Carchemish for Babylon (Karduniash): Correction for Babylon (Babel). Carchemish preferable to Byblos (2) Correction for Babylon (Babel). Carchemish preferable to Byblos Carchemish (Karkemish) was, unlike Byblos, situated by “rivers” (Psalm 137:1), the Euphrates, but, most significantly, it lay not too far distant from the Khabur (Chabur) (cf. Ezekiel 1:3; 3:15): “I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the River Chebar”. This river is unidentifiable in the conventional ‘Babylon’ of southern Iraq: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Chebar “Chebar. An unidentified stream of water “in the land of the Chaldeans” (Ezek 1:3), i.e., in ancient Babylonia”. My further suggestion has been that the enigmatic name for Babylon, “Karduniash”, has been derived from “Karkemish” (with its variants). The strategic and economic importance of the site of Carchemish is clear from what we read at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Carchemish “It commanded a strategic crossing of the Euphrates River for caravans engaged in Syrian, Mesopotamian, and Anatolian trade”. No wonder, then, that the great neo-Assyrian king, Sargon II, might have eyed off Carchemish for his western capital as according to Gianni Marchesi: https://popular-archaeology.com/article/mesopotamian-king-sargon-ii-envisioned-ancient-city-karkemish-as-western-assyrian-capital/#google_vignette Mesopotamian King Sargon II envisioned ancient city Karkemish as western Assyrian capital By No Author Sat, Apr 20, 2019 UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS JOURNALS—In “A New Historical Inscription of Sargon II from Karkemish,” published in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Gianni Marchesi translates a recently discovered inscription of the Assyrian King Sargon II found at the ruins of the ancient city of Karkemish. The inscription, which dates to around 713 B.C., details Sargon’s conquest, occupation, and reorganization of Karkemish, including his rebuilding the city with ritual ceremonies usually reserved for royal palaces in capital cities. The text implies that Sargon may have been planning to make Karkemish a western capital of Assyria, from which he could administer and control his empire’s western territories. The cuneiform inscription was found on fragments from three different clay cylinders in 2015 as part of the Nicolò Marchetti-led Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition at Karkemish. Now in ruins, the site is located on the Euphrates river on the border between present day Syria and Turkey. Marchesi analyzed and translated the total of thirty-eight lines of partially broken Akkadian text, using reference material, academic literature and other inscribed Assyrian artifacts as reference points for filling in the gaps. The lines of text ranged from two-thirds complete to much less, and no line of text was completely intact. “Even so, we can grasp much of the original text, which turns out to be very informative,” Marchesi writes. “In fact, unlike other Sargon cylinders, which contain relatively standard ‘summary’ inscriptions or annalistic accounts of the events of Sargon’s reign, the Karkemish Cylinder provides us with a completely new inscription, dealing almost exclusively with the newly conquered city on the Euphrates in a highly-elaborated, literary style.” In the inscription, Sargon tells of the “betrayal” of Pirisi [Pisiri], the Hittite King of Karkemish who exchanged hostile words about Assyria with its enemy, King Midas of Phrygia. Sargon invades Karkemish, deports Pisiri and his supporters, destroys his palace, seizes his riches as booty and incorporates Pisiri’s army into his own. He resettles the city with Assyrians. Mackey’s comment: A vital connection can be made between Carchemish and Babylon, I believe, if one first accepts my thesis that Sargon II (Sennacherib) was the same as Tukulti-Ninurta so-called I: Tukulti-Ninurta I folds well into Sargon II-Sennacherib (2) Tukulti-Ninurta I folds well into Sargon II-Sennacherib Tukulti-Ninurta had fought and defeated Kashtiliash so-called IV, king of Babylon. Kaštiliašu was captured, single-handed by Tukulti-Ninurta according to his account, who “trod with my feet upon his lordly neck as though it were a footstool”. And we have just read - what I would consider to be the parallel version to this - where Sargon II defeats and deports Pisiri[s], king of Carchemish. Previously, in my article: Borsippa may strengthen the case for Carchemish as mighty Babel-Babylon (2) Borsippa may strengthen the case for Carchemish as mighty Babel-Babylon I spelled out the striking parallels between the two scenarios:  Historical parallel – which I regard as being just the one historical event – we have Tukulti-ninurta attacking Babylon and removing its Kassite king, Kastiliash so-called IV, in chains to Assyria; and we have Sargon II attacking Carchemish and removing, its Hittite king, Piyashili (Pisiri), in chains to Assyria. Spelt out, Tukulti-ninurta/Sargon II attacks and takes the city of Babylon/ Carchemish and captures the Kassite/Hittite king, Kashtiliash/Piyasili, taking him in chains to Assyria. Kasht ili ash Piy ash ili[s] The article continues: Having previously blocked the water supply to Karkemish, the meadows “let go fallow, like a wasteland,” Marchesi translates, he now reactivates the irrigation system, planting orchards and botanical gardens. “I made the scent of the city sweeter than the scent of a cedar forest.” He also details an inauguration ceremony where he received gifts from Assyrian provinces and sacrifices them to deities. “My lords the gods Karhuha and Kubaba, who dwell in Karkemish, I invited them into my palace,” Marchesi translates. “Strong rams of the stable, geese, ducks and flying birds of the sky I offered before them.” Marchesi was struck by the attention that Sargon paid to Karkemish, in particular the elaborate inauguration ceremony and construction of botanical gardens, both indicative not of a typical provincial capital but of a royal palace. “Because of its glorious past and strategic position, Karkemish was fully entitled to become a sort of western capital of the Assyrian Empire: a perfect place in which to display the grandeur of Assyria, and from which to control the western and north-western territories of the empire,” Marchesi writes. This vision of Karkemish was short-lived, however. Though much care was taken to detail the city’s rise in these texts, the city is not mentioned in any known inscriptions of Sargon’s successors. “The unthinkable, ominous death of Sargon on the battlefield in Tabal [sic] probably prevented this project from being accomplished, and negatively marked the destiny of Karkemish itself, which no longer attracted the interest of Assyrian kings who followed after him,” Marchesi writes. But, if Carchemish were Babylon, as I am proposing, then the city would have plenty more “destiny” under Sargon II-Sennacherib’s mighty successor, the Chaldean, Esarhaddon, who was none other than Nebuchednezzar ‘the Great’: Esarhaddon a tolerable fit for King Nebuchednezzar (4) Esarhaddon a tolerable fit for King Nebuchednezzar the re-builder of the city of Babylon (Daniel 4:30): ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?’