The unconquerable country: the Babylonian marshes in the Neo-Assyrian sources

The Assyrians ruled in the first half of the first millennium BCE over most part of the Ancient Near East. The Neo-Assyrian Empire was constructed on the base of a powerful, well organized and trained army, which defeated all enemies and seemed to be invincible. Babylonia was a special case, because of the complicated political situation and especially its particular geography. Southern Babylonia (nowadays Southern Iraq) was a region of marshes and lagoons, an ideal refuge for rebels. The area could become a mortal trap for those who entered it without knowing it well enough. This region, which represented a severe challenge for the Assyrian army, was called in the Assyrian sources the “Sealand”, a region where water played a crucial role. The aim of this paper is to show how this particular landscape was perceived by the Assyrians as well as to point out its decisive role in the development of the historical events on the base of the cuneiform sources and the depictions on the stone plates, which decorated the walls of the Assyrian palaces.


Introduction
After regaining the boundaries of the Middle Assyrian period during the ninth century BCE, the Assyrian empire grew inexorably during the following two centuries. The Assyrian kings campaigned almost yearly, conquering all the regions and kingdoms within or at the natural borders of the empire. 1 The efficient and fearsome Assyrian army functioned like a well-oiled machine, even in difficult terrain like mountain areas or deserts. The defeated enemies could retain a certain independency as vassals or be annexed to the empire as a province under an Assyrian governor. Babylonia, the southern neighbour of Assyria, represented a special case. After Tiglath-pileser III's conquest, different rule
The marshes in Southern Mesopotamia played an important role in the development of early states 23 and were up to the end of the twentieth century the largest wetlands in the Middle East and even in Western Eurasia. They covered in the 1970s a surface of about 15,000 to 20,000 km. 24 This wetland environment was characterized since historical times 13 For Marduk-apla-iddina's long resistance against the Assyrian power and the correspondent attestations in the cuneiform sources see Brinkman (1964), Seidl (1987-1990, p. 375), and PNA 2/II, 705-710 (H. D. Baker). 14 RINAP 4,Tigl No. 47,obv. 26 and No. 51,19. 15 RIMA 3,102.59,47. 16 Aqrawi (2001), Morgan (1900), Sanlaville (1989. 19 Gasche (2004Gasche ( , 2005Gasche 2007, Heyvaert andBaeteman (2007); for a short but informative summary see Wilkinson (2012, pp. 19-21). 20 For a discussion of the sources see Waetzold (1981). However see the-not quite convincing-objections by Heimpel (1987, p. 34 note 41). 21 Wilkinson (2013, pp. 35-40). 22 For the description of the landscape see Hritz (2005, pp. 21-31). 23 Hritz et al. (2012) and Pournelle and Algaze (2004). 24  by a rich biodiversity, providing a great variety of resources to people living there and a habitat for plants, fish, birds, and wildlife. 25 This ecosystem was severely destroyed in the 1980s during the Iraq-Iran war, but it was in the 1990s when it almost disappeared as a result of systematic desiccation. During the regime of Saddam Hussein the government drained over 90% of the marshes principally with the military goal of crushing people who lived or took refuge there. 26 The population shrunk from about 500,000 in the 1950s to 20,000 in 2003. 27 The desiccation of the marshes changed drastically how Marsh Arabs, and especially women, interacted with their environment with the consequent loss of ancient marsh-specific knowledge and skills. 28 Their huts and boats for instance show amazing similitudes with those attested in the iconography of ancient Mesopotamia. Nowadays, the Mesopotamian marshland is located mainly in southern Iraq and partially in southwestern Iran and Kuwait. 