About 2600 years ago, there was a battle between the Greeks and the Babylonians. By and large, this battle has been forgotten by history, but the evidence suggests that it was a major event at the time. What do we know about this unusual clash between the Greeks and the Babylonians? How did the two nations find themselves in conflict?
In the late seventh to early sixth centuries BCE King Nebuchadnezzar ruled over Babylon. He was a powerful king who expanded his empire through conquests. Famously, he was responsible for the first destruction of Jerusalem.
Historians know relatively little about the second half of his 43-year reign. However, archaeologists have uncovered a tablet dating to his 37th year. This tablet records the fact that Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt. This may well be identical to Nebuchadnezzar’s attack on Egypt that is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel in the Bible.
According to the conventional chronology, this year was equivalent to 568/567 BCE. Interestingly, an Egyptian document dated to the same year records an attack on Egypt by Asiatics. It is evident that these two documents refer to the same event.
While the surviving records from Babylon and Egypt do not reveal exactly what happened, evidence suggests that this was a crushing event for Egypt.
What has this got to do with a battle between the Greeks and the Babylonians? As it happens, numerous Greeks had already settled in Egypt by the time Nebuchadnezzar invaded. This settlement appears to have started right at the beginning of the reign of Psamtik I, who ruled for much of the seventh century BCE.
One of the very first settlements that the Greeks established was Naucratis in the Nile Delta. In many senses, this was a trading colony. It facilitated excellent communication between Egypt and Greece. However, the Greeks proved themselves to be more than mere traders in Egypt.
In fact, the very first Greeks who arrived in Egypt at the start of Psamtik I’s reign were described by Herodotus as soldiers, “men of bronze.” They helped Psamtik to strengthen his rule.
By the time Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, the Greeks were already well established as part of Egypt’s military force. Hence, when the battle between the Egyptians and the Babylonians occurred, the Greeks were also involved.
When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, his army of Babylonians must have clashed with the Greeks who served Pharaoh Amasis. This, quite possibly, is the first recorded battle between the Greeks and the Babylonians in history.
It might also be the only time that Greeks fought against the Babylonian Empire. After all, by the time the Greeks expanded their rule to the east in the era of Alexander the Great, the Babylonian Empire had already fallen.
In the Babylonian record from Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year, there is some fascinating information showing that even more Greeks were involved than just those who served in Amasis’ army. The inscription appears to mention the Egyptians receiving reinforcements from a land called Putu-Iaman.
The word ‘Putu’ appears to be a reference to Libya, while ‘Iaman’ is the Babylonian form of ‘Ionian.’ Hence, scholars generally understand this to be a reference to Cyrene, the Greek colony in Libya. This suggests that Greeks from that area also fought in battle against the Babylonians, alongside those who were settled in Egypt.
Furthermore, the inscription mentions reinforcements from “the islands of the sea.” Given the context, this can only mean Greek islands. Therefore we can see that this invasion of Egypt in Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year resulted in an enormous battle between the Greeks and the Babylonians.
