Cooking for the Vultures

This paper investigates the tactics and phases of combat employed during the Early Dynastic period, i.e. the IIIrd Millennium B.C., in Mesopotamia according to the visual and archaeological data recovered. Emphasize is stressed on the organized and complex battle formations already in use at this time and very similar to those of the posterior Greek city-states. Fencing stances and military drills also make part of the discussion, with the iconographic theme of the vultures and heaps of corpses as wel

Le casque bombé à cimier dans les tactiques de combat néo-assyriennes

The present paper investigates the adoption of the crested helmet and its manifestations between the IXth and the VIIIth century B. C. in the Neo-Assyrian military establishment. The introduction of new fighting tactics during the reigns of Ashurnasirpal II and Salmanazar III deeply influenced the composition of the Neo-Assyrian armies of Tiglath-Pileser III and his successors

“Ce fameux bâton qu’on a dans sa giberne”: So you want to be an Assyrian Officer?

Ce fameux bâton qu’on a dans sa giberne”, this famous staff we all have in our cartridge box, is a reference to a French proverb employed in the armies of Napoléon Ier. This quote meant that the most common private had virtually all the chances to receive the staff of field-marshall, the highest military dignity, in his cartridge box. Several French officers and field-marshals, mostly from the lowest social origins, came to power only thanks to their prowess during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. On a lot of aspects, the Revolutionary and Napoleonic armies can be comparedwith the Neo-Assyrian kisir šarruti, as long as polyvalence, meritocracy and organization are concerned. In that respect, a first census of all the skills demonstrated by the archers in the Neo-Assyrian army, and their relation to power, can help to understand how long and hard was the way to a commanding position, moreover for those of the lowest social origins

Le casque bombé à cimier dans les tactiques de combat néo-assyriennes

The present paper investigates the adoption of the crested helmet and its manifestations between the IXth and the VIIIth century B.C. in the Neo-Assyrian military establishment. The introduction of new fighting tactics during the reigns of Ashurnasirpal II and Salmanazar III deeply influenced the composition of the Neo-Assyrian armies of Tiglath-Pileser III and his successors

"Go Tell the Assyrians, Thou Who Passest By, That Here, Obedient to Their Laws, We Lie..."

This paper deals with a topic hardly studied by our fellow scholars: the management of casualties during the aftermath of a victorious battle for the Neo-Assyrians. The paper will propose a typology of casualties according to different points of their different kinds of status, plus some questions on some problems still encountered by modern soldiers nowadays

Bring the Boys Back Home After Their Death in Combat During the Neo-Assyrian Period

This paper deals with a topic hardly studied by our fellow scholars: the management of VIP casualties after a victorious battle for the Neo-Assyrians, while the management of the rank and file soldiers has been dealt with in another paper

Neo-assyrian siege redoubts tactics: some issues

This paper deals with the neo-assyrian siege redoubts, although not as a decorative, visual motif, but more as a genuine military tactic put in use and depicted for its efficiency. Reading this paper, one will be provided with clues on the shooting discipline of the neo-assyrian siege-archers during the fights

Neo-assyrian siege redoubts tactics : some issues

This paper deals with the neo-assyrian siege redoubts, although not as a decorative, visual motif, but more as a genuine military tactic put in use and depicted for its efficiency. Reading this paper, one will be provided with clues on the shooting discipline of the neo-assyrian siege-archers during the fight

Siege-shield and scale armour. Reciprocal predominance and common evolution

As it appears on the earliest depictions of military materials, Early Dynastic people used a huge shield during the sieges of cities, in order to protect their archers shooting at the defenders. In the meantime, the neck, chest and sides of these besieging soldiers were protected with the primitive models of the scale-armour. The shield has seen a fascinating evolution in the ancient Near East as a defensive armour, dominating the light, thin armour for centuries. Then, the spoked-wheel chariot appeared, and enhanced the evolution and predominance of the scale-armour over the heavy and large shield, for centuries. With the Middle - Late Bronze Age, the scale-armour was so huge a defense that it was provided to the sappers, working without shield at the foot of the rampart during the sieges of cities. Then, during the Early Iron Age, the sappers appear more and more with smaller scale-armour, and huger siege-shields, as one can clearly observe it on the Neo-Assyrian data. The development of these technologies, and their smart use, and effectiveness, surely contributed to the constitution of empires in the ancient Near East. Archaeological, visual and textual evidences will come in hand to support this original approach of hoplology

The Smallest Neo-Assyrian Combat Unit

For more than two centuries, scholars have thought that the Neo-Assyrians sorted their battle lines according to the classes of the fighters: firstly the chariots, then the horsemen, then the infantrymen. So far, few attempts were realized to understand and illustrate why the Neo-Assyrian warriors mentioned in the texts and /or depicted on the visual evidence fight as small groups of inter-disciplinary specialists. This paper will investigate both the organization and the chain of command of the Neo-Assyrian army engaged in combat