Modern Iraq
When last we left Sumer, the Assyrians had ascended and were trying to conquer the world, as cruelly as possible.
Meanwhile, The Sumerians {now called Chaldeans}, who inhabited the coastal area of Sumer near the Persian Gulf, had never been entirely pacified by the Assyrians.
At about 630 B.C, one "Nabopolassar" became king of these Chaldeans, and in 626 B.C, he forced the Assyrians out of Uruk and crowned himself king of Babylonia. He then began wars aimed at the destruction of Assyria. By dynastic marriage, an alliance was made with Media, the two allies then attacked and destroyed the Assyrian Empire. In 605 B.C, Nabopolassar died in Babylon.
His son Nebuchadrezzar II, then became king. Nebuchadrezzar II's interest however, was in conquest and booty. He did particular damage in Canaan, where many Hebrews were forced into Babylonian exile.
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Upon his death Awil-Marduk (called Evil-Merodach in the Old Testament) became king. His policies, as well as those of the next king, his brother-in law, "Neriglissar" were the same as those of Nebuchadrezzar II, namely conquest and booty.
After the death of Neriglissar, an Aramaean from Harran named "Nabonidus" became king, the circumstances of his ascension are unknown. He made a defense treaty with Median king Astyages, as a defense against the Persians, who were becoming a growing threat under their king Cyrus II. He devoted himself to renovating old temples, taking a special interest in old inscriptions, perhaps in reverence for the ancient Amorite dynasty of Hammurabi. He also gave preference to the god Sin over the Babylonian god Marduk, thus creating powerful enemies in the Marduk priesthood.
For reasons unknown, Nabonidus left Babylon to reside in northern Arabia, leaving his son Belshazzar as viceroy in Babylon. Ten years later, Nabonidus returned to Babylonia because of growing opposition to his rule, no doubt incited by the Marduk priesthood. He appointed his daughter, high priestess of the Sin temple in Ur, in an apparent attempt to bypass the Marduk priesthood. With this, the priests of Marduk looked to Cyrus, hoping to have better relations with him, than they had with Nabonidus. They promised Cyrus the surrender of Babylon without a fight if he would restore their position and privileges.
So with that, we end our Sumer section. The rest of Sumers history, will now be told from the Persian view.
Eventually a new people "The Turks" will rule this land. The Muslim conquest; of which Turks and Greeks were the major component, will lead to the creation of the last great Middle-Eastern Empire, that of the Ottoman Turks. The power and influence of the Turkic Ottoman Empire was pervasive in all areas until it's breakup just after World War I. As with all great Empires; the Ottoman Empire had it's own religion, the Muslim religion of the Prophet Mohammad - Islam. Which during the duration of the Ottoman Empire, was termed the Turkish religion, rather than the Arab religion. Islam was spread as the Ottoman Empire expanded. Today, the world-wide acceptance and practice of Islam is due to the power and influence of the great Ottoman Empire. This was in conformity with other Empires established by migrants from the Eurasian plains. Earlier the Romans had accepted and adapted one branch of the Hebrew religion (Christianity), and made it their own. Thus making it a de facto European religion, Christianity was spread as the Roman Empire expanded. Today, the world-wide acceptance and practice of Christianity is due to the Romans and other Europeans they influenced, not to the Hebrews, who considered Christianity, a Hebrew "only" religion. Another Turkic group "the Khazars" who in the late 6th century A.D, had established a major commercial Empire covering the Caucasus region of Russia, accepted and adapted the Main Hebrew religion; thus also making it a de facto European religion. It is often times called Judaism or the Jewish religion, the origin of the term "Jewish" is however unknown, Hebrews did not call themselves Jews. Today, because of the long duration of the Turkic Ottoman Empire (1299 - 1922), and the great influx of Turkic peoples throughout the centuries: The ruling elite of Egypt, North Africa and the Entire Middle-East is predominantly of Turkic stock, rather than the common perception of Arab stock. Though the term "Arab" is used as the common unifier of the various ethnicity's of the Middle-East. Please see the Anatolia-3 page, for a history of the Turkic peoples.
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