02-08-2021, 12:09 PM
The sophistication of fortifications such as these finds its pendant, unsurprisingly so when one thinks about the interdependance between modes of attack and defense, in the wide arsenal of Bronze Age siege methods. This author (William Hamblin, Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC, p. 236) claims that
Quote:Thus the entire range of siege techniques of the ancient Near East – siege towers, battering rams, undermining, ramps, protective shelters, siege shields, and ladders – were all in place by at least the eighteenth century BC, and probably several centuries earlier. Although there were many subsequent important technical improvements, the basic elements of siegecraft had all been developed by the Middle Bronze Age. The only siege devices unattested in the Bronze Age Near East are the large, projectile throwing devices.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
