Battle of Pteria
| date | 541 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | Pteria, Cappadocia |
| output | Strategic victory of the Persians |
| consequences | Pteria in Anatolia goes to the Achaemenid Empire |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Cyrus II |
|
| Troop strength | |
| Unknown | Unknown 20,000 men |
| losses | |
|
high |
high |
The battle of Pteria - a military conflict between the Persian king Cyrus II and the Lydian king Croesus - is according to new research to the year 541 BC at the earliest. Dated. It took place at the modern Turkish Kerkenes .
Course of the battle
Previous assumptions that the battle of 547 BC Took place based on the reading of a fragment of the Nabonidus Chronicle by Sydney Smith in 1924 as Lu-u- [d-di] and its identification with Lydia . New investigations in the years 1996 to 2004 revealed a reconstruction of the damaged fragment KUR U- [raš-tu il-li] k , where Uraštu represents the cuneiform spelling of Urartu .
After questioning the oracle of Delphi , Croesus ordered the mobilization of his army, invaded the Persian Cappadocia and conquered its capital Pteria and other localities. Then he expected the army of Cyrus II (541 BC) east of Halys on the Median border.
The battle between the two kings was very costly on both sides, but brought no decision and was ended at nightfall.
The next day, Cyrus II did not stand up to fight, Croesus then went home to Sardis , but the Persian king followed him and very quickly subjugated the Lydian Empire.
 
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The Battle of Pteria ( Map of Turkey ) |
According to the Greek historian Herodotus , Croesus had started the war because the oracle of Delphi had prophesied that he would destroy a great empire by his attack. The oracle should be right about this, but different from what Croesus had imagined, because he was destroying his own empire.
See also
literature
- J. Cargill: The Nabonidus Chronicle and the Fall of Lydia. In: American Journal of Ancient History 2, 1977, ISSN 0362-8914 , pp. 97-116.
- Albert Kirk Grayson : Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles (= Texts from Cuneiform Sources 5, ISSN 0082-3759 ). Augustin, Locust Valley NY 1975
- Walther Hinz : Kyros II. In: Erich Ebeling , Ernst F. Weidner , Dietz Otto Edzard (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Volume 6: Lamentation - Lebanon. de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 1983, ISBN 3-11-010051-7 , pp. 401f.
- Wolfgang Röllig (Ed.): Répertoire géographique des textes cunéiformes. Volume 8: Ran Zadok: Geographical names according to new- and late-Babylonian texts (= supplements to the Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients. Series B: Geisteswissenschaften. Vol. 7, 8). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1985, ISBN 3-88226-234-6 .
- Sidney Smith: Babylonian Historical Texts Relating to the Capture and Downfall of Babylon . Methuen & Co., London 1924 (reprint: Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1975, ISBN 3-487-05615-1 ).
- Klaas R. Veenhof: History of the Old Orient up to the time of Alexander the Great (= floor plans for the Old Testament 11). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-51686-X .
- Josef Wiesehöfer : Cyrus [2]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 6, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01476-2 , Sp. 1014-1017.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Croesus had met the Babylonian king Nabonidus after him in 542 BC. Allied after returning to Babylon. Belshazzar acted from 4th to 13th Year in government as Nabonaid's deputy; see. in addition: Klaas R. Veenhof: History of the Ancient Orient up to the time of Alexander the Great. 2001, p. 284.
- ↑ This reading forms the new basis for all future evaluations in: Robert Rollinger : The Median Empire, the End of Urartu and Cyrus the Great Campaigne 547 BC. Chr. In Nabonaid Chronicle II 16. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Ancient Cultural Relations between Iran and West-Asia. Islamic Repulic of Iran Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance - Deputy of Cultural Affairs, Teheran 2004, pp. 5-6.
- ↑ Walther Hinz: Kyros II. 1983, p. 401.
- ↑ Herodotus 1, 76
- ↑ The Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea put the fall of Croesus in the year 547 BC. Chr .; the manuscripts of the chronicle of Hieronymus based on Eusebius vary between 548 and 545 BC. Chr .; the marble Parium mentions the end of the Lydian Empire around the year 541/540 BC. Chr.