29 It comprises three separate, but adjacent marshes: the Hawizeh, the Central and the Hammar Marshes (Fig. 2). Iraq joined the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 30 in 2007 and since then the Hawizeh Marsh is a protected site. The two other marshes became protected sites in 2014. 31 Fig. 1 The Sealand (Māt-tâmti) and the Babylonian marshes. Source Parpola and Porter (2001), wall-map, detail (with kind permission from the authors) 25 Pournelle and Algaze (2004, pp. 7-12). 26 Al-Mudaffar Fawzi et al. (2016, pp. 1-2) and Jema (2015, pp. 8-14). 27 Source Nicholson and Clark (2002), quoted by Al-Mudaffar Fawzi et al. (2016, p. 1). 28 Al-Mudaffar Fawzi et al. (2016). 29 For the restoration of the marshes after 2003 see Jema (2015). 30 The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 (www.ramsa r.com). 31 Sauter (2016). Regaining the marshes has not been straightforward, especially since the many interven-

The Sealand in the sources
The ancient sources give some clues as to who lived in the Mesopotamian marshland and what the landscape looked like in the first millennium. Two terms are used in the written sources to refer to the marshland in southern Babylonia: agammu "marsh, swamp" 32 and appāru "reed marsh, canebrake". 33 The Sealand was inhabited by Chaldeans and Aramaeans. Šūzubu (Mušēzib-Marduk), the Chaldean leader of Bīt-Dakkūri, is referred to in Sennacherib's inscriptions as "a Chaldean who lives among the marshes (agammu)" 34 and Bīt-Jakīn is described as the land "which is in the marshes (agammu) and canebrakes (appāru)". 35 Concerning Bēl-iqīša, the leader of the mighty Aramaean tribe of Gambūlu, Esarhaddon says that his residence "is located twelve leagues distance in water and canebrakes (appāru) like (that of) a fish". 36 In a letter addressed to Esarhaddon, Nabû-ušallim, then ruler of Bīt-Dakkūri, 37 mentions trouble with people living in the marshes (appāru), who are called lú baṣīhu or lú maṣīhu "marsh dwellers". 38 They were settled in the past in Bīt-Amukāni, the territory of another Chaldean tribe, and they should be resettled, otherwise they will not do the work of the king. 39 Concerning the geographical distribution of the marshes, there is only little information in the sources. We learn from the report of Sennacherib's first campaign (late 704-early 702) about the marshes of Guzumānnu, a region in Bīt-Dakkūri. Pursuing Marduk-aplaiddina, who fled there, Sennacherib ordered his warriors "into the midst of marshes and canebrakes". 40 Another marsh existed near the city of Saḫrīna according to an epigraph and the corresponding reliefs from room LXX of Sennacherib's Southwest Palace 41 : "Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria. The booty of the marshes (agammu) of the city Saḫrīna passed before him". 42 Saḫrīna, if identical with Šaḫrinu in the Babylonian sources, 43 was a city on the Nār-Barsip, between Babylon and Borsippa. 44 The same city is probably also identical with Ṣaḫrīna, one of the fortresses in Bīt-Dakkūri conquered by tions on the Tigris and Euphrates, with dams on many upstream locations, also led to marsh desiccation. It is likely that climate change, with the last decades being dryer, is also likely to have an effect.
Arabian Gulf, was also called marratu the "Bitter Sea". 54 However, as has already been proposed, marratu was also used to denote a lagoon in the Sealand. 55 It is striking that in Sargon's inscriptions, Bīt-Jakīn is referred to as the land "at the shore of the Bitter Sea (marratu)". 56 Marratu can denote here the Arabian Gulf or a lagoon or both. Moreover, the easternmost border of Tiglath-pileser III's conquests is described as "from the Bitter Sea (marratu) of Bīt-Jakīn, as far as Mount Bikni 57 in the East". 58 Even if the expression "Bitter Sea of Bīt-Jakīn" can be understood as the Arabian Gulf, 59 an interpretation as a main lagoon in the Sealand is also possible.
