By the year 1000 BC, the political and economic horizons of Babylonia had narrowed considerably. This chapter focuses on the history of the period, giving first the historical background: geographical, ethnic, cultural, and institutional, and then a series of chronological narratives sketching the major phases of the era. In many ways, the Chaldaeans and other foreign tribal groups hold the key to understanding many of the Babylonian political and socioeconomic developments of this age. The relations of the tribal groups, especially Kassites, Aramaeans, and Chaldaeans, to the older Babylonian population can be sketched briefly. In the brief period of ninety years in sharp contrast to the sparse documentation from Babylonia proper, the number of inscriptions on 'Luristan bronzes' reaches its high point. The Assyrian campaigns of 814-811 left northern Babylonia humbled and leaderless. Babylonia as a nation and state did not succumb during this phase of weakness.