Battles & Wars › Ancient world › Neo-Assyrian Empire
Battering ram and siege tower
in Egyptian art by c. 2000 BC; Assyrian reliefs from c. 880 BC· Invention or discovery· Weapons, armor & warships
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A heavy beam for smashing gates and walls, usually housed in a covered, wheeled frame, used with towers that let archers shoot over walls.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Egyptian tomb paintings around 2000 BC show soldiers under a protective shed attacking a fort. From the 800s BC the Assyrians made it a system: wheeled, armored rams whose pointed beams pried stones loose, while archers on siege towers cleared the walls and engineers built earth and stone ramps for the machines to climb. Defenders answered with fire, chains to catch the beam, and thicker walls. Greeks and Romans used similar machines, which lasted until cannon replaced them.
Why it matters
Rams and towers turned walls from barriers into problems that time and engineering could solve, making siegecraft a core skill of empires for some 3,000 years.
How we know
Assyrian palace reliefs from Nimrud and Nineveh, mostly in the British Museum; the siege ramp still visible at Lachish; and Greek and Roman engineering manuals such as Vitruvius's.
Still debated
Whether the earliest Egyptian scenes show true rams or just poles for prying out bricks is uncertain.
Connections (4)
▸Assyrian siege of Lachish shows in its reliefs the Assyrian Battering ram and siege towerWell documented
The connection
The Lachish reliefs give the clearest ancient picture of rams in action: wheeled, armored machines pushed up a stone ramp to the city wall, with crewmen pouring water to douse torches thrown by defenders, while archers and slingers cover them from behind tall shields.
When and how
Lachish, 701 BC; carved soon after on the walls of Sennacherib's 'Palace Without Rival' at Nineveh.
How we know
The reliefs survive in the British Museum, and the ramp excavated at Tel Lachish matches their layout.
Debates and open questions
How closely the artists followed the real siege is uncertain; they worked from reports, and the scenes compress many moments into one.
▸First Jewish–Roman War: Jerusalem (AD 70) and Masada saw Rome breach Jerusalem's walls with the Battering ram and siege towerWell documented
The connection
Josephus describes Titus's legions raising ramps and rolling up towers and great rams, including one the defenders nicknamed 'Victor'. The rams broke through the city's outer walls one after another, while defenders tried to burn the machines and tunnel under the ramps. The Antonia fortress fell next, and then the Temple.
When and how
Jerusalem, May to August AD 70; Titus's legions against defenders led by John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora.
How we know
Josephus, an eyewitness in the Roman camp, describes the machines; the Arch of Titus and Roman artillery stones found in Jerusalem support his account.
Debates and open questions
Josephus wrote for Roman patrons and may have inflated Roman feats; the exact sequence of breaches is reconstructed from his account alone.
▸Battering ram and siege tower remained a key tool of Castles and siege warfareWell documented
The connection
Medieval armies still used rams under covered sheds, nicknamed 'cats' or 'sows', and wooden siege towers, much as the Assyrians had. Castle builders answered with moats, which kept machines away from the walls, and stronger gates. Cannon finally made rams obsolete in the 1400s.
When and how
Across medieval Europe and the Middle East; for example, crusaders used siege towers to take Jerusalem in 1099.
How we know
Medieval chronicles, illustrated manuscripts and engineering treatises describe rams and towers, and Roman manuals such as Vegetius's were widely copied.
Debates and open questions
How often rams actually broke walls is hard to measure; many sieges ended by starvation, treachery or negotiation without any breach.
▸Battering ram and siege tower was mounted on ships in the Siege of Tyre (332 BC)Well documented
The connection
Tyre's walls rose straight from the water, so Alexander's engineers fixed rams on ships, some lashed together in pairs, and battered the walls from the sea. After testing several sections, they opened a breach in the south wall, and assault troops crossed on gangways from the ships to storm the city.
When and how
Tyre, July 332 BC; the breach came on the city's southern side, facing Egypt.
How we know
Arrian and Curtius describe the ship-mounted rams and the final assault in detail.
Debates and open questions
How the ship-borne rams were braced and swung is not described exactly, and modern reconstructions differ.