(Darbą įkėlė
Svečias)
Darbas:
city and besieged it for 14 days. Learning of a possible weak point in the defenses—where the city’s walls met and melted into a cliff—Cyrus sent a small force up the hill and onto the walls, which at that point overlooked the citadel; his troops quickly captured it and Croesus. The city opened its gates to Cyrus the following morning. From this point, Lydia ceased to exist as an independent kingdom.
Results
Although Cyrus’s victory over Croesus came in 546 b.c., 7 years before his conquest of Babylon, the victory at Thymbra marked the turning point in Cyrus’s campaign to establish a Persian Empire. Babylon, as co-inheritor of the Assyrian Empire, was a natural rival, in spite of the fact that they had done little to provoke Cyrus.
The Babylonian King Nabonidus was in the midst of his own internal crisis. Although intent on maintaining strong trade routes between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, which would of course continue to enrich the wealthiest
of ancient cities, Nabonidus provoked his population over religious matters. He had come to power from his position as a general, rather than through birth. Thus, he distrusted the Babylonian establishment. He preferred the worship of Sin, the moon goddess, over Marduk, the Babylonian national deity. He established temples to Sin in Babylon, a direct affront to the people. In response to a dream, Nabonidus marched the army to the city of Harran to reestablish the Temple of Sin there. He then spent 7 years campaigning in Arabia, capturing territory as far as Yathrib (Medina). He colonized a string of oases through Arabia, although it is unclear if this was for military or trade purposes. This expedition also alienated the Babylonians because the king was supposed to be in attendance at the New Year’s festivals, and Nabonidus missed seven in a row. His son and regent, Balshazzar, oversaw the business of government. When, after extending his power far to the east in campaigns up to Bactria (modern Afghanistan), Cyrus turned toward Babylon, Nabonidus finally tried to appease his subjects and defend his land. He sent for all the idols of Marduk to be collected in Babylon to strengthen its spiritual defenses. But apparently it was too late. Cyrus seems to have been in contact with the religious leaders in Babylon, assuring them of his religious tolerance, and thus fomenting a resistance movement in Nabonidus’s backyard.
There are two completely different accounts of the fall of Babylon to Cyrus. In September 539 b.c., Cyrus and his army defeated the Babylonians at Opis, the former capital of Akkadia, which city he proceeded to destroy. On 10 October, the town of Sippar surrendered without a struggle. Hearing this, Nabonidus fled Babylon. One of his former governors, now in Cyrus’s
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