Attack of the Hittites

By putting an end to the uprising against Samsu-iluna, the Kassites to the east of Babylon unintentionally spared the First Dynasty for a while, but ultimately they also put an end to that dynasty. A Hittite army led by Mursulius I invaded Babylon in 1595 and destroyed the capital. The army originated in what is now Turkey. Although the Hittites had no desire to remain and maintain their dominance, they had weakened Babylon to the point that the Kassitites could take advantage of the power vacuum and rule for nearly five centuries—a period that was actually considerably longer than the First Dynasty could.

Yet the Amorites had a surprising amount of control over the Kassites even as they were being subjugated. The Babylonian religions not only persisted but also spread to the Kassites. Agum-Kakrime, the first king of the Kassite Dynasty, did in fact engage in combat with the Hittites and is credited with recovering a Marduk statue that the Hittites had allegedly taken. It was possibly one of the biggest triumphs a dynasty had ever achieved from the afterlife. In the eerie comedy book Return of the Living, which he co-wrote with Jonathan "Bogleech" Wojcik, Dustin Koski discusses another dead empire.