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Who were the Mannaeans, and how did Ashurbanipal respond to them?

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Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal — Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal depicted in a lion hunt in an Assyrian relief from his northern palace in Nineveh; now in the British Museum.

The Mannaeans were an ancient people inhabiting a country known as Mannai, located in northwestern Iran south of Lake Urmia. During the early 1st millennium BCE, they existed between the major powers of Assyria, Urartu, and Media, and their culture is believed to have been related to the Hurrian language.1

Ashurbanipal, the last great king of Assyria, responded to the Mannaeans primarily through a display of military force. In the context of broader regional instability, Ashurbanipal utilized a swift show of military might against the Mannaeans. Furthermore, he secured an alliance with the Scythian chief Madyes. This strategic combination of military action and alliance successfully repulsed Cimmerian advances, which allowed Ashurbanipal to focus his attention on affairs in Babylonia.2