Kassite dynasty

The Kassite dynasty, also known as the third Babylonian dynasty, was a line of kings of Kassite origin who ruled from the city of Babylon in the latter half of the second millennium BC and who belonged to the same family that ran the kingdom of Babylon between 1595 and 1155 BC, following the first Babylonian dynasty (Old Babylonian Empire; 1894-1595 BC). It was the longest known dynasty of that state, which ruled throughout the period known as "Middle Babylonian" (1595-1000 BC). The Kassites were a people from outside Mesopotamia, whose origins are unknown, although many authors theorize that they originated in the Zagros Mountains. It took their kings more than a century to consolidate their power in Babylon under conditions that remain unclear. Despite their external origin, the Kassite kings did not change Babylon's ancestral traditions and, on the contrary, brought order to the country after the turbulence that marked the end of the first dynasty. Not being great conquerors, they undertook a great deal of construction work, notably on the great temples, they contributed to the expansion of agricultural land, and under their auspices Babylonian culture flourished and expanded throughout the Middle East. The Kassite period is still very poorly known, due to the scarcity of sources relating to it, of which few are published. The economic and social aspects, in particular, are very poorly documented, with the exception of what relates to the royal donations attested by the characteristic donation stelae of the period, the kudurrus. During the term of the dynasty, Babylon's power was definitively established over all the ancient states of Sumer and Akkad, forming the country called "Karduniash" (Karduniaš). From the Kassites on, whoever wanted to dominate Mesopotamia had to reign in Babylon. This stability is remarkable because it is the only Babylonian dynasty whose power did not derive from the inheritance of one or two brilliant founding reigns followed by progressive decline.

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