Battle of Hamath

604 BCE battle

Battle of Hamath

Part of the Egyptian-Babylonian wars

Date	c. 605 BC
Location	Hama
Result	Babylonian Victory

Belligerents

Egypt

Babylonia

Commanders and leaders

Necho II?

Nebuchadrezzar II

Strength

Much fewer

Unknown

Casualties and losses

Very high

Low

Campaigns of
Nebuchadnezzar II

Carchemish
Hamath
Gaza
1st Siege of Jerusalem
2nd Siege of Jerusalem
Siege of Tyre

The Battle of Hamath, sometimes called the Battle of Hama, took place between the Babylonians and the fleeing remnants of the Egyptian army defeated at Carchemish. It was fought near the ancient city Hamath on the Orontes.

In this battle, Nebuchadnezzar further shattered the remnants of Necho II's Egyptian army that he had previously defeated in the Battle of Carchemish. The battle is mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicles, now housed in the British Museum. In the Chronicles it states that Nebuchadnezzar II killed almost all of the Egyptian combatants, so exhausted that none of them returned to their own country. The Chronicles do not mention Necho and the Bible only mentions 'Necho's army', and it is possible that Necho wasn't present and the Egyptian army was just a garrison army. He was dealing with various rebellions in the delta.^[1]

Notes

^ Boardman, John (1992). I. E. S. Edwards; E. Sollberger; N. G. L. Hammond (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC. Cambridge University Press. p. 594. ISBN 978-0-521-22717-9.

35°8′N 36°45′E / 35.133°N 36.750°E / 35.133; 36.750