Evidence for a lagoon can be found in letters, where the expression bāb marrat "entrance of the Bitter Sea" (literally "mouth of the Bitter Sea") is used. 60 From one of the letters sent by Bēl-ibni, military commander of the Sealand, to Ashurbanipal we learn that there existed a fortress (birtu) at the "entrance of the Bitter Sea". 61 bāb marrat is always written KÁ-íd mar-rat without determinative, 62 so that the existence of a city called bāb marrat is rather improbable. 63 In a letter to Esarhaddon, Ubāru, the governor (šakin ṭēmi) of Babylon, writes that the Chaldean chiefs "from Sippar to the entrance of the Bitter Sea" blessed the king as the one who resettled Babylon. 64 In this case bāb marrat could refer to a lagoon 65 or to the Arabian Gulf. 66 However, two letters from Bēl-ibni to Ashurnasirpal point to an interpretation of marratu as lagoon. In one letter, he reports that troops sent by him were attacked 14 miles from the Sealand. 67 He posted then 600 archers and 50 horsemen at the "entrance of the Bitter Sea" and sent them by rafts (ḫallimu) to the city of Maḫmīti. 68 They looted there 1500 bulls from Elam and the people of Pillat. 500 of these animals were loaded on rafts and brought back to the Sealand, while the remaining thousand were stabbed and sunk in the "Bitter Sea" ( íd marrat). 69 As it is highly improbable that 500 bulls could be transported on rafts in the open sea or even near the seashore, the term marratu denotes in this context rather a lagoon in the Sealand. 70 According to M.
Dietrich, a big lagoon divided the Sealand in two parts: a northern part bordering on Elam and Gambūlu and a southern part identical with the marshland southwest of the former channel of the Euphrates. 71 The lush vegetation of the marshland was not only a source of building materials, principally reeds-as tress would have been less abundant 72 -but also provided a habitat for a variety of game, plants and other natural resources. Written and archaeological sources attest the exploitation of fish, mollusks, wild fowl and turtles from the Ur III period 73 and earlier up to the time of Nebuchadnezzar II. 74 After the submission of Mukīn-zēri of Bīt-Amukkāni in the late years of Tiglath-pileser III's reign (731-729), the Chaldean king of the Sealand, Marduk-apla-iddina, brought tribute together with other local rulers to Sapīja, the conquered rebel's capital. 75 His wealthy tribute is described in detail, showing not only the variety of the natural resources of the marshland, but also attesting overseas trade: "I received as his payment natural, unrefined gold in great quantity, jewelry made of gold, a gold necklace, pearls (literally "precious stones, produce of the sea"), beams of ebony, ellūtu-wood, ašqulalu-plant(s), amīlānu-plant(s), multicolored garments, all types of aromatics, oxen, and sheep and goats". 76

3
is on the other side of the Bitter Sea (ša ebertān íd marrat). In that place he disappeared". 91 Nagītu or Nagīte-raqqi was probably situated on an island in the marshes, either on the eastern side of the lagoon in the Sealand (the ancient equivalent of the Haur al-Ḥammār) 92 or on the Iranian side of the Arabian Gulf, as might be concluded from the description of Sennacherib's sixth campaign (see below).
The Sealand and its marshes were also chosen by the Elamite king Tammarītu, who plotted at the side of Šamaš-šuma-ukīn against Ashurbanipal. He was defeated by the Assyrian king and, according to a caption in a collection of epigraphs, he "fled and took the road to the Sealand". 93 The following epigraph on the tablet seems to refer to a scene in the marshes, where it was difficult to hide by ship: "the ship of Tammarītu, king of Elam, …, which was mired in the mud flats, swamps, and morass". 94
