The Battle of Birayn occurred in 1203 BC when the Syrian warlord Irsu crushed a larger Shechemite army at Birayn, north of Ammon.
In 1204 BC, the Canaanite ruler Irsu declared war on King Zimrida of Shechem, hoping to annex Ammon and Shechem and expand his empire from Retjenu to the rest of Canaan. His first invasion in 1204 BC was a failure; while he was able to loot the Ammonite countryside and defeat a Shechemite attack at the Battle of Mount Ajloun, he failed to take Ammon, and his victory at Mount Ajloun had proved costly and forced him to withdraw to Sakka. The Shechemite general Abdmelqart took advantage of this maneuver to lead 1,400 troops in an invasion of Retjenu, sacking a Retjenu outpost near Sakka before withdrawing into the Gilead desert.
Once Irsu's army had replenished by 1203 BC, the warlord gave chase to Abdmelqart and met him in battle at Birayn, where Abdmelqart expected to receive reinforcements from Ammon. The Shechemites planned to attack the Retjenu army from two sides; Abdmelqart's main army from the front and Ammonite reinforcements from the rear. However, Irsu personally led a troupe of warriors to defeat the garrison detachment before directing the rest of his army to victory over the Shechemites. The Shechemite defeat was catastrophic, as they lost both of their armies; Irsu was able to march into Ammon without resistance and secure the town.
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