In ancient times, the Assyrian army used "Siege tanks" to capture fortresses, which in their appearance are very similar to self-propelled ones, although scientists everywhere write that the draft power of horses was used, only there are no horses on the bas-reliefs where you can see these tanks at all no.
Here is what scientists write about it: an article from the book of Nosov K. S. "Siege Technique of Antiquity and the Middle Ages."
Beginning with the reign of Tiglathpalasar I (1115-1076 BC), Assyria became the most militarily powerful state in the Middle East. Assyria held this position for five centuries - from the end of the 12th to the end of the 7th centuries BC.
But even before that, during the reign of Shamshi-Adad I (1813 - 1781 BC), Assyria, or rather, then still the city-state of Ashur, experienced a short-term rise, reaching a power that was not inferior to Babylonia. The sons of Shamshi-Adad I could not maintain the independence of the state and in 1757 BC. recognized the authority of Babylonia. But for us the most important thing is that from the reign of one of these sons, Ishme-Dagan I (1797 - 1757 BC), documents with descriptions of the siege methods of that time have been preserved. These documents, dating from the 18th century BC, were found in the city of Mari, in the upper Euphrates, and are the first written sources on the use of rams, siege towers, underground mines and earth mounds.
One of these documents says about the use of siege towers and rams: "… I turned and besieged [the city of] Hurara. I sent siege towers and rams against it and on the seventh day I captured it. Be happy!" The second document reports on the successful use of the undermining: “As soon as I approached the city of Kirhadat, I set up siege towers. With the help of the tunnel, I caused the walls to collapse. On the eighth day, I captured the city of Kirhadat. Rejoice. " Another place mentions the construction of an earthen embankment: “The city of Nilimmar, which Ishme-Dagan was besieging, Ishme-Dagan now took. Until the siege mounds reached the top of the city wall, he could not capture the city. As soon as the siege embankments reached the top of the city wall, he gained power over the city."
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Ishme-Dagan I most likely learned these methods of siege from his father, Shamshi-Adad I, who spent some time in Babylon and could study the Babylonian siege art there. But since no images of the sieges in Mesopotamia of that time have survived, the application of the described siege technique is not entirely clear. For example, it is not clear whether the digging was carried out underground or whether the walls were destroyed directly at the base with the help of picks and other tools. The latter is more likely, given the frequent construction of walls from raw bricks and the use of similar techniques by the Egyptians, while underground digging requires a lot of knowledge and experience.
The use of siege towers is also unclear. Judging by the description, in this case, the towers were not used to storm the walls with the help of a walk-over bridge, but rather to create fire cover that facilitated the action of sappers.
Much more information about the siege art of the Assyrians has been preserved from the 9th-7th centuries BC. Many bas-reliefs depicting sieges and siege equipment that have come down to us date back to this time. The Assyrian Empire at this time was at the height of its power. The most skilled Assyrians were in military affairs and, first of all, in the art of siege, which became key in their campaigns of conquest and the management of the empire. It is believed that many siege structures were borrowed by them from the Sumerians, but the Assyrians, like the Romans, surpassed the inventors of technology in organizing its application.
Assyrian rams of the 9th century, judging by the bas-reliefs of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC), were massive structures on six wheels. The wooden frame was about 5 m long and 2-3 m high. In front of the ram was a turret about three meters high. The turret ended with a vaulted roof or parapet and had loopholes for archers. To protect against fire, the rams were covered with wet skins. The ram itself was a log with a flattened metal tip, which was suspended by ropes from the roof of the frame and swung like a pendulum. The narrow tip was convenient to attack the joints between the stone slabs of the wall, loosening the masonry. The turret served to create a fire cover, which was supposed to drive the defenders from the wall and prevent them from interfering with the ram. The weight of such rams, of course,was significant. It is believed that they had poles in the back, to which draft animals were tied for their movement. Later, Assyrian kings preferred to sacrifice weight in favor of mobility.
Already under Shalmaneser III (858 - 824 BC) the ram was lightened and placed on only four wheels. Judging by the image on the Gate of Shalmaneser III (Fig. 3), there was a model without a ram-pole at all, in the form of a cart with a pointed nose resembling the head of a bull. The carriage was probably loaded with stones or earth and, accelerated, directed towards a wall or gate. Behind the wagon were archers, covering the ramming with their fire. Several archers can be seen in the wagon itself. However, this design of a ram was clearly weaker than the pendulum type with a pole and therefore quickly fell out of use - in the future, images of such rams are no longer found.
Figure: 1. Battering ram on six wheels of the time of Ashurnasirpal II (IX century BC).
Figure: 2. Reconstruction of the Assyrian rams of the 9th - 7th centuries BC.
Figure: 3. The image of the Assyrian ram on four wheels. / Gate of Shalmaneser III (IX century BC).
Sargon II (Sharrumken II, 722 - 705 BC) increased the destructive effect of rams, the first to place them in groups of several against one section of the wall. Under King Sinaherib (Sinahkhe-Erib, 705 - 681 BC), collapsible rams appeared, consisting of several parts. This made it easy to transport siege equipment in the train and quickly assemble it on the spot. At the same time, the length of the pole was increased, which increased the power of the rams.
