Editing Taharqa (section)

== War between Taharqa and Assyria ==
{{Main|Assyrian conquest of Egypt}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=340|caption_align=center| align = right| direction =horizontal| image1 = Asarhadon Berlín 04.JPG| image2 = Ushankhuru.jpg| footer=The [[Victory stele of Esarhaddon]] was created following the king's victory in Egypt and depicts Esarhaddon in a majestic pose with a war mace in his hand and royal captives kneeling before him. One is Ushankhuru, the son of Taharqa, shackled with a rope around his neck, but wearing the Kushite crown. The other may be [[Abdi-Milkutti]], King of [[Sidon]].}}
Taharqa began cultivating alliances with elements in Phoenicia and [[Philistia]] who were prepared to take a more independent position against Assyria.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Coogan|first1=Michael David|title=The Oxford History of the Biblical World|last2=Coogan|first2=Michael D.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=0-19-513937-2|location=Oxford|pages=253}}</ref> Taharqa's army undertook successful military campaigns, as attested by the "list of conquered Asiatic principalities" from the Mut temple at Karnak and "conquered peoples and countries (Libyans, Shasu nomads, Phoenicians?, [[Khor]] in Palestine)" from Sanam temple inscriptions.<ref name="Torok" /> Torok mentions the military success was due to Taharqa's efforts to strengthen the army through daily training in long-distance running, as well as Assyria's preoccupation with Babylon and Elam.<ref name="Torok" /> Taharqa also built military settlements at the Semna and Buhen forts and the fortified site of Qasr Ibrim.<ref name="Torok" />

Imperial ambitions of the [[Mesopotamian]]-based [[Assyrian Empire]] made war with the 25th dynasty inevitable. In 701 BC, the Kushites aided [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] and King [[Hezekiah]] in withstanding the siege of Jerusalem by King [[Sennacherib]] of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).<ref name=Aubin>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 141–144|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.|url=https://archive.org/details/rescueofjerusale0000aubi/page/142/mode/2up}}</ref> There are various theories (Taharqa's army,<ref name="The Rescue of Jerusalem">{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 127, 129–130, 139–152|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.|url=https://archive.org/details/rescueofjerusale0000aubi/page/127/mode/2up}}</ref> disease, divine intervention, Hezekiah's surrender, Herodotus' mice theory) as to why the Assyrians failed to take Jerusalem and withdrew to Assyria.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 119|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> historians claim that Sennacherib was the overlord of Khor following the siege in 701 BC. Sennacherib's annals record Judah was forced into tribute after the siege.<ref name="Roux">{{cite book |last=Roux |first=Georges |title=Ancient Iraq |location=London |publisher=Penguin |edition=Third |year=1992 |isbn=0-14-012523-X }}</ref> However, this is contradicted by Khor's frequent utilization of an Egyptian system of weights for trade,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 155–156|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> the 20 year cessation in Assyria's pattern (before 701 and after Sennacherib's death) of repeatedly invading Khor,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 152–153|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> Khor paying tribute to Amun of Karnak in the first half of Taharqa's reign,<ref name="Torok" /> and Taharqa flouting Assyria's ban on Lebanese cedar exports to Egypt, while Taharqa was building his temple to Amun at Kawa.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 155|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref>

[[File:SNMTaharqo.jpg|thumb|left|120px|Statue of Pharaoh Taharqa from [[Jebel Barkal]] (3.6 meters). [[National Museum of Sudan]].<ref name="Yale University Press"/>]]
In 679 BC, Sennacherib's successor, King [[Esarhaddon]], campaigned into Khor and took a town loyal to Egypt. After destroying Sidon and forcing Tyre into tribute in 677-676 BC, Esarhaddon invaded Egypt proper in 674 BC. Taharqa and his army defeated the Assyrians outright in 674 BC, according to Babylonian records.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 158–161|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> This invasion, which only a few Assyrian sources discuss, ended in what some scholars have assumed was possibly one of Assyria's worst defeats.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2005|p=99}} In 672 BC, Taharqa brought reserve troops from Kush, as mentioned in rock inscriptions.<ref name="Torok" /> Taharqa's Egypt still held sway in Khor during this period as evidenced by Esarhaddon's 671 BC annal mentioning that Tyre's King Ba'lu had "put his trust upon his friend Taharqa", Ashkelon's alliance with Egypt, and Esarhaddon's inscription asking "if the Kushite-Egyptian forces 'plan and strive to wage war in any way' and if the Egyptian forces will defeat Esarhaddon at Ashkelon."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 159–161|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> However, Taharqa was defeated in Egypt in 671 BC when Esarhaddon conquered Northern Egypt, captured Memphis, imposed tribute, and then withdrew.<ref name="Welsby" /> Although the Pharaoh Taharqa had escaped to the south, Esarhaddon captured the Pharaoh's family, including "Prince Nes-Anhuret, royal wives,"<ref name="Torok" /> and most of the royal court{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}, which were sent to Assyria as hostages. Cuneiform tablets mention numerous horses and gold headdresses were taken back to Assyria.<ref name="Torok" /> In 669 BC, Taharqa reoccupied Memphis, as well as the Delta, and recommenced intrigues with the king of Tyre.<ref name="Welsby" /> Taharqa intrigued in the affairs of [[Lower Egypt]], and fanned numerous revolts.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Budge|first=E. A. Wallis|title=Egyptian Literature (Routledge Revivals): Vol. II: Annals of Nubian Kings|date=2014-07-17|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-07813-3|language=en}}</ref> [[Esarhaddon]] again led his army to Egypt and on his death in 668 BC, the command passed to [[Ashurbanipal]]. Ashurbanipal and the Assyrians again defeated Taharqa and advanced as far south as Thebes, but direct Assyrian control was not established."<ref name="Welsby" /> The rebellion was stopped and Ashurbanipal appointed as his vassal ruler in Egypt [[Necho I]], who had been king of the city Sais. Necho's son, [[Psamtik I]] was educated at the Assyrian capital of [[Nineveh]] during Esarhaddon's reign.{{Sfn|Mark|2009|p=}} As late as 665 BC, the vassal rulers of Sais, Mendes, and Pelusium were still making overtures to Taharqa in Kush.<ref name="Torok" /> The vassal's plot was uncovered by Ashurbanipal and all rebels but Necho of Sais were executed.<ref name="Torok" />

The remains of three colossal statues of Taharqa were found at the entrance of the palace at [[Nineveh]]. These statues were probably brought back as war trophies by [[Esarhaddon]], who also brought back royal hostages and numerous luxury objects from Egypt.<ref name="Yale University Press"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomason |first1=Allison Karmel |title=From Sennacherib's bronzes to Taharqa's feet: Conceptions of the material world at Nineveh |journal=IRAQ |date=2004 |volume=66 |page=155 |doi=10.2307/4200570 |jstor=4200570 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/abs/from-sennacheribs-bronzes-to-taharqas-feet-conceptions-of-the-material-world-at-nineveh/D17D4A6C2CCD658A6B6985EA8D389BC8 |language=en |issn=0021-0889|quote=Related to the subject of entrances to buildings, the final case study that allows insight into conceptions of the material world at Nineveh and in Assyria concerns the statues of the 25th Dynasty Egyptian king Taharqa excavated at the entrance to the arsenal on Nebi Yunus. I have argued elsewhere that Egypt was a site of fascination to the Neo-Assyrian kings, and that its material culture was collected throughout the period.}}</ref>