On this occasion, seafaring ships were needed and Sennacherib let them build and sail by skilled Phoenician shipbuilders and mariners. 100 The ships were built in Nineveh and first sailed down the Tigris up to Opis. From there, they were dragged by land to Sippar and guided into the Araḫtu canal, from where they were sailed further downstream to the canal of Bīt-Dakkūri. Finally, they were sailed down the Euphrates to Bāb-salimeti, not far from the shore of the Arabian Gulf. A very complicated procedure indeed, which was closely followed by the king … from the land. From Sennacherib's report we learn about the effect of the tide in this southernmost part of the Sealand: "The high tide of the sea rose mightily, and (then) entered my tent and completely surrounded my entire camp. For five days and nights, on the account of the strong water, all of my soldiers had to sit curled up as though they were in cages". 101 Finally the ships "reached the marshy area at the mouth of the river, where the Euphrates debouches its water into the roiling sea". 102 Sennacherib remained at the shore, where he made sacrifices and let his ships sail across the Gulf. 103 The campaign was a success and the ships returned to Bāb-salimeti with rich booty and many captives. 104 It is interesting to remark that the disembarkation on the opposite shore of the Gulf, probably also a marshy landscape, was difficult. The shore of the roiling sea is described as "unsuitable and very difficult (for ships) to dock, horses to climb, and men to set foot on". 105 According to the correspondence of Bēl-ibni, the military commander of the Sealand, who was loyal to Ashurbanipal, we learn that boats or rafts were used for operations in the marshes and the lagoon. Rafts (ḫallimu) were used, for instance to transport Bēl-ibni's troops from the "entrance of the Bitter Sea" to the city of Maḫmīti and to bring them back with 500 bulls. 106 Another letter reports that Nabû-bēl-šumāti, the grandson of Marduk-apla-iddina, attacked Bēl-ibni, sending troops with rafts (ḫallimu). Bēl-ibni's counteroffensive was undertaken by 400 archers sent to enemy territory with ships (eleppāte) which crossed the lagoon (or the Gulf?) to Elam. 107 In another case, Bēl ibni reports that Nabû-bēl-šumāte's attacks were done with few troops. He asks Ashurbanipal for 70 logs to be floated up to Opis and from there to be brought in direction of the sea to Kār-Nanâ; he also asks for 20 Sidonians to build the ships (eleppāte). 108 These vessels were not mere boats or rafts, but probably seagoing ships; if they were used for operations across the Gulf or just in the lagoon remains an open question. 109 Further evidence for the Sealand and its marshy landscape comes from the iconographical material, namely the palace reliefs. The scenes depicting military actions in the marshes confirm the information of the written sources and give a vivid image of the landscape and the dramatic events that happened there. A slab from Room LXX of Sennacherib's Southwest Palace shows a battle in a marsh 110 (Fig. 3). The historical context is known as the adjoining slabs 111 show a grove of palm-trees, where Sennacherib standing in his chariot receives the prisoners and the heads of the slain. An already mentioned epigraph labels the scene as "the booty from the marshes of Saḫrīna". 112 As has been said, this room was most probably decorated with scenes of Sennacherib's first campaign. We see the two main features of the Sealand: the canebrakes and the water, where fishes and eels can be perceived. The Assyrian soldiers are depicted on boats with slightly upturned prow, made of bundles of reeds tied together with bands. 113 Boats navigating toward the left show warriors still shooting arrows. Boats navigating toward the right show soldiers bringing captives to the shore. One of these boats is towed by a man swimming over an inflated skin. The beheaded corpses of defeated enemies floating in the water complete the scene.
Two other slabs from court LXIV show a similar scene, but cannot definitely be linked with one of Sennacherib's Babylonian campaigns 114 (Fig. 4). The battle scene is bordered by canebrakes, which are traversed by small watercourses. In this case, six flat-bottomed reed boats are depicted, three of them are manned by Assyrian soldiers shooting arrows on three other boats, where native archers and women are shown. The construction type of the boats is the same as on the slabs from room LXX, but the Assyrian ones are longer 115 and punted from the stern. At the top, a row of prisoners is conducted to the right by Assyrian soldiers. At the bottom of slab 7, another row of male and female captives is depicted advancing towards the right. Also of interest are the Assyrian horsemen, who scour the canebrakes for hidden enemies. The picture shows clearly that the marshland consisted of canebrakes traversed by channels and also of larger bodies of water, probably not too deep, but at least in some cases deep enough to allow the use of watercraft.
