▁under ▁Ash urban ip al ▁campaign ed ▁ag gress ively . ▁Despite ▁success , ▁the ▁Ass y ri ans ▁lost ▁too ▁many ▁soldiers ▁through ▁years ▁of ▁deb il it ating ▁war fare . ▁In ▁an ▁effort ▁to ▁increase ▁Ass y ria ' s ▁standing ▁in ▁the ▁East , ▁Ash urban ip al ▁abandoned ▁Egypt ▁and ▁concentr ated ▁on ▁El am . ▁However , ▁this ▁left ▁Egypt ▁more ▁or ▁less ▁un checked , ▁although ▁it ▁appears ▁that ▁Ass y rian ▁rule , ▁at ▁least ▁at ▁the ▁de ▁j ure ▁level , ▁continued ▁until ▁ 6 3 9 ▁BC . ▁ ▁Capt ure ▁of ▁Ash d od ▁Despite ▁the ▁previous ▁host ility ▁between ▁the ▁two ▁powers , ▁it ▁appears ▁that ▁the ▁Ass y ri ans ▁and ▁the ▁Egypt ians ▁did ▁not ▁go ▁to ▁war . ▁Indeed , ▁as ▁late ▁as ▁ 6 0 5 ▁BC , ▁the ▁Egypt ians ▁were ▁act ively ▁a iding ▁the ▁Ass y ri ans ▁in ▁an ▁attempt ▁to ▁help ▁them ▁surv ive . ▁Moreover , ▁the ▁Eth iop ian / N ub ian ▁r ul ers ▁of ▁Egypt ▁were ▁driven ▁out ▁by ▁the ▁native ▁Co ptic ▁Egypt ians ▁som etime ▁in ▁circa ▁ 6 5 0 ; ▁therefore ▁the ▁Ass y ri ans ▁and ▁the ▁native ▁Egypt ians ▁made ▁natural ▁al lies ▁against ▁N ub ian ▁dom ination . ▁The ▁capture ▁of ▁Ash d od ▁may ▁have ▁effectively ▁reflected ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁transfer ▁of ▁power ▁from ▁the ▁cr umb ling ▁Ass y rian ▁Empire ▁to ▁the ▁new ▁Egypt ian ▁