War, Strategy and Tactics in Ancient Mesopotamia

Collection

Jan van der Crabben
by
published on 13 June 2023

The ancient Mesopotamians pioneered many strategies, tactics and policies in warfare that would be used for thousands of years to come, some of which continue to this day. The Akkadian Empire was the first to build a standing army and the Assyrians perfected siege warfare.

Various empires throughout the history of Mesopotamia used different tactics, often employing the natural environment in creative ways to achieve victory. For example, Hammurabi of Babylon is known to have used dams in order to first cut off the water supply to a city and flood the city before storming it if necessary.

This collection explores the different approaches to Mesopotamian warfare.

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About the Author

Jan van der Crabben
Jan is the Founder and CEO of World History Encyclopedia. He holds an MA War Studies from King's College, and he has worked in the field of history-related digital media since 2006.

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