01_Dubovský_321_346 28/10/14 10:32 Pagina 344 344 PETER DUBOVSKÝ analysis of 2 Kings 15, that the Assyrian campaigns were only one reason among many others responsible for the Assyrian victories. The fall of Samaria was not an exception. The following examples illustrate similarities between Assyrian military and non-military tools and the dynamics found in 2 Kings 15. The reconstruction of Ashurbanipal’s conquest of Elam showed that the Assyrian campaigns on their own were unable to eradicate Elamite resistance. There were several other dynamics that, com- bined with the military campaigns, ultimately brought victory for Assyria. Let us name some of them. First, the Assyrians willingly interfered with Elamite internal politics by fomenting its political instability and by raids organized by Assyrian officials stationed on the Elamite border. As the result of this policy there were five coups d’état within two decades. Second, the disagreements among the Elamite leading groups, being divided into three major factions, resulted in frequently changing allegiances, rebellions, and even executions of opponents. Finally, the instability was even more ag- gravated by famine. This study on the end of Elamite period II re- vealed three major dynamics in play: the Assyrian royal campaigns, the subversive activities of Assyrian officials left in the region after the retreat of the royal troops, and the internal instability and ten- sions in Elam 51. Similar dynamics have been reconstructed in the case of the Assyrian conquest of Egypt. Several coups d’état took place in Egypt before Ashurbanipal finally incorporated Egypt into the Assyrian Empire 52. These two examples, which could be easily multiplied, suffice to demonstrate that the Assyrians fostered ten- sions in a given region, using all available tools since it is always much easier to control or to conquer a kingdom that is internally divided. These dynamics, however, were not exclusive to the As- syrian period. M. Giorgieri has analyzed the forms of rule and the political struggles in the Hittite Kingdom just before it collapsed and pointed out that similar dynamics were in play in the Hittite 51 P. DUBOVSKÝ, “Dynamics of the Fall: Ashurbanipal’s Conquest of Elam”, Susa and Elam. Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives. Proceedings of the International Congress Held at Ghent Uni- versity, December 14-17, 2009 (eds. K.D. GRAEF – J. TAVERNIER) (Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse 58; Leiden – Boston, MA 2013) 462-463. 52 D.E. KAHN, “The Assyrian Invasions of Egypt (673-663 B.C.) and the Final Expulsion of the Kushites”, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 34 (2006) 251-267.