Battle of Halule
691 BCE · Halule, Tigris River (modern Iraq)
The Battle of Halule was fought in 691 BCE in Halule, Tigris River (modern Iraq) between Neo-Assyrian Empire vs a Babylonian and Elamite coalition; disputed; both sides claimed victory in one of the bloodiest battles of the ancient Near East.
Battle of Halule: quick facts
- Date
- 691 BCE
- Location
- Halule, Tigris River (modern Iraq)
- Belligerents
- Neo-Assyrian Empire vs a Babylonian and Elamite coalition
- Commanders
- Sennacherib vs Humban-nimena and Mushezib-Marduk
- Result
- disputed; both sides claimed victory in one of the bloodiest battles of the ancient Near East.
- Era
- 🏛️ Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia
- Quiz difficulty
- hard
What happened at the Battle of Halule?
Sennacherib of Assyria faced a massive coalition of Babylonians, Elamites, Chaldeans, and Aramaean tribes at Halule on the Tigris River. It was one of the largest battles in Mesopotamian history. Sennacherib's inscriptions claim a great victory with rivers of enemy blood, but the fact that Babylon remained independent after the battle suggests the outcome was less decisive than claimed. The inconclusive result frustrated Sennacherib so deeply that two years later he would take the drastic step of completely destroying Babylon.
Did you know?
Both sides at Halule claimed victory in their official records, making it one of the earliest examples of competing propaganda narratives about the same battle in ancient history.
Sources and further reading
- Battle of Halule on Wikipedia for the full account, historiography and primary sources.
- How BattleGuess compiles and checks battle facts: see the About page.
Entry last reviewed 26 September 2026.