Figure: 4. The Assyrians used a group of rams against one section of the wall. / Drawing from a bas-relief of the time of Sargon II (VIII century BC).
The Assyrians used the ram in two ways. The first was to bring the ram to the goal, as to the weakest point in defense. To counteract this, the gate was defended with flanking towers, making it much more difficult for attackers to use such a ram. The second, more complicated method consisted in the construction of an earthen embankment, which made it possible to bring the ram directly to the wall, moreover, to the upper part of the wall, which was usually thinner and weaker than the base. To do this, they tried to make the embankments as gentle as possible in order to facilitate the movement of the ram to the wall (excavations at the site of the Jewish city of Lachish, taken by storm by the Assyrians, showed that the embankment had a slope of about 30 ° and became more and more gentle towards the top). Maybe,it was with the spread of the second method of using rams that the latter began to be made lighter.
The defenders fought against the battering rams with chains, which they threw over the head of the log to then pull it up. In response, the Assyrians created special detachments of warriors who seized chains with iron hooks and hung on them with all their body weight.
Fire posed a huge danger to siege equipment, because even the earthen embankments had a wooden frame that could easily be burned. To protect the rams from fire, the Assyrians covered them with wet skins on top, but this did not always help. So, on one bas-relief, you can see how the team in the turret located in front pours the ram with water from long pipes (Fig. 8), and on the other bas-relief (Fig. 9) a ram is depicted, which the warrior extinguishes by pouring water on it with a long spoon.
Figure: 5. Siege of the city by the Assyrians / Fig. 5. Siege of the city by the Assyrians. The besieged captured the ram with chains and are trying to pull it up, and the Assyrian soldiers are trying to resist this. Probably, the besieged also set fire to the ram, as the warriors in the turret pour water from above. Bas-relief on the Balavat Gate of Shalmaneser III (IX century BC).
Figure: 6. Dismountable Assyrian ram with a long pole. / The warrior in the turret extinguishes the fire by pouring water on the ram with a long spoon. The reign of King Sinacherib (VII century BC).
Figure: 7. Assyrians storming the fortress. VIII century BC
Figure: 8. Siege of the city by the Assyrians. / The attack of the fortifications by several rams is clearly visible. Bas-relief during the reign of Tiglathpalasar III (VIII century BC).
Judging by the bas-reliefs, the Assyrian assault party that climbed the stairs to the walls consisted of both spearmen and archers. The warriors of this detachment did not wear the long armor so common to the Assyrians. Such armor constrained the movement of the legs and would not allow quickly climbing the stairs. Therefore, their cropped clothes only reached the knees.
These assault squads were no doubt highly trained elite troops. If you look closely at the bas-reliefs, you can see that the spearmen, climbing the stairs, hold their weapons in their hands (a spear in their right hand, and a shield in their left hand), while archers even manage to shoot from a bow directly from the stairs. In other words, the assault troops of the Assyrian troops climbed the stairs without using their hands!
Figure: 9. The assault on the Egyptian city. / Fragment of an Assyrian bas-relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, circa 645 BC The assault detachments of spearmen and archers are clearly visible, climbing the stairs under the cover of archers' fire, located behind large stationary shields. In the center of the bas-relief you can see an Assyrian soldier digging. At the bottom left are captured soldiers, probably foreign mercenaries, who were turned into slaves by the Assyrians after the capture of the city. In the lower right corner, you can see the indigenous Egyptians walking with their children and belongings - a common Assyrian practice of resettling the inhabitants of captured cities to the uninhabited lands of Assyria.
However, even a well-trained assault squad would hardly have been able to accomplish its task without a "cover group". The latter was played by archers hiding behind large stationary siege shields. The main task of the archers was to drive the defenders from the top of the wall, thereby minimizing the shelling of the assault group. Assyrian shields (herrhons) were slightly taller than human growth and often bent inward at the top. They were resting on the ground and held by the handle by special warriors (shield holders). None of the bas-reliefs depict these shields in full face, however, apparently, they were wide enough to provide protection for 2-3 soldiers. The first images of siege shields known to us are found on Assyrian bas-reliefs of the 9th-7th centuries BC.
Figure: 10. Varieties of Assyrian siege shields to cover archers.
Figure: 11. Assyrian archer hiding behind a siege shield.
In addition to archers, the Assyrians widely used slingers and war chariots during sieges. Due to the steep parabolic trajectory of the stones from the sling, slingers were especially effective against defenders hiding behind the parapet of the wall. Assyrian chariots, which, rushing along the walls, showered the defenders with a hail of arrows at a completely unexpected angle of attack and also quickly left from under the fire, presented a considerable problem for the defenders.
