The Rise of Assyria's Greatest King

A History of Mankind (67)

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Assyria’s King Esarhaddon may have been afflicted by some sort of genetic disease, which he passed on to many of his children; they all showed various health issues throughout their (often short) lives[1]. In addition, his mental state was pretty well documented for a man of his age, and he was plagued by paranoia and depression after his father’s murder and his brothers' attempted coup.

The new Assyrian king developed a great mistrust of male servants and family members, and dwelled in high-security fortifications outside of major cities. There, his mother Naqi'a and his daughter Serua-eterat were allowed to wield considerably more influence and political power during his reign than any women – perhaps with the exception of Semiramis – had been allowed in any previous period of Assyrian history.

Such female influence may have contributed to making Esarhaddon’s reign less bloody than was common for Assyrian kings, at least early on. To ensure the support of the inhabitants of the southern half of the empire, he took the unusual step of rebuilding Babylon and other cities in the south, that his own father had destroyed, and allowing the return of a large chunk of the population that – as per Assyrian custom – had been exiled elsewhere in the empire.

Still, any Assyrian king died and lived by the sword, and Esarhaddon couldn’t completely avoid military campaigns.