An even more lively and detailed picture of a battle in the marshes of southern Babylonia dates from the reign of Ashurbanipal and comes from room XXVIII of the Southwest Palace, one of the rooms which was redecorated after the reign of Sennacherib 116 (Fig. 5). The scene shows again Assyrian soldiers fighting or transporting prisoners to the shore on reed boats. 117 The boats are of the same type as in Sennacherib's reliefs and their light 110 Barnett (1998b, pl. 463, No. 643 (slab 1); Layard 1853b, pl. 28) (Or. Dr. IV, 42); see also De Graeve (1981, pp. 48-49, No. 51). 111 The directly adjoining slab 2 was not drawn and is not preserved, but it showed most probably the continuation of the file of deportees brought to the shore. 112 Barnett (1998b, pl. 462, No. 645 (slab 3) and 646 (slab 4); id., pl. 464,No.. 645a;id.,pl. 466,No. 646a). 113 For reed boats see De Graeve (1981, pp. 90-93). 114 Barnett (1998b, pl. 450, No. 611 (slab 5) and 613 (slab 7); id., pl. 454, No. 611a and pl. 455, No. 613a); Layard (1853b, pl. 27) (Or. Dr. IV, 33); see also De Graeve (1981, p. 49, No. 52). 115 Most probably the depiction of the Assyrian boats as longer rather followed a convention of representation than that it reflected a larger size in reality. 116 According to Russell (2011, p. 151) the reliefs in room XXVII and court XIX as well as some slabs in room XXII date from the reign of Ashurbanipal. 117 Barnett (1998b, pl. 233, No. 340) (slabs 2-3, BM WA 124774a + b) and 341 (slab 4, BM WA 124744c + d); id., pl. 236, No. 340a (slab 3, drawing); id., pl. 237, No. 340b (slab 3, photo) and details on pl. [234][235]; Layard (1853b, pl. 25); see also De Graeve (1981, pp. 53-54, No. 60). structure is revealed by a detail on the right showing the disembarkation of prisoners: the boat could be held by one soldier. Most of the vessels of the marsh dwellers are hidden in the canebrakes, pressing the reeds under their weight. Some vessels are flat rafts made also of reeds tied together with bands. The hidden men and women are sitting on the rafts, hoping not to be discovered by the Assyrians. Some of them are shooting arrows, taking advantage of the surprise effect, which at the same time revealed their hiding place. As in Source Layard (1853b, pl. 27) the other depictions, prisoners are conducted to the palm groves by Assyrian soldiers. 118 Further reliefs from room F in Ashurbanipal's North Palace in Nineveh show Elamite people taking refuge in the marshes after the conquest of the city of Ḫamānu 119 during Ashurbanipal's second campaign against Ummanaldasi (647/6). 120

The Sealand as a contested space
The Sealand, a region of marshes, swamps, lagoons, and intertidal flats was the setting of fighting between the Assyrian army and marsh dwellers who rebelled against the imperial power. It was an ideal hiding place for fugitives, who, as well as those living there, knew the terrain very well. For the mighty Assyrian army it was a difficult terrain, so that the struggles extended for a long time. The Sealand and its most famous rebel Marduk-aplaiddina could resist for many years, in great part thanks to this particular landscape. Both environment and rebels were thorns in the flesh of the most powerful Assyrian kings from Sargon to Ashurbanipal. Given the difficulties that the marshlands created for the Assyrian army to go through, let alone control, the strategic implications of the marshlands-at least Source Layard (1853b, pl. 25) in terms of military and political control, but also possibly in terms of resources-for the Assyrian state were huge.
More work on this theme is needed, but perhaps we get a glimpse of this importance of the Sealand for the Assyrian state, when we consider that the marshland in southern Babylonia fascinated at least one of the Sargonides to such an extent that he reproduced this exotic landscape in the homeland. Around 699, 121 only a few months after his second Babylonian campaign (700), Sennacherib created an artificial swamp to regulate the surplus water of his first canal system, which was probably located near Nineveh 122 : "I created a marsh (agammu) to moderate the flow of water for those gardens and planted a canebrake (ṣuṣû) in it. I let loose in it herons, wild boars, and roe deer. … The marshes (appāru) thrived greatly. Birds of the heavens, herons, made nests and wild boars and roe deer gave birth in abundance". 123 This nature reserve was depicted on wall reliefs from court VI in Sennacherib's Southwest Palace 124 and also on those fallen from room S in Ashurbanipal's North Palace. 125 Sennacherib also says that he cut off reed from his marsh and used it as building material for his palaces. 126 Sennacherib's description of the artificial marsh and the depicted scenes convey a peaceful atmosphere which contrasts with a furious Ashurbanipal when he wrote to Bēl-ibni: "Go to the Sealand … and kill them all!". 127