Many Assyrian bas-reliefs show sappers working at the base of the wall. They used tools such as crowbars, pickaxes, and drills. Gradually punching a recess in the wall, they simultaneously strengthened the wall with wooden props so that it would not collapse directly on them. When the depression became large and deep enough, the props were set on fire and the wall collapsed. To protect against shelling from the fortress, sappers from the time of Ashurnasirpal II (884 - 859 BC) wore a long, ankle-length armor and a helmet with an aventail to protect the neck and face. Sappers under subsequent rulers wore only short armor, a helmet and a small round shield, with which they covered themselves, holding it with one hand, while undermining with the other. It hardly served as an effective defense and hardly contributed to quick work. Therefore, under Ashurbanipal (669 - 630 BC), a large wicker shield began to be used to protect the sappers, bent at the top so that the sapper could easily lean it against the wall. At the same time, both of his hands remained free for work. The shields must have been strong enough to withstand stones being thrown off the wall.
Figure: 12. A sapper digging under the guise of a wicker siege shield.
It is known from the bas-reliefs and written sources that the Assyrian kings more than once led their armies into field battles, riding ahead in a chariot. But on all the bas-reliefs depicting sieges, the kings are located only behind the archers, who provide fire support. At the same time, they are always dressed in a long armor that reaches to the ankles - a vivid evidence that they did not even think about leading an assault detachment. Surely, the issue of prestige played a significant role in this - it is one thing to lead an elite detachment of chariots, and quite another to go on an assault ahead of the infantry, even the best one. However, one cannot exclude the possibility that the tsars considered the assault much more dangerous than a field battle and that is why they did not take part in it.
The high level of development of the siege art of the Assyrians in the 7th century BC. well demonstrates the description of the capture of the Egyptian city of Memphis by Esarhaddon (Ashurahheiddin) in 671 BC: "I laid siege to Memphis, the royal residence of Taharqa, and conquered it in half a day with the help of digging, breaching and assault ladders." The siege of the Jewish city of Lachish by King Sinaherib is also indicative. A lot of evidence has survived about this siege - Assyrian bas-reliefs, royal records, the Bible and archaeological research.
The city was located on a mountain with steep slopes and had powerful fortifications. The high walls surrounding the city with square towers ended with a jagged parapet. In addition, the Jews installed wooden frames at the top of the wall, in which they fixed shields, which provided additional protection. The main gate was near the southwestern end of the city; a narrow road led to them. The outer gate was protected by two powerful towers. Two more towers defended the inner gates, which were located at right angles to the outer so that the besiegers, having penetrated the outer gates, had to expose their right, unprotected, side under fire. Having passed through the inner gate, the enemy fell into a huge square tower, where the defenders of the fortress attacked him from both sides. Finally, there was also a citadel in the fortress, which served as the last refuge for the defenders.
The assault on such a powerful fortress was certainly a difficult task. The Assyrian king Sinaherib personally led the siege operations. The Assyrians set up their camp on a hill 350 m from the southwest corner of the city, near the gate. After that, they started building two embankments. A large embankment led to the southwestern corner of the main fortress wall, and a smaller one to the northwestern corner of the outer fortifications in front of the main gate. After completing the construction of the embankments, the Assyrians brought battering rams along them and began to breach the walls. Almost immediately they also launched a ramming and fire attack on the city gates. During the assault, the Assyrians used at least seven rams at a time. Assyrian sources also mention the digging. No doubt the siege of the fortress was very active. Sinacherib was so proud of the capture of Lachish,that he ordered several bas-reliefs for his royal palace in memory of the deed.
Despite the impressive variety of siege methods used by the Assyrians, the latter did not always succeed in taking a well-fortified fortress by storm. Then they resorted to a passive siege, which they could carry out for a long time. For example, the Assyrians spent three years besieging cities such as Arpad and Samaria. Unfortunately, we know much less about passive siege methods than about assault methods. It is known that Adadnerari II (911 - 890 BC) surrounded the city besieged by him with a moat. During the siege of the city of Hatarikka, the Assyrians surrounded it "with a wall higher than the walls of the city" and "dug a moat deeper than its moat." These facts seem to speak in favor of the fact that the Assyrians erected a counter-valuation line. However, the mention of a wall that was higher in height than the city wall suggeststhat the Assyrians were not limited to passive methods and wanted a more convenient position for firing. The purpose of the moat, which is deeper than the moat of the city, is also not entirely clear. Perhaps the moat in this case served not only to isolate the city, but also to dig or drain water from the moat of the besieged city. But most of the time, the Assyrians seem to have limited themselves to isolating the city with chariots and cavalry. The Assyrian army that besieged the city was usually located in a camp surrounded by an earthen rampart, with streets intersecting at right angles, a prototype of later Roman camps. But more often than not, the Assyrians seem to have limited themselves to isolating the city with chariots and cavalry. The Assyrian army that besieged the city was usually located in a camp surrounded by an earthen rampart, with streets intersecting at right angles, a prototype of later Roman camps. But most of the time, the Assyrians seem to have limited themselves to isolating the city with chariots and cavalry. The Assyrian army that besieged the city was usually located in a camp surrounded by an earthen rampart, with streets intersecting at right angles, a prototype of later Roman camps.
